The market now has permanent permission for up to 25 days a year across a bigger footprint. The council says it will not use it yet: this December still runs 18 days.

Bath Christmas Market has been given permanent planning permission, ending the run of temporary consents it has traded on for years. The council’s Planning Committee approved the application on Wednesday 2 September. The market can now run for up to 25 days a year across a larger footprint of the city (B&NES Council).

It will not do so this year, and the council says it has no plans to do so soon. Its own announcement is blunt about it: the council “has no current plans for immediate expansion or to extend the event from its current 18-day duration”.

What the permission allows

The consent, application 26/02250/REG03, replaces the temporary permission that covered 2022 to 2026 and expires after this December (planning register, B&NES). It sets ceilings rather than a plan:

  • up to 25 days in November and December in any calendar year, against 18 now
  • a maximum of 260 stalls, chalets and catering units, against 210 planned for 2026
  • the option to use Parade Gardens, Queen Square and Kingsmead Square in future years
  • market hours of 10am to 9pm, with servicing and build-up limited to 7am to 9pm

The council says the extra space could in future hold dining, entertainment, family activities and new retail. None of that is committed to. We set out the officer’s case, the objections and the heritage findings when the application went to committee, in our report on the 25-day plan.

This December is unchanged

The 2026 market runs for 18 days, from Thursday 26 November to Sunday 13 December, on the market’s own published dates. Opening hours are:

  • Monday to Wednesday: 10am to 7pm
  • Thursday to Saturday: 10am to 8pm
  • Sunday: 10am to 6pm

Bath residents get in first. The organisers list a Residents’ Preview Evening on Wednesday 25 November, 5pm to 7pm, the night before the market opens to everyone, and Discovery Card holders can use trader offers Monday to Friday (Bath Christmas Market).

Chalet construction runs 8am to 6pm, seven days a week, and the organisers say road closure details will be published closer to the time. They have not been published yet.

Two sets of the council’s own figures

The press release announcing the approval says the market “boosts the local economy by up to £64m each year” and “attracts more than 440,000 visitors”.

The officer’s report that recommended the approval, written for the same council weeks earlier, used different numbers. It said the market attracts over 430,000 visitors a year and generates an average spend in the city of £50.7 million.

These are not the same measurement. “Average spend in the city” and “boosts the local economy by up to” describe different things, and the higher figure is capped with an “up to”. The release does not say how the £64m is calculated, or how it relates to the £50.7m the committee was given, and no working for it has been published.

The same market, two council figures Money £50.7m average spend in the city (officer's report) up to £64m boost (press release) Visitors a year over 430,000 (officer's report) more than 440,000 (press release) Sources: officer's report on 26/02250/REG03, B&NES Planning Committee, 2 September 2026; B&NES press release, 2 September 2026. Graphic by Bath Daily
Bars are drawn to scale within each pair. The two sets of figures measure different things, and the council has not published a reconciliation.

The trader and visitor breakdown in the release is more specific, and more checkable against the market itself. It says 65 per cent of traders come from the Bath area and 85 per cent from the South West, that 71 per cent of visitors also spend in the city’s shops, cafes, restaurants and attractions, and that 91 per cent of staying visitors would consider coming back to Bath at another time of year.

The conditions that still bite every year

A permanent permission does not hand the council a free run. Three conditions mean it comes back to the planning system each autumn:

  • a Construction Management Plan must be approved before each year’s market
  • a Traffic and Access Management Plan must be approved before each year’s market
  • details of structures, lighting, visitor control and grass repair in Parade Gardens must be submitted before it is used at all

The officer’s report found the market causes “less than substantial” harm to the World Heritage Site, the Bath Conservation Area, listed buildings across the city and Parade Gardens, a Grade II registered park. Going from 18 days to 25 was not judged to make that harm any worse. Councillors accepted that case.

Councillor Manda Rigby, cabinet member for Communications and Community, said the decision “secures the future of this hugely popular, internationally recognised event”.

What it means for you

If you live in the city centre, nothing changes for this December. The dates, the hours and the footprint are as they were going to be. What has changed is 2027 onwards: the council no longer needs a fresh application to run a longer market, or to put chalets in Parade Gardens or Queen Square. It would still have to get each year’s traffic plan signed off first.

If you object to a longer market, the point to make it is now the annual traffic and construction plans, not a planning application, because there will not be another one.

Planning a visit this year: Manvers Street is due to reopen on 20 November, six days before the market starts, and our roadworks and travel page has the current closures, the rail engineering weekends and park and ride fares. Parking in Bath covers the charges that changed on 25 August.

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