What's On in Bishop's Stortford: lights 15 Nov, panto 26th

The Christmas lights go on at about 4.30pm on Sunday 15 November at Festive Fun Day, the last night of The Addams Family is Saturday 14th, and Beauty & the Beast opens at South Mill Arts on the 26th. The Christmas Fayre fills the town centre on Saturday 5 December, with free parking all day at Northgate End.

Every entry comes from the organiser’s own listing and links back to it. South Mill Arts’ programme, prices and seats left were rechecked on its box office on 12 November 2026, and the rugby fixtures, Rosey Lea’s events and the church services on their own pages the same day. Dates and prices can change, so check the link before you set off. For places open whatever the month, see things to do in Bishop’s Stortford.

South Mill Arts is at 1-3 South Road, CM23 3JG, and adds no online booking fee. The rugby club is at Silver Leys, Hadham Road, CM23 2QE, and Rosey Lea’s Wickham Hall café is on Hadham Road, CM23 1JG. Bishop’s Stortford FC’s fixture page could not be read on 12 November, so its home games are left off until it can be rechecked.

This week

• The Addams Family, Thursday 12 to Saturday 14 November, 7.30pm nightly plus a 2.30pm Saturday matinee, South Mill Arts. £23; £20 for over-60s and under-16s at the Saturday matinee. Bishop’s Stortford Musical Theatre Company’s production; on 12 November about 100 seats were left for each of Friday and Saturday evening and 75 for the matinee. (South Mill Arts)
• Relaxed museum tour, Friday 13 November, 11am, Bishop’s Stortford Museum at South Mill Arts. Free, five places, all still available on 12 November. (South Mill Arts)
• Bishop’s Stortford RFC v Sheffield, Saturday 14 November, gates 2.30pm, kick-off 3pm, Silver Leys. Pre-ordered standing £16.26 (£8.23 members), or £20 on the gate (£10 members). (Bishop’s Stortford RFC)
• Festive Fun Day and Christmas lights switch-on, Sunday 15 November, 12pm to 5pm, town centre. Free. Dance groups, choirs and live performances in Market Square, free face painting, roasted chestnuts while stocks last, giveaways and roaming entertainment; Belle from the South Mill Arts panto switches on the new lights around 4.30pm, and parking at Northgate End is free. It also launches North Street’s weekend traffic-free trial. Our Christmas lights page has the detail. (Bishop’s Stortford Town Council)

North Street is one-way on weekdays and shut to motor traffic from Friday evening to Monday morning under the trial that began on 9 November: what changes on North Street. Hatfield Forest’s car parks close on Mondays and Tuesdays through the winter (winter opening times).

Next week

• Talk: Slavery and the Sawbridgeworth connection, Tuesday 17 November, 12.30pm, South Mill Arts. £5. A museum talk on the small town’s links to the slave trade; 18 of 40 places were left on 12 November. (South Mill Arts)
• Stortford Jazz Lounge: Zak Barrett, Tuesday 17 November, 7.30pm, the Theatre Lounge at South Mill Arts. £14. (South Mill Arts)
• Acoustic Club, Thursday 19 November, 8pm, the Theatre Lounge at South Mill Arts. £7. (South Mill Arts)

Later in November

• Beauty & the Beast, opening night, Thursday 26 November, 7pm (doors 6.30pm), South Mill Arts. £15.50, concessions £12.50, the preview rate. The first of 36 panto performances running to 2 January, about 3,830 tickets sold by 12 November; our panto page has every date, price band and seats left. (South Mill Arts)
• Anglia Comedy Co: The Best in Comedy, Friday 27 November, 7.30pm, South Mill Arts. £23.50. Iain Stirling, Hal Cruttenden, James Ellis and Rich Wilson. One seat of 308 was left on 12 November. (South Mill Arts)
• Sawbridgeworth Christmas lights switch-on, Saturday 28 November, Bell Street car parks, 4pm to 8pm, lights on at 6.30pm. (Sawbridgeworth Town Council)
• Salvation Army Community Carol Service, Saturday 28 November, 7pm, Holy Trinity Church, New Path, South Street, CM23 3BQ. All welcome. Our carols page has the rest. (Holy Trinity)
• An Advent Service, Sunday 29 November, 10am, St Michael’s Church, Windhill, CM23 2ND. Singing, prayers, refreshments and children’s activities. (St Michael’s)
• Grove Cottage Festive Fun Run, Sunday 29 November, registration from 10am, warm-up 10.45am, both runs start 11am, the Bandstand, Sworders Field, CM23 2AY. 5K or 1K; adults (13 and over) £14, children £7, reindeer antlers included. Our fun run page has the details. (Grove Cottage)
• Winter Wonderland at Wickham Hall, Sundays 29 November and 6 December, hourly slots from 4pm to 7pm, Rosey Lea, Wickham Hall, Hadham Road, CM23 1JG. £5 a person, adults and children, which reserves a table for 45 minutes; there is a minimum spend of £10 for each adult and each child. Father Christmas, a Christmas choir and the donkeys under the lights. (Rosey Lea)
• Moon Jammers, Sunday 29 November, 7.30pm, South Mill Arts. Free, register online. A blues, soul and funk jam night. (South Mill Arts)

