The council has dated Carnival of the Baubles for Saturday 21 November 2026. Parade time, route and the separate Elwick Place switch-on are not published yet.

Ashford’s festive season opens with the Carnival of the Baubles, and the date for 2026 is confirmed: Saturday 21 November. Ashford Borough Council published it on 30 July 2026 in the announcement that Designer Outlet Ashford has renewed its sponsorship of the borough’s Festivals and Events Framework, telling residents to “save the date for Carnival of the Baubles on Saturday 21 November 2026” (ashford.gov.uk).

What is not published yet is the parade time, the route, the theme, the lantern-making workshop dates or the town centre entertainment line-up. Those have come out in early October in previous years. This page will be updated when they do.

What is confirmed for 2026

  • Saturday 21 November 2026. Ashford town centre.
  • It is an illuminated lantern parade, described by the council as bringing together “glowing lanterns, live performances and community creativity, lighting up the town centre as Ashford heads into the Christmas season”.
  • Free to watch.
  • Sponsored by Designer Outlet Ashford, delivered under the council’s Festivals and Events Framework, which is funded by the UK Government and the council.

The same announcement dates the other two town centre events in the 2026 programme: the Ashford Food and Drink Festival on Saturday 27 June 2026, 10am to 7pm, which has now passed, and Create Music Village, returning as a month-long programme in October 2026 with details still to be announced.

What last year’s carnival looked like

For 2025 the council published the detail on 7 October, about six weeks before the event. That is the timetable to expect this year. From that announcement:

  • Saturday 22 November 2025, with the parade commencing at 5pm.
  • The procession started at Lower High Street and finished outside The Ashford Cinema at Elwick Place, which was a reversal of the previous year’s direction.
  • The theme was “Ashford, The Place That Makes Us”, led by a giant Firebird, with schools, community groups and local businesses walking behind it.
  • Free lantern-making workshops ran at County Square on 1, 8 and 15 November.
  • The day also carried the St Mary’s Christmas fayre, a Christmas market and live performances at the Bandstand and at Elwick Place.

Delivery partners named by the council were Emergency Exit Arts and Made in Ashford.

The lights switch-on is not always the same thing as the parade

Worth knowing before you plan the evening around one moment: the Elwick Place Christmas light switch-on and the carnival parade are separate items and have been held apart before.

In 2024 the carnival fell on Saturday 23 November, the same weekend Storm Bert crossed the country. The council cancelled the parade, built a Bauble Illumination Station in County Square in its place, which drew more than 1,500 people, and moved the Elwick Place Christmas Light Switch On to Friday 29 November. Performances that night came from Lumina Dance, Liv 2 Dance, Theatre Train, The Ashford Rotary Choir and JVyoU (ashford.gov.uk).

So if what you want is specifically the moment the lights come on, check for a separate Elwick Place time once the council publishes the programme.

Parking, and the change that lands three weeks before

Free parking after 3pm at Elwick Place ends on 1 November 2026, three weeks before the carnival. From that date the day becomes free 08:00 to 09:00, a stepped tariff runs 09:00 to 16:00, and a £1 flat charge covers 16:00 to 08:00. Cinema users keep four hours free and Blue Badge holders keep three. In practice that means a 5pm parade start now sits inside the £1 overnight rate rather than the old free window. We covered the full change in Elwick Place parking: free after 3pm ends 1 November, and the borough-wide tariffs are on our parking in Ashford page.

The council has not published road closures for the 2026 carnival. In previous years the parade has used the pedestrianised Lower High Street and Elwick Place, so the closures are limited, but check our Ashford roadworks and travel page nearer the date.

Tenterden lights up the same weekend

If you are in the north or west of the borough, note that Tenterden’s Town Hall Christmas tree lighting is listed for Friday 20 November 2026, the night before the Ashford carnival, alongside the Tenterden Christmas Market which runs 19 to 22 November. The two are a day apart, so both are doable.

Sources