Fareham's Christmas market is on West Street, 10am to 7pm on Sat 21 Nov, free. Plus Flo's Pop-Up every weekend to 20 Dec, and Portchester and Whiteley dates.

Fareham’s Christmas market is on West Street on Saturday 21 November 2026, from 10am to 7pm, as part of the Christmas lights switch-on, and it is free to walk round. For the rest of the season the town’s festive shopping is indoors: Flo’s Pop-Up @ The Courtyard in Fareham Shopping Centre trades every weekend from 7 November to 20 December, plus two late-night Thursdays in December.

The quick answer

  • Is there a Fareham Christmas market this year? Yes, one day only: Saturday 21 November on West Street, 10am to 7pm, run by Funyard Events. The lights go on at 5.30pm.
  • Every weekend in the run-up: Flo’s Pop-Up in The Courtyard, Saturdays 9am to 5.30pm and Sundays 10am to 4pm, 7 November to 20 December.
  • Portchester: Flo’s Market on Saturday 14 November and Saturday 12 December, 10am to 3pm.
  • Whiteley: two monthly markets, on 8, 15 November and 13, 20 December.
  • There is no multi-week German-style Christmas market in Fareham borough. The nearest big one-day indoor market is in Portsmouth on 7 November.

Christmas markets near Fareham, at a glance

Date Market Where Status
Sat 7 Nov Portsmouth Indoor Christmas Market Mountbatten Centre, Hilsea Confirmed, 10am to 2pm
Sat 7 Nov to Sun 20 Dec Flo’s Pop-Up @ The Courtyard Fareham Shopping Centre Confirmed, weekends
Sun 8 Nov Whiteley Farmers’ Market Market Square car park Confirmed, 10am to 2pm
Sat 14 Nov Flo’s Market Portchester Precinct Confirmed, 10am to 3pm
Sun 15 Nov Dream Empire Market Market Square car park, Whiteley Confirmed, 10am to 4pm
Sat 21 Nov Fareham Lights Switch On Christmas Market West Street, Fareham Confirmed, 10am to 7pm, free
Sun 6 Dec Wickham Christmas Fair Wickham Community Centre Confirmed, 11am to 3pm
Thu 10 and 17 Dec Flo’s Pop-Up, Festive Thursdays Fareham Shopping Centre Confirmed, 9am to 7pm
Sat 12 Dec Flo’s Market Portchester Precinct Confirmed, 10am to 3pm
Sun 13 Dec Whiteley Farmers’ Market Market Square car park Confirmed, 10am to 2pm
Sun 20 Dec Dream Empire Market Market Square car park, Whiteley Confirmed, 10am to 4pm

All dates were read on the organisers’ or Fareham Borough Council’s own pages on 6 October 2026.

West Street, Saturday 21 November

Funyard Events, which organises Fareham’s artisan markets, lists the Fareham Lights Switch On Christmas Market for Saturday 21 November, 10am to 7pm, on West Street, and calls it “the popular annual market”. Fareham Borough Council’s Christmas in Fareham page places the stalls between the children’s play area and Millets.

Both describe the same mix: arts, crafts and gifts from local makers, including homeware, beauty, Christmas decorations, jewellery, fashion, greetings cards and wreaths. Neither publishes a trader list yet.

The market is one part of a bigger day. The council lists a Charles Coles funfair either side of the bandstand, a food area towards Westbury Manor with a bar serving mulled wine and Christmas cocktails, a community stage outside Millets, free children’s activities from 10am to 4pm, and Buskin’ Blitzen music under the bandstand all day. Father Christmas, the Mayor and the Jack and the Beanstalk cast switch the lights on at 5.30pm. The full running order is on our Christmas lights switch-on page.

Shop before 4pm if you want a quiet look at the stalls. The free activities stop at 4pm and the crowd gathers around the bandstand for the countdown after that.

Flo’s Pop-Up @ The Courtyard

The longest-running Christmas market in Fareham this year is indoors. Flo’s Pop-Up takes over The Courtyard, a vacant unit in Fareham Shopping Centre, with Hampshire makers, artisan food and drink, and workshops. It is run by Helen Ruff, who organises the Portchester and Gosport markets; we covered the launch announcement here.

