Christmas in Ramsgate 2024
Ramsgate just got even brighter this Christmas! In its debut year, Ramsgate Lumiere is bringing all our festivities together and adding even more winter magic, with additions such as Light Up Ramsgate and a New Year’s Eve Lantern Parade to make this holiday season truly memorable. I hope you can join us for a celebration that will shine like never before!
As many of you will know, Ramsgate loves to sparkle at Christmas, with the spectacular displays from our boatowners who dress their boats with thousands of lights and the businesses along the harbour side that go all out to twinkle and shine. But this year, we have even more reasons to celebrate, under the banner of Ramsgate Lumiere. In this pilot year, Ramsgate Town Council is delighted to support this new initiative that aims to showcase all of our festive delights and throw in a bit more glitter on our already sparkly town.
There will be one or two extra surprises throughout December but to kick the season off, we will be hosting the Christmas Lights Switch On in Ramsgate Town Centre on Sunday, 24th November from 11am to 5pm. Head on down to town for a family fun day with children’s rides, the handmade fair, an indoor market, facepainting, circus skills with This Bean Spins, lantern-making, crafts, live entertainment including the fabulous Fusion (formerly The Totseys) and of course, Santa will be giving out presents to all the children who complete the Elf Trail (check schoolbags for the flyer or you can download a copy here). This year, we are delighted to have Sugar Rush hosting our Grotto and lots more including an indoor Christmas market, so if you haven’t already, do pop in to the old WH Smiths and see how they are transforming the building into a multi-purpose space for all of the community! Also, hot off the press, there will be another indoor Christmas market on the same day from 10am to 4.30pm at the newly renovated The High Street Hall at 143-147 High Street.
Update, due to Storm Bert, our Switch on will be indoors this year,
see new poster for details and map of where to find events.
The Christmas lights and much anticipated decorative lights in the town centre, will be switched on around 4.30 – 4.40pm and then everyone is invited to join the Samba Ya Wantsum band and Great British Carnival as they head to St George’s Church for stunning light projections inside and outside the church from 5pm with music and refreshments on offer at their free Let There Be Light event.
Light Up Ramsgate is another new addition to create even more sparkle in our town for visitors and residents to enjoy. Artists will create a trail of light installations in shop windows from the harbour, up to St George’s Church, taking you on a journey of incredible light displays from 24th November through to 3rd January. To find out more, head over to Ramsgate Lumiere on facebook or insta where they will be sharing the Light Up Ramsgate Trail in the next few days.
There are lots of ways to get involved with the New Year’s Eve parade and make your own lanterns and magical structures so check those schoolbags for flyers and DIY lanterns! With lantern-making already underway, you can pop along to any of the workshops to create your own with the support of local artists, all for free! Dates and times for the workshops taking place at St George’s Church Hall, Broad St, CT11 8QY (except where stated) are:
Weds 13 Nov 5-7pm
Weds 20 Nov 5-7pm
Sun 24 Nov 12-4pm (at Arts in Ramsgate, 46 High St CT11 9AG)
Weds 27 Nov 5-7pm
Weds 4 Dec 5-7pm
Weds 11 Dec 5-7pm
Fri 13 12-2pm (at Arts in Ramsgate, 46 High St CT11 9AG)
Weds 18 Dec 5-7pm
Sat 28 Dec 2-5pm
Sun 29 Dec 2-5pm
Arts in Ramsgate will be hosting lantern-making workshops at our Switch On event on 24th which will run from midday until 4pm so there are plenty of opportunities to make sure you can be part of the first New Year’s Eve Starry Nights, Northern Lights parade, led by GB Carnival – there are some amazing characters being created for this event so make sure you head into town for the procession – keep an eye on their facebook page for more details!
Some of you may have noticed a few boats already twinkling in the harbour and over the next few weeks, our wonderful boatowners will transform the inner harbour into Ramsgate Illuminations! This will be the tenth year that our boatowners have volunteered to light up their boats, with people travelling for miles just to see this dazzling spectacle. The harbour arch businesses join in as well and transform their spaces into a Christmas wonderland (and the fabulous Ship Shape stay open late selling refreshments to warm you up as you stroll around the harbour!)
Ramsgate Living Advent Calendar is back for its eight year where each night from 1st December, through to Christmas Eve, a different participating house or business invites you to come and see their featured light displays, all to raise funds for Salvation Army Homeless Support. You can put a donation in the buckets provided on the night or head to their gofundme page to help raise funds for this vital service. It’s a great way to get to know people, see a unique light installation and support those in need in our community.
Lots of our independent businesses will be open until 8pm on 12th December for our late-night shopping event which is always a great chance to see the boats and this year, the Light Up Ramsgate installations, along with plenty of fizz, mulled wine, chocolates and nibbles on offer, not to mention a fantastic array of unique and often locally sourced pressies! We will be running our free raffle as well so every time you make a purchase in one of our late night shops, you will be in with a chance to win a £50 gift voucher to spend at one of the participating stores!
St George’s will also be hosting the wonderful Christmas Tree Festival again this year, where local groups and businesses decorate a tree to fundraise for the church restoration. The event runs from 13th to 22nd December and the church doors will be open from 2 -5pm every day through the ten days. This will be their sixteenth year running the event and every year, it gets more and more magical, seeing the rows of trees, all uniquely decorated, representing our community.
There is so much going on over the festive season that I can’t put it all in one blog but do head over to our Ramsgate Events Calendar page where you will find our list of events throughout November and December (the December issue will be posted soon!). From Christmas Fayres at St Laurence Church (7th Dec), Holy Trinity Church (7th Dec) and Ellington Park (8th Dec) to the magical Carols in the Park at Ellington park on 22nd December and lots more live entertainment, including The Granville Theatre’s Peter Pan pantomime, you will be spoilt for choice this Christmas!
Let the festivities begin and on behalf of Ramsgate Town Council, we hope you all have a wonderful Christmas and enjoy every moment that Ramsgate Lumiere has to offer!
Rebekah Smith
Ramsgate Town Centre & Tourism Manager on behalf of Ramsgate Town Council
Christmas Maps
Ramsgate Lumiere Festival – 24th Nov 2024 to 3rd Jan 2025
Xmas Markets & Events
Ramsgate Living Advent Calendar Map 2024
Ramsgate’s Elf Trail
