Bishop Auckland Christmas Town- A Full Guide to visiting

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Bishop Auckland’s Christmas Town is definitely not one to be missed! This years event has been fantastically organised by BACCANALIA alongside Bridge Creative CIC. and made possible by funding from Bishop Auckland Town Council and other supporters.

WHY VISIT??

Are you looking for an evening wander taking in the sounds and sights of Christmas, enjoying some delicious food and drinks and perhaps a bit of retail therapy whilst supporting local? 🍔 🌯🚶‍♀️

Or do you fancy a catch up with friends, some festive evening entertainment and a few drinks in a warm cosy but fun atmosphere? 🥂 🔥 🎶

OR…have you got kids at home driving you mad because they are bored, but you want somewhere that’s got something for everyone to enjoy with minimal stress or hassle? 🎠 🎡 🕺

If the answer is YES… then Bishop Auckland Christmas Town has you well and truly covered! 🤩

This years event is running from Thursday 4th- Sunday 7th December 2025.

Based off previous years you can expect to find a Christmas Market with a good variety of local business stalls selling crafts, gifts and food vendors selling festive and street food and drink. As well as live music and singers at the Christmas bandstand, walkabout entertainment, traditional rides, indoor makers market and more! It is FREE Entry to enjoy the music, festive installations and browse the Christmas market. A fab atmosphere and great photo ops whilst ticking off a few Christmas gifts and supporting local!

Last year activities were all ticketed seperately with free entry to the market, but this year they have introduced an all inclusive pricing system. Here’s the details;

Option 1-Christmas Town Golden Pass

Cost? From £10 per person

Unlimited access to all of the below on your chosen day(s):

• Unlimited ice skating

• Unlimited fairground rides

• Access to our Giant Tipis

• Live entertainment and shows in the Tipis

• Add Santa's Grotto from £4 per child, and £1 per adult

  
  

  Option 2- Tipi & Tidings Pass

• Cost? From £5 per person

  Explore the markets, then cosy up in the heated Tipis, includes:

• Priority access to the Tipis

• Live entertainment and evening shows in the Tipis

• Souvenir Christmas Town cup

  
  

Here’s the highlights of what’s on offer and our review of each attraction based on our visit last year (2024)

1️⃣ GIANT HEATED TIPI

This was definitely the highlight for us. I think it’s what brought the entire event together and it wouldnt be the same without it. Being able to enjoy the rides, browse the stalls and grab some food and then head to the tipi to warm up and enjoy our food with the kids, but still enjoy the atmosphere and music was just perfect.

It’s heated with smokeless fire pits which added to the cosy ambience of the place. I thought it was looking very pretty and festive with the ceiling decor and twinkling lights draping down the sides of the tipi.

There’s a fully stocked bar in here so you don’t need to go far if you fancy a hot chocolate (or something stronger!)

Later on in the evenings on certain nights they have shows on (included with both pass options). This is great if you are a group of friends looking to meet up for a festive show and a few drinks or even families with older kids. The show’s were more aimed at adults last year but this year they are all family friendly, and they don’t require prebooking. Priority access to the Tipi’s will be given to those with a Tipi’s and Tidings pass though.

You could enjoy wandering the Christmas markets first and some grab tasty food from one of the many vendors, then head to the tipi to watch a show. A great evening..sorted!

2️⃣ FERRIS WHEEL

My two year old absolutely loved this. It was his first time on a Ferris Wheel and the excitement and smiles from him each time it went up was just priceless, no fear at all! He loved it that much he ran straight back round again when we got off to go back on again! My friends daughter Aoife came on too and battled her fear of heights, the excitement must have rubbed off on her. And the views from the top overlooking all of the Christmas Town were fab too! What I would say is that children need to support themselves sitting up as the seat belt only goes across your lap. Leo sits quite well so I was confident he would be ok, but I still had an arm round him keeping him sat back. There is a barrier in front but you still need to hold them as it’s got a wide gap.

For an attraction for all the family to enjoy together young and old this is ideal.

3️⃣ CAROUSEL

A traditional style carousel, this was the perfect addition to this year’s attractions. It was one of the first attractions we came to when walking down to the market square from Fore Bondgate, located right next to the giant tipi, the two together looked great and VERY festive.

It was really lit up well and colourful, and a lovely sight to see with children enjoying the ride and their grown ups watching and waving as they went round. Our kids were getting excited seeing it too, and it was a great way to be welcomed into Christmas Town. We really knew we had arrived!!

Again a good option if there’s a few of you both young and old as there were some carriages to sit in if there were a few of you or with younger kids, as well as many horses. Our older two sat on horses in front as they are too cool for us 😎 whilst we were behind in a carriage with my two year old.

