The Rotary lantern parade sets off at 6.15pm on Thursday 24 December, before Carols in the High Street and Santa's send-off. What is confirmed and what is not.

Leighton Buzzard’s Christmas Eve lantern parade sets off at 6.15pm on Thursday 24 December 2026, on the High Street, and leads into the Rotary Club’s Carols in the High Street. Leighton Linslade Rotary Club gives the time and place on its 2026 poster. It has not yet published a time for the carols themselves or a route for the parade. (Leighton Linslade Rotary Club, Make a Lantern!)

The quick answer

  • Is it on this year? Yes. The Rotary Club’s poster, posted on 17 September 2026, says “Lantern Parade, Christmas Eve, 6.15 pm, Leighton Buzzard High Street”.
  • What it is: a parade of home-made paper lanterns, then a carol sing-along on the High Street, then Santa’s send-off, which the club calls “the traditional departure of Santa on his worldwide mission”.
  • Cost: the club lists no ticket for watching. A lantern kit is £8.50 if you want to carry one.
  • Not yet published for 2026: the carols start time, the parade route, and any road closures. Last year the parade reached the stage by 7pm (details below).

What is confirmed for 2026

The Rotary Club’s 2026 poster gives these facts, and nothing more about the evening itself: (Leighton Linslade Rotary Club, Make a Lantern!)

  • Lantern parade: Christmas Eve, 6.15pm, Leighton Buzzard High Street.
  • This year’s theme: “The Heart of Christmas”.
  • Lantern kits: £8.50 each, booking required. Under-16s must be with an adult.
  • Lantern-making workshops were held at Leighton Buzzard Library on Wednesday 28 and Thursday 29 October, in half term. Both dates have passed.

The club’s Lantern Parade page describes the evening as a whole: the lantern parade takes place “prior to the Carol singing and the traditional departure of Santa on his worldwide mission”. It says people can make a lantern at a workshop or buy the kit online. (Leighton Linslade Rotary Club, Lantern Parade)

Carols in the High Street is one of the club’s two biggest events. The Rotary Club says it and the May Fayre now attract “vast crowds”. (Leighton Linslade Rotary Club, Community Activities)

Can I still make a lantern?

Possibly, but the club has not said how. Both 2026 workshops were in October half term, and the poster asks people to scan its QR code or email to book. If you want a kit now, email the club at lanterns@leightonlinsladerotary.com and ask whether kits are still on sale and where to collect them. We will add any later workshops or kit sales here when the club publishes them.

From last year’s rules, which may change: lanterns are lit with battery fairy lights, not candles, which are banned for safety. The kit did not include the lights. The bamboo canes to carry the lanterns were handed out on the night. (WeGotTickets, Leighton Buzzard Lantern Project 2025)

How it worked last year

2025 was the first lantern parade. The Rotary Club’s ticket listing for it set out the evening, and it is the best guide to 2026 until the club publishes more: (WeGotTickets, Leighton Buzzard Lantern Project 2025)

  1. 6.15pm: lantern makers gathered at All Saints Church, Church Square, and the procession set off.
  2. The parade went through Parsons Close and past the Market Cross.
  3. By 7pm it reached the stage on the High Street, where the Salvation Army played its annual sing-along Christmas carols concert.

Lanterns from people who could not come on the night were carried by someone else, so that every lantern was in the parade. In 2025 the workshops ran on three Saturdays at All Saints; in 2026 they moved to the library in half term.

Getting there and parking

Christmas Eve is a Thursday this year. There is no published road closure order for the parade yet; we check the council’s notices every week and will add one here if it appears. Car parks and tariffs are on our parking page, and current closures are on the roadworks and travel page. Christmas and New Year train changes are on our Christmas trains page.

More on Christmas Eve in Leighton Buzzard

  • Santa on Christmas Eve: the Rotary Club’s Santa float tours the town through December before his send-off from the carols. The railway’s Santa Specials and Christmas at Mead Open Farm also run up to 24 December: see our Santa page and railway Christmas page.
  • The Christmas Festival fills the High Street on four Saturdays before Christmas, from 28 November to 19 December: see our Christmas market page.
  • Carols before Christmas: the Town Mayor’s Carol Concert is at All Saints Church at 7pm on Saturday 12 December, free with a retiring collection. (Leighton-Linslade Town Council) Everything else is on our what’s on this month page.

What we are still waiting for

  • The time of the carols, and who leads them in 2026.
  • The parade’s starting point and route.
  • Any later lantern workshops or kit collection dates.
  • Any road closures on the evening.

This page will be updated as the Rotary Club publishes them. Organising part of the evening, or have a photograph of last year’s parade? Email newsdesk@leightonbuzzardnews.co.uk.

Sources