Winter Glow: Review And All You Need To Know About the 2026 Event
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Winter Glow 2026 launches at the Three Counties Showground in Malvern on 20th November. The event runs until 31st December 2026. This festive event is easy to get to from around the West Midlands, and it’s a great way to kick off the festive period. With a light trail, festive ice rink, UV glow crazy golf, fairground rides, dog friendly dates and personalised Santa experiences, Winter Glow makes a fantastic Christmas day. Plus, The indoor Christmas market, bar and food stalls are all free to visit and soak up the festive atmosphere. My review of the event is below, plus everything you need to know before you visit.
Winter Glow 2026 at a Glance: Everything You Need to Know
Yes, but on on specific dates only.
This year, the light trail is dog friendly on 20th and 21st November, 14-17 and 27-31 December. There’s a special Santa Paws event allowing dogs to meet Father Christmas from 14th to 17th December 2026
Winter Glow 2026 runs from 20th November to 31 December 2026.
Winter Glow takes place at the Three Counties Showground in Malvern, Worcestershire.
The cost depends on which Winter Glow experience you want to visit, as the light trail, Santa experience, ice skating and other attractions are booked separately. You can buy a combination ticket if you want to go to a few different things. You can also go free to the market and food hall and the fairground rides are charged separately to the entry tickets. Ticket prices can also vary by date and session, so check the latest prices when booking.
Allow around three or four hours if you want to enjoy several of the Winter Glow attractions. We usually arrive at around 6pm and leave by around 9.30pm but the time absolutely flies by. How long you spend at Winter Glow will depend on which experiences you book and whether you want to spend time in the food and drink hall or going on fairground rides.
Absolutely! We have taken our girls every year since it started and they enjoy it just as much as grumpy teens as they did as younger kids. It’s also fine to go as adults without kids, there’s plenty for everyone to do. Some attractions do have minimum age requirements such as the ice skating.
Yes. Winter Glow has a personalised Santa experience, including a Winter Village, activities with Mrs Claus and the elves, a visit to Santa’s workshop, a personalised meeting with Father Christmas and a gift for each child.
Yes. Winter Glow’s illuminated light trail is wheelchair friendly and they also have quieter, less busy sensory sessions on specific dates. If you have specific accessibility requirements, it is worth checking the latest accessibility information with Winter Glow before booking.
I think so, particularly if you are looking for a Christmas event where you can combine several activities in one visit and just book the things you want to do. We enjoy Winter Glow every year, it has become one of our Christmas traditions. Which attractions are worth paying for will depend on your family, so I’ve included my full first-hand review below to help you decide.
Winter Glow Review: Ice Rink
One of the largest covered ice rinks in the region will soon be opening at Winter Glow 2026. Skate aids are available for families and there’s a large spectator area and café with festive drinks and snacks. Skate hire is included in the price of your 45 minute session and there’s an extra charge for skate aids.
There’s a 15 minute break between each skate session when staff sweep the ice. It’s advisable to arrive around half an hour early for your session to collect skates in plenty of time. Fifteen minutes before your session, the previous session will be coming off the ice and getting back into their shoes. So, to avoid queuing it’s best to collect skates before then.
We always enjoy ice skating at Winter Glow. The skate aids make it much easier for little ones to get involved in the fun. This is the first year I’ve refused to let Lia have one because she is like Bambi on ice. It was worth making her cope without one though. I think having been skating every year since she could walk, her balance is finally improving!
Winter Glow 2026: Illuminated light trail
The Winter Glow light trail has become somewhat iconic over the years. It is definitely the signature attraction. Every year is better than the last, with new displays popping up each time. There’s always a theme and a story to read as you walk around. This year, some precious stones have gone missing, and visitors are tasked with helping Jingle the elf to find them.
Children have to read the information on their way around and press buttons that light up clues. Old favourite Winter Glow features regularly come back too, including the signature cathedral arch for the ultimate selfie. The whole light trail is outdoors so we definitely advise wrapping up warm. Particularly as you’ll want to take your time on the trail, reading all the information and taking some beautiful photos.
The illuminations each year combine favourites from the past with brand new displays. Both my children and others walking through at the same time enjoyed reading the clues. For kids, the story elevates the experience from looking at something beautiful to going on an adventure. Lots of Christmas music plays as you are walking around too, it certainly gets you into the festive spirit!
Personalised Santa Experience
Children are invited to meet Santa arrive at his huge workshop full of toys and festive cheer to chat to the elves before meeting the man himself. Every child receives a gift and one of Mrs Claus’ fresh cookies to decorate. Parents can enjoy a mulled wine while kids decorate their cookies and children are offered either a hot chocolate or an apple juice. Families visit Santa together and the elves are happy to take a photo of you all with your camera or phone. Santa experiences are available from 20th November to 24th December 2026. This year, there’s a Santa Plus experience as well with a sprinkle of added magic.
Father Christmas’s village and workshop at Winter Glow are brilliant fun. Children can fill in a piece of paper answering questions to receive a little prize. Elves help out on a craft table where kids can make a beautiful tree decoration and games are available to play too. My husband and I played giant connect 4 and a slingshot board game while the children did some crafts. We always love the singing reindeer too. Waiting for Santa was no chore at all. When it was time to see him, we were called through as a family and the children had to knock on the door to let him know we were there.
Santa knew lots about the girls and had a lovely chat about the instruments they have started to play over the past few months. Although my children are too old to believe that this was the real Santa, it was still a fun experience to meet and chat with him. I thought he pitched it quite well for their age group (8 and 10). The gifts from Santa were really good this year and my girls were genuinely delighted. Libby had a Jump It Lap Counter and Lia had a Slushy Maker.