4️⃣ FOOD AND DRINK

There was SO much choice of food vendors. To name a few there were chicken burgers and smashed beef burgers, loaded fries, Greek food, German hot dogs , fried chicken and Arabian food …with many of them offering a festive option too! There were even some even cold savoury options too if you just fancied a light bite, like homemade scotch eggs!

We chose hot dogs with fries for my kids and myself to share from Memories or the Black Forest-a German food vendors. Then my friend got smashed cheese burgers and chips from Alpine 21 for her and her daughter. I also ordered chicken burger with bacon and cheese from Chicken Little to take home for my husband, as I couldn’t leave him out. We all agreed it all tasted really good! You might just want to share a portion if you have young kids though as they were all decent portion sizes. There really was a good choice and a few also catered for some allergens too.

And if you have a sweet tooth or just enjoy something a little sweet after your meal then there are plenty of sweet treats vendors too. Including pancakes, doughnuts, brownies, pick and mix sweets and more! Again a few catering to dairy and gluten free.

And to quench your thirst there was a mulled wine stall as well as a coffee van selling hot chocolate, tea and various coffee options along with soft drinks to purchase from most vendors. We really enjoyed our hot chocolates from Horsepitality. And they kindly gave us some warmed milk for Leo for just 50p.

5️⃣ MAKERS MARKET (AND FAMILY CRAFTS)

UPDATE FOR 2025- This doesn’t appear to be happening indoors for 2025, there will be local handmade gifts stalls but in the market place along with the other stalls.

This was a great place and we spotted it at just the right time, especially when it had started to rain a bit as it was indoors! It was free to visit as located at No.42 next to the Carousel. This was a nice quiet space to walk round with some more stalls with lots of lovely handmade gifts! It was also a good option if you wanted to go somewhere a little quieter. After we had walked round the stalls, there were some family crafts to take part in for free and create a Christmas card to take home with using ink stamps and a press machine. We came back later to collect to let them dry, so I’d recommend doing this nearer to the start of your visit. The crafts may vary what’s on offer but I thought this was such a nice idea! Leo didn’t take part in this but great for our 8 year olds.

6️⃣ FESTIVE PROPS AND PHOTO OPS

There were a lot of photo opportunities with festive props and decor. From a decorated arch with the Christmas tree behind to lots of twinkling lights everywhere. There is also a teee festival inside St Anne’s Church and a cute nativity display just outside. And some festively dressed characters on stilts roaming around to interact with and get some selfies with them!

My favourite creation has to be the Noel sign created by Creative. Such beautiful colours and the fact it’s made from recycled materials too is even more amazing! And of course the festive town overall is perfect for lots of photo opportunities and selfies too!

7️⃣ CHRISTMAS MARKET GIFT STALLS

Lots of handmade gifts and home decor, including ornaments, tree decorations, plants and jewellery. They also had some food and drinks gift stalls too including cheese and chutneys with a huge variety and tempting flavours. There were cheese tasting samples available to try which led to my friend buying a few as she loved them so much! And there was a sweet stall too which offered lots of sweet gifts and also some toys for kids. I personally thought there was a good variety for a Christmas market in a small town.

8️⃣ CHARACTER MEET AND GREET SESSIONS

There are not happening for 2025 but they are offering some additional events which can be prebooked without a pass. I will share below under ‘New Additions for 2025’

We did this in 2023 and it was such good fun for little ones! If you have active kids and that aren’t too shy they will love it. There’s music, dancing, games with your favourite characters along with photo opportunities at the end. This is held indoors so again it’s a good option to get out the cold for a bit but for something active for the kids if they aren’t ready to just relax in the tipi.

9️⃣SANTAS GROTTO AND ICE SKATING

We haven’t took part in these two attractions yet.

Here’s the info for 2025;

Santas Grotto is an optional extra at £5 per child (includes one accompanying adult). You must have purchased a Golden Pass first.

Ice Skating is included with The Golden Pass for unlimited turns at no extra cost.

The Ice Skating Rink was located just in front of the town hall next to the Christmas tree. It did feel a bit out of the way and not very inviting or lit up on evenings by the other attractions due to where it was. I almost missed it when looking for it. During the day however it may be better. It’s definitely an option though if you have older kids and I’m sure they would enjoy it but I personally wouldn’t make a visit here just for this. They also offer skating aids too including aaccessible seats and penguins did little ones to hold onto, they are free to use but subject to availability on the day. Under 8s must be accompanied and 8-13 year olds must have an adult in nearby sight. I’m hoping it’s in a better more lit up area for 2025.

