UPDATED! What's On In Sussex: Christmas 2023

Santa in the sky! Brighton Lights! GloWild! Ice Skating! It's all happening in Sussex this Christmas - find out what's on, here!

Christmas Market: Brighton Racecourse, November 25 & 26. Saturday - 11:30am to 6pm and Sunday - 10am to 4pm. Admission £4.50 (first hour) then £3.50. 

Ice Rink in the Park: London Road lorry park, food, drinks and rides. Bognor Regis, November 24 until Jan 2.

Royal Pavilion Ice Rink, Brighton: November 2 until Jan 7

Paradise Park Aglow: Winter Light Trail, Paradise Park, Newhaven. November 6 - Dec 23. Dec 27-31. Selected dates in Jan

GloWild illuminations at Wakehurst: November 23 to Jan 1

Leonardslee Iluminated at Leonardslee Lakes and Gardens: November 24 until December 21

Horsham Christmas Tree Light-Up: Live music, pants stars, food and drink. Piries Place, November 24

Christmas Craft Fair: Stocking fillers, tea, coffee, cakes. Georgian Gardens Community Primary Sch, Rustington, Nov 25, 10am-1pm 

England’s Medieval Christmas Fayre: Michelham Priory, Hailsham. November 25 & 26

Burgess Hill Christmas Lights Switch On: Music, performances, market. November 25 from 11am

Artists Open Houses, Eastbourne: Over 60 artists showcasing and selling their work from their homes and studios across the town. November 25 & 26 and December 2 & 3.

Icon Strings perform The Snowman and other Christmas arrangements, in aid of Ashdown Forest. Ashdown Park Hotel and Country Club, November 26 

Robin Hood panto: Written by and starring member of Reduced Shakespeare member John Pohlhammer with 72 local actors. Bexhill De La Warr Pavilion, November 26.

Fairytale of New York: On stage at the Congress Theatre, Eastbourne. November 30

Little Chelsea’s Festive Fun & Fireworks: An array of stalls along Grove Road and South Street, with children’s rides, street performers, Santa’s Grotto, live music and a firework finale. Eastbourne, Friday, December 1, from 4pm

Christmas Market: Handmade creations by Rother Young Creators at The Studio at the De La Warr Pavilion, December 2 from 10am to 4pm. Entry is free.

Sussex Craft & Design Fair: Handmade stocking fillers, ceramics, textiles, pottery, glasswork, jewellery, artworks and home interiors. Enterprise Shopping Centre, Eastbourne. December 2 & 3

Enchanted Woodland: Light, sound and projections across Hotham Park, Bognor Regis, from December 4 to 17, 3.30-8.30pm. FREE

A Soul Christmas Evening With Roachford. Concorde 2, Brighton. December 5

Christmas Market, market of around 30 stalls selling the best local produce and handcrafted gifts. December 7-10. Eastbourne town centre

Chichester Christmas Cheer Market. Festive stands on North and East Street, city centre.  December 9, 10, 16, 17. 

Lightning Fibre Ice Rink: By the Enterprise Centre, Eastbourne, December 9-31

Glyndebourne Christmas Concert, Glyndebourne, December 9–17

World record attempt for most people dressed as an angel in one place: The Beacon, EWastbourne. Sunday, December 10, 2pm.

Winter Garden Christmas Party Night: Three-course meal, live band, DJ. Eastbourne Winter Garden, December 15.

Winter Pop-Up at Colonade House: Art, craft and design featuring studio members, local artists and creative charities. Handmade gifts. Saturday, December 16, 10am - 5pm

Horrible Histories' Horrible Christmas: The story of how Christmas came to be what it is today - in Horrible Histories style! Brighton Theatre Royal, December 16; Bexhill, De La Warr Pavilion, December 22. Two shows available on each date.

Santa’s Grotto: South Downs Heritage Centre, Hassocks. The grotto, hosted by family-run Tates Garden Centres, helps the Budding Foundation to support children throughout the year who have suffered social deprivation, trauma or disability. Bookings now open.

Santa in the Sky at Brighton at i360: Throughout December meet Santa and his elves, 450 feet above the city. Includes gift for every child. Bookings open now. 

The Brighton Lights - Brighton's First Winter Light Show: One Garden Brighton, Stanmer Park, December 15 to 23.

UPDATED EVERY DAY!

TEN HORRIBLE FACTS ABOUT CHRISTMAS, courtesy of the Horrible Histories crew!

1. William the Conqueror was crowned on Christmas Day but when the guards outside heard a huge cheer they thought a rebellion had started and burnt all the houses in the area.
2. In Greenland they eat a Christmas delicacy called Kiviak which is the body of a seal filled with hundreds of small birds left to ferment for three months. 
3. In 1644 the Puritans banned Christmas, mince pies and going to church (unless it was a Sunday) and ordered all shops to stay open.
4. In a town in Sweden the people celebrate Christmas by burning down a giant figure of a goat.
5. The reason that carol singers knock on your door and pester you is because Medieval priests threw them out of the church, so ever since they sing outside houses instead.
6. An old English custom was to beat children on 28 December to remind them of Herod’s cruelty in massacring all the babies in Bethlehem. 
7. Nativity scenes in Catalonia feature a character doing a poo.
8. The Good King Wenceslas celebrated in the carol was a duke not a king and was chopped into pieces by his mother and brother.
9. The first ever bomb to land on British soil was dropped by a German airship at Christmas 1914.
10. Brussels sprouts are first mentioned in books in 1587 and children have had to suffer them at Christmas ever since.