UV Glow Crazy Golf
UV Glow Crazy Golf is back for Winter Glow 2026. There’s an 18-hole crazy golf course that glows in the dark thanks to UV lights. My girls loved the way the UV made their teeth light up too! The decorations around the course are really cute and it’s a great way to spend an hour as a family. Even for families like mine who are absolutely shocking at crazy golf!
Groups tee off every 10 minutes, so you won’t be waiting for the group in front or getting caught up by those behind you. As well as booking in advance, you can join the standby queue to take part on the day. Balls and putters are provided.
Dog Friendly Winter Glow Dates
I love the way that Winter Glow include the dogs in their celebrations. This year, the light trail is dog friendly on 20th and 21st November, 14-17 and 27-31 December. Dogs must be kept on a short lead and well behaved.
There’s even a special Santa Paws event from 14th to 17th December 2026. Dogs can meet Santa for a family photo. Visit the bakery where Mrs Claus has made a special treat for them and receive lots of fuss from the dog loving members of staff.
Winter Glow: Additional attractions
Like last year, entry to Winter Glow is free if you don’t want to book any of the attractions. With parking free as well, it’s a really nice way to spend an evening. If you choose to do this, you can enjoy the following and the only cost is whatever you choose to buy:
Fairground Rides
There are usually fairground rides for older children as well as little ones. There’s no sign of the big wheel being there this year, but I have a feeling it was added to the website quite late last year, so it could still happen. In the meantime, you can whizz around on the waltzer and twister, try not to fall over in the fun house and bounce on the Trampolines. There are a few rides aimed at younger children as well. To go on the rides, you’ll need to purchase tokens first as they don’t accept cash at the ride entrance.
Festive Food Quarter and Ice Café
A variety of are always available in the food quarter, so there’s plenty of choice. Including pizza slices, gyros, burgers, chips, Yorkshire pudding wraps and a vast array of sweet treats. I thought the prices were relatively reasonable last year at around £8 to £10 for an adult meal. My girls highly recommend the halloumi gyros! I would strongly advise leaving plenty of time if you have a few activities booked, so you have time for the lovely craft market and delicious food.
Mulled wine is readily available from the ice café and bar which made us feel particularly festive. Beer and other drinks are on sale too. There’s plenty of indoor seating for the food this year, and it feels a bit warmer indoors than previous years but I’d still advise wrapping up warm if you’re going there to eat and drink.
Christmas Market
Within the same area as the food, bar, ice rink, ice café and UV golf is a small Christmas Market. It’s a great place to pick up unique gifts from local traders. Stalls include:
- Jewellery
- Soap
- Artwork
- Christmas decorations and cards
- Sweets, cakes and chocolates
- Candles and accessories
- Gifts for home and garden
- Books
This is a lovely way to support local traders and make an evening of Christmas shopping along with enjoying the other Winter Glow attractions.
Winter Glow 2026: Good To Know
- Tickets: Winter Glow tickets must be booked in advance from the Winter Glow Website. Each element of the experience needs to be booked separately.
- When is Winter Glow taking place? 20th November to 31st December 2026 but do check the dates of particular attractions. The Christmas market is only open on select dates, finishing on Christmas Eve and the Father Christmas experience also ends on Christmas Eve.
- Accessibility: The event seems very accessible, particularly for those in manual chairs. Manual wheelchairs can go on the ice rink and on the observation wheel. Santa’s grotto is also accessible for manual wheelchairs. The majority of the paths on the illumination trail are wide, hard-standing and fine for wheelchairs and buggies. However, there will be a few slightly uneven parts.
- Quieter sessions: Winter Glow offer quieter sessions with reduced capacity. Dates: 27th November and 4th, 11th and 18th December 2026.
- Sensory Friendly Light Trail: Sensory friendly light trail sessions take place on 27th November and 4th, 11th and 18th December 2026.
- Sensory Friendly Ice Skating: 4th, 11th, 18th and 27th December 2026
- Parking: There is a large, free car park at Winter Glow.
- What to wear: It is important to wrap up warm for Winter Glow. The illuminated light trail is outside, as are many of the fairground rides including the big wheel. Wellies or other strong footwear are advisable as it does get muddy in places although the majority of the light trail is on hardstanding paths. Winter Glow also advise wrapping up warm for ice skating although it is indoors, because it takes place on real ice.
- Other Christmas events in the local area: Head to my roundup post for more Christmas events in Worcestershire.
Oh that looks and sounds amazing. Not too far to travel either and sounds something that my boys would enjoy even now they are older. Shame the sensory sessions are all within school hours – hopefully some of the children aren’t back until after the 3rd of Jan session.
Yes that’s true actually, it would be really helpful to have some sensory sessions outside of school hours. It is a lovely event though, definitely worth going to with older children.
Nat.x
A great review and lovely pictures. Although it’s not for me, I will recommend it to friends .
Thank you Linda, it was a lovely evening.
Winter Glow sounds like an absolutely magical experience! I love how you highlighted the variety of activities, from the ice rink to the illuminated light trail, UV crazy golf, and the personalized Santa experience. It’s great to see such a wide range of attractions for all ages, and the inclusion of dog-friendly dates is a lovely touch. Your review captures the festive atmosphere perfectly, from the food and Christmas market to the fun fairground rides and unique experiences like the craft table and giant gingerbread man. It’s clear that Winter Glow offers something for everyone and is an ideal way to get into the holiday spirit!