A Truly Magical Christmas at the Rare Breeds Centre, Woodchurch runs weekends from 28 November and daily 19 to 23 December. Child £29 with a gift, adult £18.50.
The Rare Breeds Centre at Woodchurch, the farm park run by the Canterbury Oast Trust charity, has put its 2026 Christmas on sale. A Truly Magical Christmas runs every weekend from Saturday 28 November, then every day from Saturday 19 to Wednesday 23 December. Each ticket includes entry to the whole 100-acre farm, and every paying child gets a present from Santa. Prices and dates below are from the centre’s own event page and booking site, read on 25 September 2026.
The quick answer
Dates: weekends from 28 November, plus 19 to 23 December daily. Prices: £29 a child aged 2 to 15, £18.50 an adult, £15.75 a senior (60+), and £17.50 for an under-2 with a present. Every grotto ticket includes entry to the farm. SEN-friendly sessions with fewer visitors are also on sale.
What you get
The visit, as the centre describes it on its event page, runs in this order:
- An elf meets you and leads you down a new winter wonderland walkway.
- At the end, children throw fabric snowballs.
- Everyone goes into the Cattle Barn, turned into a Christmas grotto, for a show starring Father Christmas and his elves.
- Children make a Christmas keepsake in a craft activity.
- Each child receives a gift from Santa, and the booking site adds that paying children can have their photo taken with him by the centre’s professional photographers.
The Children’s Barn is dressed with lights and a Christmas tree for photos, and the Granary Restaurant serves Christmas cakes and Costa winter drinks. The centre says more activities are “still to be announced”.
Prices
| Ticket | Price |
|---|---|
| Child, 2 to 15 (includes Santa's present) | £29.00 |
| Adult, 16+ | £18.50 |
| Senior, 60+ | £15.75 |
| Under 2, with a present | £17.50 |
| Under 2, without a present | £10.50 |
| Under 6 months, with a present | £5.00 |
| Under 6 months, without a present | Free |
| Member adult | Free |
| Member child | £17.50 |
Source: Rare Breeds Centre booking site, Grotto Sessions. Member tickets need a membership valid on the day of the booking.
For comparison, an ordinary day ticket is £18.50 for an adult and £15.75 for a child (day tickets), so the adult Christmas price is the same as a normal visit and the extra goes on the child’s ticket. A family of two adults and two children pays £95 for the Christmas session.
SEN-friendly sessions
The centre runs several SEN grotto sessions with fewer visitors and a quieter atmosphere. For anyone who might find the walkway too much, there are calmer routes straight to the show seating. They are booked separately, from the same Christmas ticket page.
Opening hours in winter
The farm switches to winter hours on 1 November: open Wednesday to Sunday, 10am to 4.30pm, and also on Mondays and Tuesdays in school holidays (opening times). Kent’s schools break up on Friday 18 December, so the farm should open every day of the final run from 19 to 23 December; the dates for each Ashford school are on our term dates page.
The centre is at Highlands Farm, Woodchurch, Ashford, TN26 3RJ. The admissions team is on 01233 861493 or admissions@rarebreeds.org.uk.
Before Christmas: the Gift Market
The centre’s Christmas Gift Market is on Saturday 14 and Sunday 15 November, in the Benson Barn, with handmade gifts from local makers (Rare Breeds Centre).
Other Christmas days out in the borough
- Santa Specials on the Kent and East Sussex Railway, from Tenterden Town station, on ten dates from 29 November: prices and the booking rules are on our Tenterden Santa Specials page.
- Godinton House runs Christmas wreath workshops on 28 and 29 November and a Christmas carol concert on Saturday 12 December, 4pm to 6.15pm, in aid of Pilgrims Hospices (Godinton House).
- Steam into the New Year on the Kent and East Sussex Railway runs on 31 December and 1 January (K&ESR).
- The Carnival of the Baubles is on Saturday 21 November (our page), and the Tenterden Christmas market runs from 19 to 22 November.
Still to be confirmed
- Session times for the grotto, which show on the booking system when you pick a date.
- The “festive surprises” the centre says are still to be announced.
- Whether the farm opens between Christmas and New Year: the centre has not published its festive closing days.
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