The council’s markets page now gives the full list of trading days:

  • November: Saturday 7 and Sunday 8; Saturday 14 and Sunday 15; Saturday 21 (switch-on day) and Sunday 22; Saturday 28 and Sunday 29.
  • December: Saturday 5 and Sunday 6; Thursday 10 (Festive Thursday); Saturday 12 and Sunday 13; Thursday 17 (Festive Thursday); Saturday 19 and Sunday 20.

Opening hours, from the same page:

  • Saturdays: 9am to 5.30pm.
  • Sundays: 10am to 4pm.
  • Switch-on day, 21 November: 9am to 7.30pm.
  • Festive Thursdays, 10 and 17 December: 9am to 7pm.

That listing is the first council source to give dates for Festive Thursdays 2026. The council’s own Festive Thursdays page still shows last year’s details, so late shop opening hours and any free evening parking for 2026 are not confirmed yet. In 2025 the shopping centre stayed open until 8pm on those evenings and town centre car parks were free from 5pm.

Portchester: Flo’s Market

Flo’s Market is the monthly artisan market in Portchester Precinct, on the second Saturday of each month. The council lists its remaining 2026 dates as Saturday 14 November and Saturday 12 December, 10am to 3pm, with about 40 traders, local coffee, craft beer, live music, a BBQ and free children’s activities. The 12 December market is the last one before Christmas.

Whiteley

Whiteley Shopping lists two monthly markets in the Market Square car park (Whiteley markets):

  • Whiteley Farmers’ Market, second Sunday, 10am to 2pm: Sunday 8 November and Sunday 13 December.
  • Dream Empire Market, a new makers’ market that started in September, third Sunday, 10am to 4pm: Sunday 15 November and Sunday 20 December.

Whiteley held a separate Christmas market in front of Cineworld in December 2025. Its event page carries no 2026 details, so we have not listed it; we will add it if the centre announces one.

Nearby: Portsmouth and Wickham

Portsmouth Indoor Christmas Market, Saturday 7 November, 10am to 2pm. Funyard Events bills this as one of Hampshire’s largest indoor festive shopping events, with more than 100 makers and independent businesses at the Mountbatten Centre, Alex Way, Hilsea (PO2 9QA) (event page). No entry price is published.

Wickham Christmas Fair, Sunday 6 December, 11am to 3pm. Wickham Community Centre, Mill Lane (PO17 5AL), lists stalls, music, food and a visit from Santa (event page). The page is written for stallholders, so it does not say whether visitors pay to get in.

Before Christmas: the October artisan market

Not a Christmas market, but the next Fareham Town Centre Artisan and Farmers’ Market is on Saturday 17 October on West Street. The council gives 10am to 4pm; Fareham Shopping Centre’s events page gives 10am to 7pm. The traditional Monday market runs on West Street every week, 9am to 3pm.

Parking and getting there

Fareham’s town centre car park charges run Monday to Saturday, 8am to 6pm, so switch-on day and the Flo’s Pop-Up Saturdays are chargeable until 6pm. Sundays are cheaper for the pop-up: the outer car parks are free, while the town centre ones still charge from 10.30am to 4pm. Full tariffs and blue badge rules are on our parking in Fareham page.

West Street through the market area is already pedestrianised, so the switch-on needs no road closure. Check roadworks and travel before driving in: the new M27 junction 10 opened in phases from 14 September, but the last slip roads and the lane restrictions between junctions 9 and 11 are not due to finish until later in the autumn and winter.

Father Christmas visits at Garsons and Stewarts in Titchfield are on our Santa’s grotto page, and everything else in the next six weeks is on What’s On in Fareham this month.

What we will update

  • The switch-on market’s trader list, if Funyard Events publishes one.
  • Festive Thursdays 2026 shop hours and free parking, when the council updates its Festive Thursdays page (in 2025 this came on 19 November).
  • Any Whiteley Christmas market for 2026.

Sources