Bedford's first Christmas market is at the Corn Exchange on 15 November, £3. Then Woburn Sands on 29 November and Shuttleworth House on 5-6 December, free.

Bedford does not have a chalet-style continental Christmas market. What it has is a run of one and two-day craft markets, and three of them are confirmed for 2026: a Christmas Craft & Flea market inside the Corn Exchange on Sunday 15 November, the Woburn Sands Christmas Fayre on Sunday 29 November, and the free Christmas market at Shuttleworth House, Old Warden, on 5 and 6 December.

The quick answer

  • Sunday 15 November, Bedford Corn Exchange, 11am to 4pm: Bedford’s Christmas Craft & Flea Market, £3, under-12s free.
  • Sunday 29 November, Woburn Sands High Street: the Woburn Sands Christmas Fayre, with stalls, street food, a funfair and Santa.
  • Saturday 5 and Sunday 6 December, Shuttleworth House, 10am to 4pm: more than 45 stalls, free entry.
  • Not announced yet: the council’s Christmas weekend in Harpur Square. In 2025 it ran on 6 and 7 December.

Bedford’s Christmas Craft & Flea Market, Corn Exchange

Craft and Flea, which runs makers markets in towns across the country, has listed a Christmas market at Bedford Corn Exchange on Sunday 15 November 2026, 11am to 4pm. It is in the town centre at St Paul’s Square, MK40 1SL.

  • Entry is £3. Under-12s are free and do not need a ticket.
  • The ticket time is an arrival time only. You can stay as long as you like. Pre-booked tickets get priority entry.
  • No refunds, according to the listing.
  • What is on sale: handmade, hand-designed and vintage goods only. The organisers screen stall applications and name ceramics, illustrations, candles, jewellery and vintage collections as typical. They also say they cannot promise which traders will attend, so do not travel for one stall.

The same organiser ran its regular makers market in the Corn Exchange on 22 March this year, so this is a repeat venue, not a first try.

Woburn Sands Christmas Fayre, Sunday 29 November

The Woburn Sands Christmas Fayre takes over the High Street in Woburn Sands, on the Milton Keynes side of the county border, on Sunday 29 November 2026. The organisers list live music, street food on “Santa Street”, craft and community stalls, a funfair, a raffle, a lighting ceremony and the chance to meet Santa.

The fayre’s site gives the date but not yet the times; we will add them when they are published. It is free to walk in, as a street event.

Christmas Market at Shuttleworth House, 5 and 6 December

Shuttleworth’s Christmas market fills Shuttleworth House, the Jacobean-style mansion at Old Warden, SG18 9DT, on Saturday 5 and Sunday 6 December 2026, 10am to 4pm.

  • Entry is free, with more than 45 craft and gift stalls.
  • New this year: a marquee outside the house for more traders and caterers, added, Shuttleworth says, because of the market’s popularity.
  • Parking is free but limited, and on grass. Follow the stewards.
  • Buggies are not allowed inside the house. Leave them outside if dry, or in the front hall if wet. Only assistance dogs are allowed indoors.
  • Mulled wine and food are on sale, with limited indoor seating.

The market falls on the opening weekend of Shuttleworth in Lights, the illuminated evening trail, so a daytime market and an evening trail can be one trip. Our Shuttleworth in Lights page has the trail’s dates and prices.

Harpur Square: the town centre’s Christmas weekend

This is the one most people mean by “the Bedford Christmas market”, and its 2026 dates are not yet published.

In 2025, Bedford Borough Council’s festive programme put Bedford Flea and Affordable Art and Local Produce in Harpur Square on Saturday 6 and Sunday 7 December, with around 30 local crafters inside the Harpur Suite, a big screen showing Christmas films from 10am to 8pm, a bar and food. That release came out in early November, and the council’s Christmas page is still the 2025 one: bedford.gov.uk/christmas redirects to its 2025 Christmas and New Year page. We will add the 2026 dates when the council publishes them.

Bedford Flea’s own 2026 schedule runs on the second Sunday of each month from April to November. Its last market of the season is Sunday 8 November, 10am to 3pm, in St Paul’s Square rather than Harpur Square, and early enough for Christmas shopping.

Smaller markets to watch for

  • Kempston: in 2025 Kempston Town Council’s lights switch-on at the Saxon Centre, Sunday 30 November, came with Christmas art and craft stalls. The 2026 date is not out; our Christmas lights page will carry it.
  • Bedford Heights, Brickhill Drive, MK41 7PH: the business centre’s Christmas market page is open to the public and gives 27 November, 11.30am to 2.30pm, but no year. That was the 2025 date, so treat 2026 as unconfirmed.

Getting there and parking

The Corn Exchange is in the town centre, a few minutes’ walk from the main car parks; Sunday is the easy day to park. Our page on parking in Bedford has car park prices and free hours, and the roadworks and travel page lists closures. Shuttleworth is at Old Warden, near Biggleswade, SG18 9DT, with its own free parking on the market days.

For everything else on in the next six weeks, see What’s On in Bedford. The panto is on our Bedford pantomime page.

Checked on 6 October 2026 against each organiser’s own page. This page will be updated as the council and Kempston publish their Christmas programmes.

Sources