Christmas Markets in Hexham

Hexham does not have a month-long Christmas market in the way Newcastle does, and it is better for it. What it has is a market place that has been trading since the Middle Ages, a covered market building from 1766, and one very big Saturday in December when the Abbey opens its doors and the whole centre of the town is given over to stalls.

If you are planning a festive shopping trip from anywhere in the Tyne Valley, that Saturday is the one to put in the diary.

The big one: Hexham Abbey Christmas Fair

Saturday 12 December 2026, 9am to 3pm, at Hexham Abbey, Beaumont Street, Hexham NE46 3NB.

The Abbey's Christmas Fair puts hundreds of stalls across the building and the ground outside it, and it is run as a fundraiser for the Abbey. The town runs its own Christmas fair alongside it, so in practice the Abbey, the Market Place and the streets around them all work as a single event for the day.

It is free to come in, and it is busy. Arrive close to nine if you want to browse properly rather than shuffle.

Best for:

Best for: buying things you cannot buy online. The Abbey fair is craft and food stalls run by the people who made the goods, in a building that has been standing since the seventh century. That combination is the reason people come from Newcastle for it.

The Farmers' Market falls on the same morning

Usefully, Hexham Farmers' Market is also on Saturday 12 December 2026, 9am to 1.30pm. It runs on the second and fourth Saturday of the month, and in December the second Saturday lands squarely on the Abbey fair.

That means one trip gets you both: producers selling meat, cheese, bread, preserves and drink on the Market Place, and the craft fair inside the Abbey a few steps away. The November dates are Saturday 14 and Saturday 28 November, both 9am to 1.30pm, if you would rather do your Christmas food shopping before the crowds.

The weekly market, and the Shambles

The rest of the year, Hexham's market works like this.

Hexham Market trades on Tuesdays, 9am to 4pm, on the Moot Hall steps and the Abbey Flags, run by Northumberland County Council. It is small, and worth going for the Northumbrian seafood alone.

The Shambles is the covered market building in the Market Place, put up in 1766 by Sir Walter Blackett and now owned by the county council. Traders work under it from Tuesday through Saturday, selling fruit, vegetables, plants and eggs. It reopened after restoration work and is back in use.

Hexham's own food shops are the other half of the trip

A market day is the right day to do the rest of the shopping, because Hexham's independents are unusually strong for a town this size and they are all within a few minutes of the Market Place.

Robson & Sons is the butcher to talk to about a Christmas order, and orders for turkeys and large joints need placing well before the week itself. Ridley's Fish & Game covers the other half of a Christmas table. The Grateful Bread and Deli at Number 4 are the bakery and deli stops.

For presents rather than food: Cogito Books is the independent bookshop, Mr Wolf Toys covers children, Sarah Hickey Jewellery is the local maker, and The Vintage Emporium is worth an hour on its own.

Making a day of it

The Queen's Hall on Beaumont Street, directly opposite the Abbey, runs a December programme of theatre, music and family shows, and the Forum Cinema is a few doors along. Hexham Old Gaol, England's earliest purpose-built prison, is on the Market Place itself.

Getting here: Hexham station is a ten-minute walk from the Market Place, and trains on the Tyne Valley line from Newcastle take around forty minutes. On a fair day the town centre car parks fill early, so the train is the sensible option.

Christmas markets within reach

Newcastle Christmas Market runs Thursday 19 November to Wednesday 23 December 2026, free to browse, along Grey Street and Grainger Street and around the Monument, with over 70 traders and a Christmas Village on Old Eldon Square. Around forty minutes by train.

Durham Christmas Festival is Friday 4 to Sunday 6 December 2026, across Palace Green, the Cathedral Cloisters, the Market Hall and the Market Place. The craft marquee on Palace Green carries over 180 stalls and is ticketed, with a discount for booking ahead, so sort that before travelling.

Tynemouth Station Market trades every Saturday and Sunday, 9am to 3.30pm, with over 150 stalls under the glass roof of the restored Victorian station, running every weekend through December except Christmas Day and Boxing Day. Fully indoors, which matters in December.

For pantomimes, light trails, Santa specials and the rest of the region's festive calendar, see Christmas in the North East.

What is not confirmed yet

As of late September, the following are not published for 2026:

• Hexham's Christmas lights switch-on date
• The Abbey fair's full stallholder list
• Any additional late-night shopping evenings in the town centre

We will update this guide as those are announced.

Know a Hexham Christmas event we have missed? Get in touch via our contact page.