Stafford's Christmas market is one Saturday, 12 December, 9am to 3pm in Market Square, free entry. Stone runs three more, on 28 November, 13 and 19 December.

Set expectations first. Stafford does not have a multi-day continental Christmas market. It has one Saturday. Stone, up the A34, has three separate Christmas market days and gets the better run of it.

Stafford’s is the Christmas Farmers’ and Artisans’ Market, Saturday 12 December 2026, 9am to 3pm, in Market Square, ST16 2BD. Entry is free.

Every Christmas market date in the borough

All of these come from the two councils’ own published calendars.

Date Market Times Where
Sat 28 Nov Stone Christmas Market 10am to 3pm Stone High Street
Sat 5 Dec Stone Farmers’ Market 9am to 3pm Stone High Street
Sat 12 Dec Stafford Christmas Farmers’ and Artisans’ Market 9am to 3pm Stafford Market Square
Sun 13 Dec Stone Christmas Market 10am to 3pm Stone High Street
Sat 19 Dec Stone Christmas Farmers’ and Town Market 9am to 3pm Stone High Street
Sat 19 Dec Stone Craft and Collectables Market 9am to 3pm Stone High Street

The two Stone Christmas markets on 28 November and 13 December are run by the Stone Traders’ Group. The 19 December market is run jointly by Stafford Borough Council and Stone Town Council. All of it is listed on Stone Town Council’s events calendar for 2026.

What is on the Stafford stalls

The borough council’s event page lists what traders bring: bread, cakes, oatcakes, honey, jams, preserves, savoury scotch eggs, pies and pastries on the food side, and wood crafts, jewellery, plants, handicrafts, 3D printed toys and paintings on the craft side. There are charity stalls and guest vendors on top of the regulars.

This is the December edition of the monthly Stafford Farmers’ and Artisans’ Market, not a separate event, so it is the same square and the same 9am to 3pm as the market that runs on 12 September, 10 October and 14 November. The council’s markets team is on 01785 245935 or market@staffordbc.gov.uk.

The Victorian Christmas market people search for is not in Stafford

Search “Stafford Victorian Christmas market” and you get Penkridge. Penkridge Markets confirms its Victorian Christmas Market for Sunday 29 November 2026 at Clovelly, Pinfold Lane, Penkridge ST19 5AP, on its own page. Penkridge is in South Staffordshire district, not Stafford borough, and it is south of Stafford down the A449. Worth the trip if a costumed market is what you want, but it is not a Stafford event, and the market’s own page does not publish times or an entry price.

What else the council has not published yet

Stafford Borough Council’s Market Square events list currently runs to 12 December and carries the line “More details and further events will be added soon.” The only other festive entry on it so far is a Stafford Food and Music Festival Halloween Special on Friday 30 October, with times still to be announced.

Christmas Special editions of the food and music festival have run in past Decembers, and listings sites are already carrying dates for them, but nothing is on the council’s own calendar and the festival organisers have no published page we could verify. Treat any 4 December or 19 December date you see elsewhere as unconfirmed. We will add them here when either the council or the organisers publish.

The rest of the borough’s festive fixtures

Beyond the markets, four things are already fixed:

  • Stone Christmas lights switch-on, Thursday 19 November, opening at 5pm with the lights on at 7pm, High Street
  • Advent window openings, Tuesday 1 to Thursday 24 December, 11am to 11.30am each day at varying town centre locations, run by Christ Church, Stone
  • Stone Civic Carols Service, Sunday 13 December, 3pm to 4.30pm, St Michael and St Wulfad’s Church
  • Borough Carol Service, Sunday 20 December, 6.30pm to 8.30pm

Stafford’s own Christmas lights switch-on has no published 2026 date yet. The Gatehouse pantomime, Aladdin, opens on Friday 4 December.

Parking on a market Saturday

Market Square is pedestrianised, so everyone parks and walks. The 9am start puts the whole market inside Stafford’s charging hours, and the town’s car park tariffs vary by nearly £10 for the same day, so the choice of car park is worth two minutes’ thought. Our parking guide has the full table for both towns, including Stone’s two hours free, and the roadworks and travel page tracks live closures on the way in.