The Country Living Christmas Market fills the Business Design Centre from 11 to 14 November, tickets from £10.99. Plus Islington's free festive street events.
Islington’s biggest Christmas market is indoors. Good Housekeeping Live with the Country Living Christmas Market takes over the Business Design Centre on Upper Street from Wednesday 11 to Saturday 14 November 2026, with hundreds of artisan makers, and it is the only one with 2026 dates confirmed so far. The rest of the borough’s festive market season is a run of free town-centre events and a weekly Saturday market at Islington Square, which last year ran from late November to the week before Christmas.
We checked every organiser’s own website on 25 September 2026.
The quick answer
- Country Living Christmas Market, Business Design Centre: 11 to 14 November 2026, 9.30am to 5pm. Silver tickets £12.99, or £10.99 early bird; children under 16 free with a paid ticket.
- Islington Council’s free festive street events ran in Archway, Whitecross Street, Clerkenwell, the Cally and Chapel Market in 2025. The 2026 dates are not out yet.
- Islington Square’s weekly festive market ran every Saturday from 29 November to 20 December last year, 11am to 5pm.
Country Living Christmas Market, Business Design Centre, 11 to 14 November
The show combines a Christmas market of British artisan makers with talks, cooking demonstrations, craft workshops and book signings (Good Housekeeping Live).
- Dates and hours: Wednesday 11 to Saturday 14 November 2026, 9.30am to 5pm each day (visitor information).
- Silver ticket: £12.99, or £10.99 early bird. One day’s entry, the kitchen and home and lifestyle stages, book signings and a goody bag.
- VIP ticket: £50, or £35.99 early bird. Adds fast-track entry, cloakroom, the main-stage celebrity talks and the VIP lounge with a drink and goody bag. Silver ticket holders can buy a single main-stage talk on the day for £10, if seats remain.
- Children: the event is aimed at adults; under-16s go in free with a paid adult ticket but get no goody bag. Carers are also free with a paid ticket.
- Tickets are for one chosen day, non-refundable and non-transferable, and are also sold on the door if any remain (FAQs).
The venue has a 250-space car park that should be pre-booked; the satnav postcode is N1 0PW. Upper Street is also on our parking in Islington page.
Islington Council’s festive street events
In 2025 the council ran five free festive events in its town centres, each with live music, carols, wreath making, face painting, stalls from local businesses and a visit from Santa handing out mince pies and toys. The 2025 programme, from the council’s Islington Life festive events page:
| Event | Where | 2025 date and time |
|---|---|---|
| Archway | Navigator Square, N19 3TD | Wednesday 26 November, 3pm to 7pm |
| Whitecross | Whitecross Street | Friday 28 November, 4pm to 6pm |
| Clerkenwell | Clerkenwell Green | Wednesday 3 December, 4pm to 7pm |
| Cally | Freeling Street and Jean Stokes Community Centre, N1 0DX | Saturday 6 December, 2pm to 5pm |
| Chapel Market | Chapel Market, N1 | Saturday 6 December, 12 noon to 3pm |
The same page listed Archway Library’s Christmas Cracker afternoon (Sunday 30 November 2025, from 3pm, no booking) and a St Paul’s park Christmas event with a bouncy castle and wreath making (Wednesday 17 December 2025, 4pm to 6pm, N1 2PT). The council has not yet announced whether the town-centre events return in 2026, or on which dates. The Angel switch-on is covered separately on our Islington Christmas lights switch-on page.
Islington Square festive market
Last year Islington Square, at 116 Upper Street, N1 1QP, ran a weekly festive market every Saturday from 29 November to 20 December 2025, 11am to 5pm, with craft activities, independent retailers and live music, according to the council’s Islington Life listing. Islington Square has not yet published anything for 2026.
Regular markets worth a Christmas visit
The council’s Islington Life magazine points Christmas shoppers to Chapel Market and Nag’s Head Market for food, warm clothing and handmade gifts, Camden Passage for vintage, Whitecross Market, and Archway Market, held every Wednesday and Saturday, for crafts and second-hand books. Last December it also ran an Archway Christmas Treasure Trail, with flyers from Archway Market or the library.
Carols and a canal-side Christmas evening
The London Canal Museum’s adults’ evening, Carols and Ices, is on Thursday 10 December 2026, with carols in the old ice well and short boat trips to see the King’s Cross lights. Details are on our London Canal Museum at Christmas page.
Still to be confirmed
- Late October to mid-November: Islington Council’s 2026 festive street events, which it listed on Islington Life last year.
- November: Islington Square’s 2026 festive market dates.
- For Santa visits and grottos, see Santa in Islington. For shows, see Islington pantomime and Christmas shows.
Have your say