ADDITIONAL ATTRACTIONS FOR 2025

-Vintage Skid Ride - Included with Golden Pass.

-Giant Snow Globe- Free for everyone to enjoy.

-The Christmas Town Parade. Free for everyone to enjoy. Happening on Friday- 8pm until Midnight.

-Breakfast with Santa- Seperate Cost -passes aren’t required.

-Baby Meets Santa - Seperate Cost - passes aren’t required.

-Portal to The North Pole - Free for everyone to enjoy.

-The Big Christmas Quiz- Thursday 7pm-10pm- Free for everyone to enjoy.

To check up the full info including the line up of entertainment in the Giant Tipis click here

ACCESSIBILITY

The effort gone into making it accessible really stood out to me. All of the attractions and the site were step free to enable wheelchairs to get around and see as much as possible and even the ride operators were doing what they could to help those with accessibility needs.

There have been a few changes for 2025 but based on feedback from last year and to improve it even more. Here’s what you can expect;

↪️An accessible queuing system will be in place for attractions.

🆓Complimentary Tickets provided for personal assistant (proof required such as PIP letter or Blue Badge for the paying visitor who requires support-more info and other suitable documentation stated on their website)

🚾There are accessible toilets at the giant tipi and town hall as well as a few other places on the site.

🅿️ Accessible parking is available at North Bondgate Car Park (approx 50m from the Market Place) and at the Newgate Centre Multi Storey with lift access.

😌 Sensory-friendly hours where there will be reduced noise and a calmer atmosphere. These will be at 4-5pm on Thursday and Friday, and 10am-11am on Saturday and Sunday.

You can let them know of any specific access requirements before the event via email at

info@bishopaucklandschristmastown.co.uk.

Any further queries, you can also call them on 01388 540823

LOCATION

Here is a handy map showing the location of everything for 2024 including toilets:

These images are from BACCANALIA on their Bishop Auckland Christmas Town Page.

PARKING

We parked in North Bondgate Car Park. Personally I found this easier to find and to get to most of the attractions Christmas Town when comparing to parking at Newgate Shopping Centre last year. Also I would recommend it for disabled parking as the disabled bays are just over the road from the market square where Christmas town is held (if you drive down to the bottom end of the car park). And also you aren’t relying on the lifts working. The parking costs were reasonable too. We paid 60p as we arrived after 4pm. During the day it’s a flat rate of £3.50 if longer than 2 hours. I don’t believe these have changed for 2025.

PUBLIC TRANSPORT

You can get a bus from Darlington Tubwell Row (stand H/J) to Newgate Street in Bishop Auckland with Arriva North East. It’s then a 5-10 minute walk to the market place.

Trains also run direct from Darlington to Bishop Auckland Train Station, but this is around a 15 minute walk from the market place. It’s further down on Newgate Street.

OTHER USEFUL INFO

-Dogs on leads are welcome

-Card payments are preferred but some traders will accept cash

-The historic Fore-Bondgate which leads up to the market place has many independent shops to browse too if you want to do some more shopping whilst visiting.

(You walk down this street when parking in North Bondgate Car park if you are parked in the top end of the car park. You pass a colourful wall mural, pretty lights above and bollards with knitted decorations on too so it’s a nice way to walk down to the market place).

OUR OVERALL THOUGHTS

We had such a great time! I personally do struggle with crowds or anywhere chaotic but even though there was the hustle and bustle expected at an event like this it somehow still felt relaxed and enjoyable. Having the giant tipi to relax and warm up in and knowing there were quiet spaces if needed is a huge bonus.

It was also great to see so many small local businesses involved in the market stalls.

And I think the mixture of free and affordable attractions was great. You could choose to just visit and enjoy the festive atmosphere and music whilst browsing the stalls and enjoying some food in the warmth of the tipi, with just the cost of your food!! (And maybe a little gift from one of the lovely stalls to treat yourself, it is nearly Christmas after all 😉)

Or you could make it a full family outing or catch up with friends with lots of fun for everyone without spending a fortune!

Give it a visit to start off your festivities… You won’t be disappointed!

For updates make sure to give the event organiser, BACCANALIA a follow on their socials at;

FACEBOOK

INSTAGRAM

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This blog article has been written to provide you as the reader with and honest and informative guide to visiting Bishop Auckland Christmas Town.

This guide can be used yearly for a general idea but please check with the event organisers for any updates to prices. I will look to update it next year.

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This blog has been produced by Charlotte Walcott (Business Owner of Family Fun Darlo Mum)

A bit about me- Mum to 2 boys, Kamron-9 and Leo-3. Sharing family days out ideas, family venues and events in Darlington, County Durham, Teesside and Yorkshire.