Meet Father Christmas at Tonbridge Castle on 10 December for £5 a child, see him with two reindeer at the Rotary festival on 29 November, or post a letter free.

There are three ways to see Father Christmas in Tonbridge this year, and the cheapest one is free. He is at the Rotary Club’s Christmas Festival on the High Street on Sunday 29 November with two of his reindeer; he has one ticketed afternoon at the Tonbridge Christmas Fest at the castle on Thursday 10 December, at £5 a child; and he turns up at the end of the Fest’s Toy Workshop show. Snodland has its own grotto on 28 November, and the hospice at Pembury usually sells Santa visits at its market. Every date and price here is from the organiser’s own page as at 25 September 2026.

The quick answer

  • Cheapest: the Rotary Christmas Festival, Sunday 29 November, 1.45pm to 6pm, High Street: grotto with two live reindeer. Price not yet published.
  • Booked: the Fest’s North Pole meet and greet, Thursday 10 December, toddlers (4 and under) 1.30pm to 3pm, everyone else 3.30pm to 5.30pm, £5 a child, adults free, no fixed time slot.
  • Free every day of the Fest: Santa’s Post Office in the castle grounds, 27 to 29 November, 3 to 6 December and 10 to 13 December.

Tonbridge Christmas Fest, Tonbridge Castle

The Fest runs for three weekends in the castle grounds, free to enter, with the Santa options set out on its children’s page:

The North Pole meet and greet, Thursday 10 December. Father Christmas and “his cheeky elf” are in the Christmas Lounge for a toddler session for under 5s from 1.30pm to 3pm and a general session from 3.30pm to 5.30pm. It is £5 a child with adults free, each child gets a photograph opportunity and a marshmallow to toast at the fire pits, and there is no allocated slot: “arrive any time during your chosen session and join the queue”. It is the only date on which he is booked to appear as a meet and greet.

The Toy Workshop. An interactive show with Nutmeg the Elf and Nelma the Nutcracker in which children become honorary elves and make a craft, “before the North Star Bell rings out to announce a very special visit from Father Christmas himself”. £12 a child, £5 an adult, under 2s free. Dates and times were not published on 25 September.

Santa’s Post Office. Free, every day the Fest is open. Children write a letter, hand it to an elf and post it in the North Pole post box, and the organiser suggests checking “if Santa or his reindeer are home before you leave”.

The other characters have their own sessions at £5 a child: the Dino Rangers and Princess Beauty and Cinders on Friday 4 December, 3.30pm to 5.30pm; the Snow Sisters on Friday 11 December, 2pm to 6pm; and the Grinch on Sunday 13 December, 2.30pm to 5pm. Lunch with the Grinch, with a packed lunch included, is £12 a child. Children aged 15 and under must be with an adult, dogs cannot come into any ticketed session, and everything is booked through Skiddle. Hours, food and parking are on our Christmas market page.

Rotary Christmas Festival, High Street, Sunday 29 November

The Rotary Club’s festival runs from 1.45pm to 6pm on the last Sunday in November, on a closed High Street, with the switch-on at the end. Its own page says “Father Christmas” brings “two of his reindeer with him, who are a major attraction for many visitors”, and the grotto with a real live reindeer is part of the street market (Tonbridge Rotary Club). Last year the grotto was in the council’s listing for the event too. The club has not published a grotto price or queue arrangement for 2026. The road closure, the stage times and the switch-on itself are on our switch-on page, and the car parks either side of the High Street are on the parking page.

Snodland, Saturday 28 November

Snodland Town Council’s Christmas in Snodland has stalls and a grotto in Rocfort Road car park from noon on Saturday 28 November 2026, before the lantern parade leaves Potyns car park at 4.30pm and the High Street lights go on at 5pm. That is from the town council’s own listing; no grotto price is published.

Hospice in the Weald, Pembury

The hospice’s Christmas market on the last weekend of November has in recent years included a bookable visit to Santa alongside the stalls and wreath workshops. Its 2025 market was on Saturday 29 and Sunday 30 November, 10am to 4pm. On 25 September its events page listed the 2026 wreath workshops but not yet the market or a Santa booking.

Two things that are not a grotto but are close

The pantomime at the EM Forster Theatre, Cinderella from Friday 11 December to Sunday 3 January, has a relaxed performance on 16 December at £23 a seat and is on our pantomime page. And Kings Hill Town Council lists an event called “Man, I Feel Like Christmas!” for Friday 18 December 2026 on its events page, with no detail yet.

Still to be confirmed

  • Toy Workshop dates and times, and the Fest’s full daily schedule: the organiser says these follow nearer the time.
  • The Rotary grotto price and hours on 29 November: expected on the club’s page in November.
  • Hospice in the Weald’s 2026 market and Santa bookings: expected in October.