December

• Storytime at the museum, Tuesday 1 December, 10.30am, South Mill Arts. Free. (South Mill Arts)
• La Traviata on Sydney Harbour, Thursday 3 December, 7pm, thescreen Stortford. £18.50, concessions £14.50. A screening of the outdoor staging on Sydney Harbour. (South Mill Arts)
• The Twelve Days of Christmas, Friday 4 December, 7.30pm, the Theatre Lounge at South Mill Arts. £17. Operation Moonlight’s festive farce, with three actors playing more than thirty parts. (South Mill Arts)
• Christmas Fayre, Saturday 5 December, 9.30am to 4.30pm, North Street, Market Square, Potter Street and South Street. Free. Over 100 stalls alongside the regular market, street food and mulled wine, music and dance outside B&M and on Host Terrace, and Santa in a grotto on North Street. Parking at Northgate End is free all day; South Street to North Street is shut to traffic 6am to 7pm. (Bishop’s Stortford Town Council; Fayre programme)
• Holly Fair, Saturday 5 December, 10am to 1pm, Windhill Churches Centre, signed from St Michael’s Church. Mulled wine and a warm space, during the Fayre. (St Michael’s)
• Santa’s Grotto at South Mill Arts, opens Saturday 5 December, on ten dates to Christmas Eve. £19 per child. On 12 November 88 of the 89 sessions were sold out, leaving one place at 12.40pm on 5 December; our grotto page has the alternatives. (South Mill Arts)
• Bishop’s Stortford RFC v Cambridge, Saturday 5 December, gates 2.30pm, kick-off 3pm, Silver Leys. Pre-ordered standing £16.26 (£8.23 members), or £20 on the gate (£10 members). (Bishop’s Stortford RFC)
• Stortford Jazz Lounge: Amanda Marie, Tuesday 8 December, 7.30pm, the Theatre Lounge at South Mill Arts. £14. (South Mill Arts)
• Acoustic Club, Thursday 10 December, 8pm, the Theatre Lounge at South Mill Arts. £7. (South Mill Arts)
• A Night with Becs, spiritual medium, Thursday 10 December, 7pm to about 10.30pm, Rosey Lea, Wickham Hall, Hadham Road. £36 including afternoon tea. (Rosey Lea)
• Scummy Mummies: Christmas Show, Friday 11 December, 7.30pm, South Mill Arts. £25, restricted view £20. Only 10 of 293 seats were left on 12 November. (South Mill Arts)
• Lights of Love, Isabel Hospice, Saturday 12 December, 4pm, Sayesbury Manor, Sawbridgeworth. (Sawbridgeworth Town Council)
• Bishop’s Stortford Women v Cambridge Women, Sunday 13 December, match day lunch 12pm to 2pm, Silver Leys. The club calls it its first ever women’s match day lunch. (Bishop’s Stortford RFC)
• Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Starlight Express, live on stage, Thursday 17 December, 7pm, thescreen Stortford. £18.50, concessions £14.50. (South Mill Arts)
• Quiz night, Friday 18 December, arrive 7pm for 7.30pm, Rosey Lea, 12 Market Square, CM23 3UU. £2 per player, teams of two to six; a £100 Rosey Lea voucher for the winners. (Rosey Lea)
• Service of Nine Lessons and Carols, Sunday 20 December, 6pm, St Michael’s Church, Windhill. (St Michael’s)
• Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree, Wednesday 23 December, 5pm to 6pm, the Bandstand, Castle Park (Sworders Field), CM23 2AY. Free, with buckets for Bishop’s Stortford Food Bank and a local dementia club; bring torches and light-up Santa hats. Its sixth year. (Bishop’s Stortford Town Council)
• Crib Service and ‘Midnight’ Mass, Thursday 24 December, 3.30pm and 10.30pm, St Michael’s Church, Windhill. (St Michael’s)

For the rest of December see carol services, Christmas markets near Bishop’s Stortford, the Round Table’s Santa sleigh and Christmas trains. Road closures for each event are on our roadworks and travel page, and car park tariffs on parking in Bishop’s Stortford.

Regular events

• Castle Park parkrun, every Saturday at 9am, Castle Park, The Causeway, CM23 2DL. Free 5k; register once before your first run. (parkrun)
• Bishop’s Stortford Market, every Thursday and Saturday, 8.30am to 4.30pm, across South Street, Potter Street, Market Square and North Street. (Bishop’s Stortford Town Council)
• Farmers and Craft Market, first Saturday of the month (not January or August), 9.30am to 1.30pm, North Street, CM23 2LD: next on Saturday 5 December, Fayre day. Local produce and crafts. (Bishop’s Stortford Town Council)
• Health walks, free: Mondays 10am from St James the Great, Church Lane, Thorley, CM23 4BE (60 minutes); Wednesdays at noon from the Herts and Essex Hospital reception, Cavell Drive, CM23 5JH (20 to 30 minutes, flat paths); Fridays at 11am (30 to 40 minutes) and noon (up to 45 minutes) from the Castle Park entrance by Link Road car park, CM23 2EL. (Bishop’s Stortford Town Council)

Send us your event

Running something in Bishop’s Stortford? Email hello@bishopsstortfordnews.co.uk with the date, time, venue, price and a photo. Listings are free of charge, and each one goes on this page and in the diary on our What’s On hub.