Southport Santa Grottos 2026: Dates, Prices, Free One

Three of the Santa visits within reach of Southport are already on sale with firm 2026 dates. Two more are annual fixtures that have not been announced yet, including the only free one. Here is where each stands as of 6 September.

Santa’s Secret Forest, Ince Blundell

The big one, and the one that sells out first. The light trail and Christmas hub in Orrell Hill Wood runs from Friday 21 November to Christmas Eve, Thursday 24 December 2026 (Santa’s Secret Forest). The postal address is Orrell Hill Lane, L38 5DA, off the lane between Ince Blundell and Hightown, about nine miles south of Southport.

Prices, all quoted by the organiser inclusive of fees:

• general admission from £18.15, which includes the enchanted light trail, the Christmas hub with a Santa visit, a soft toy for each child, the Merrywood Market and a real reindeer encounter
• light trail only £16.50, which covers the trail, the market and the reindeer but not the indoor experience
• VIP, adding a photo with Santa, fast lane queuing, a drink per adult, a branded hat, a heated lounge, a warming meal and a virtual reality sleigh ride

General admission and light trail prices include a non-refundable 10 per cent booking fee; VIP tickets carry a capped £10 fee. Babies under 12 months need a free “Tiny Kids” ticket when sitting on an adult’s lap. Dedicated SEN sessions run with the strobe effects removed.

The operator’s own planning paperwork, filed with Sefton Council this summer, sets out the shape of the season in more detail than the ticket page does: a VIP-only night on Friday 20 November, public opening Thursday to Sunday from 21 November, then daily from Monday 14 December to 24 December, 26 opening days in total, half-hourly timed slots with the first at 8.30am and the last at 8pm, and a visit lasting about two to two and a half hours. That application, which asks for a five-year permission, is still open for comment: see our report on the Santa’s Secret Forest planning bid.

Farmer Ted’s, Downholland

Farmer Christmas at Farmer Ted’s Adventure Farm on Flatman’s Lane runs Saturday 28 November to Thursday 24 December 2026, with sessions from 10am to 6pm (Farmer Ted’s). The farm says the walking adventure has been rebuilt for 2026: a Christmas passport, a new Reindeer Room where children mix reindeer feed to take home, a new Christmas Carnival with fairground games, a private moment with Father Christmas, and a gift chosen in the Toy Shop at the end.

Prices on the farm’s own booking system on 6 September:

• child aged 1 to 12, £26.50 to £33.00 depending on the date
• adult, £16.50 to £21.50
• under 1s, £10.75, gift included

Two practical points the farm makes itself. Arrive 20 minutes before the time on your ticket, and there is no professional photographer and no photo package, so bring whatever you want your pictures taken on. An early bird discount of 10 per cent is running on selected dates.

Sail to Santa, WWT Martin Mere

The one that is not a grotto at all. At the wetland centre at Burscough, children take a boat trip out to Santa’s island to meet him and his elves, with a gift and festive crafts included. It runs on 5, 6, 12, 13, 19, 20, 21, 22 and 23 December 2026 at £18.50 per child (WWT Martin Mere).

Read the conditions before you book. The £18.50 does not include admission to the centre, which is charged separately unless you are a WWT member. Only one adult per child can book onto the boat; other adults walk to the island. Arrive ten minutes early, because the boat will not be held, and there is no refund if you miss your slot. The centre closes at 4.30pm in December, so afternoon bookings should allow time.

Santa Train, Windmill Animal Farm

Windmill Animal Farm on Fish Lane at Burscough has confirmed its Santa Train is running in December 2026, with a train ride out to the grotto past the fallow deer herd, a gift for each child and full access to the farm included, plus hot drinks and cake for adults (Windmill Animal Farm). Specific dates and prices are not published yet: the farm’s Santa Train ticket page was still returning a “page doesn’t exist” error on 6 September. Tickets usually go on sale in the autumn.

Southport Market, and the free option

Southport Market on King Street runs the town centre’s own grotto, and it costs nothing. In 2025 Santa, Mrs Claus and the elves were in the market hall from Saturday 29 November through to Christmas Eve, open every weekend plus 19, 20, 21, 22, 23 and 24 December, free, with no booking, just turn up, and every child received a present (Stand Up For Southport, November 2025). Paid “lunch with Santa” sittings ran alongside it.

Nothing festive is on the market’s 2026 events calendar beyond a Christmas party night on 5 December, an evening with Phil Taylor on 11 December and a bottle painting workshop on 12 December (Southport Market). The grotto was announced in late November last year, so expect the same window.

Booking order, if you are booking today

Santa’s Secret Forest sells its December weekends first and has done every year it has run. Farmer Ted’s weekend slots go next. Martin Mere only runs nine dates, all of them Saturdays and Sundays plus the last week, so it has the least room of the three. The Windmill and Southport Market are the ones to watch rather than book.

Both farm venues and the wood are drives rather than walks. For town centre visits, parking in Southport has the car parks and charges, and Southport roadworks and travel covers anything disrupting the routes out. Two pantomimes also run through December: see Southport pantomime.