Essendon Country Club's grotto opens the season on 29 November at £10 a child. Hatfield Park's Santa sold out last year and its 2026 dates are still due.
Four places in Welwyn Hatfield put on a Santa last Christmas: Hatfield Park’s Palace Visit with Santa, Father Christmas at Mill Green watermill, a free grotto in Hatfield Library at the town’s lights switch-on, and story time with Santa in the Howard Centre at Welwyn Garden City’s lights event. For 2026, two dates are confirmed so far: Welwyn Garden City’s lights event on Saturday 21 November, and a new name on the list, a £10 Santa’s grotto at Essendon Country Club’s Christmas Market on Sunday 29 November. The rest are set out below with last year’s dates and prices, because the one that matters most sells out: every date Hatfield Park listed from 13 December last year was gone.
The quick answer
- Essendon Country Club: Santa’s grotto, Sunday 29 November 2026, slots at 10am, 11am, 12pm and 1pm, £10 a child including a gift, booked in advance (Essendon Country Club)
- Hatfield Park, A Palace Visit with Santa: last year 29 November to 23 December 2025, and every listed date from 13 December sold out. The 2026 dates are not yet out (Hatfield Park, 2025 listing)
- Mill Green Museum, Christmas at the Mill: last year Sunday 7 December 2025, £5 adult, £3 child, and £2 a child to see Father Christmas
- Welwyn Garden City Christmas Lights Event: Saturday 21 November 2026; last year’s had story time with Santa in the Howard Centre (One Welwyn Hatfield)
Updated 4 October: Essendon Country Club has put a Santa’s grotto on sale for 29 November and a Festive Lunch with Santa for 6 December.
Last year’s four Santas, compared
| Where | 2025 | Price in 2025 | 2026 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hatfield Park, Old Palace | 29 Nov to 23 Dec | Booked ahead; price not shown on the archived listing | Not yet announced |
| Mill Green Museum and Watermill | Sunday 7 Dec, slots 10am to 2.30pm | Adult £5, child £3, under 1 free; Father Christmas £2 a child | Not yet announced |
| Hatfield Library, Festive Friday | Friday 21 Nov, 3pm to 5.20pm | Part of a free town event | Hatfield's 2026 switch-on date not yet announced |
| Howard Centre, Welwyn Garden City | Saturday 15 Nov, 1pm and 3.30pm | Part of a free town event | Lights event on Saturday 21 Nov; programme to follow |
Essendon Country Club: the first confirmed for 2026
The golf club at Bedwell Park, Essendon, AL9 6HN, runs a Santa’s grotto at its free Christmas Market on Sunday 29 November. Visits cost £10 a child, include “a gift from Santa himself” and must be booked in advance in one of four slots, at 10am, 11am, 12pm or 1pm; the club says places are limited. Entry to the market and parking are free, with a free ticket reserved online (Essendon Country Club, Xmas Market).
The club also has a Festive Lunch with Santa on Sunday 6 December: a three-course meal at £40 an adult and £20 a child aged 2 to 12. The listing does not give a sitting time (Essendon Country Club, Festive Lunch with Santa). More on the market is on our Christmas markets page.
Hatfield Park: A Palace Visit with Santa
The most elaborate of the four. Last year it started with a ride on a fairy-lit tractor trailer with a children’s storyteller, telling the tale of Santa’s lost reindeer through sculptures made from recycled materials by the park’s gardens team. Families then walked through the West Garden to meet Santa by the fireplace in the Upper Solar Room of the Old Palace, with a photo and a Hatfield Park gift for each child. It was recommended for ages 3 and up.
The dates listed from Saturday 13 December to Tuesday 23 December 2025 all sold out. Accessible sessions on a level walking route, with Santa in the Lower Solar Room, were offered on Saturdays 6, 13 and 20 December and booked by email through visitors@hatfield-house.co.uk. Pushchairs went on the trailer only if there was room. Parking is free through George’s Gate, AL9 5HX (Hatfield Park, 2025 listing).
Hatfield Park’s 2026 events list, checked again on 4 October, runs to the Christmas Party Nights on 18 December and has no Santa yet. Everything else on at the park this winter is on our Hatfield House winter page.
Mill Green: Father Christmas as the miller
Mill Green Museum’s Christmas at the Mill on Sunday 7 December 2025 had Father Christmas dressed as the miller, festive stalls around the grounds and the café open, in timed slots from 10am to 2.30pm. Tickets were £5 for adults and £3 for children, free for babies under one, with a Father Christmas visit at £2 a child on top (Campus West and Mill Green share a ticketing system; prices from its 2025 listing). The year before, the equivalent event was called Christmas at the Watermill, on Sunday 1 December 2024. That pattern points to an early-December Sunday again, but no 2026 date is published.
Mill Green is at Bush Hall Lane, Mill Green, Hatfield AL9 5PD. Its confirmed Christmas dates for 2026 are a free Christmas Craft Fair on Sunday 15 November and wreath and table-arrangement workshops on 29 November and 13 December (Mill Green Museum, what’s on).
The free ones: Hatfield Library and the Howard Centre
At Hatfield’s Festive Friday on 21 November 2025, Santa and his elves had a grotto in Hatfield Library from 3pm to 5.20pm, before he helped the Mayor switch on the lights at 6pm. The council warned that “queues are expected”, so arrive early (One Welwyn Hatfield, Christmas in Hatfield). Hatfield has not announced its 2026 switch-on.
At Welwyn Garden City’s Christmas lights event on 15 November 2025 there was story time with Santa in the Howard Centre at 1pm and 3.30pm (One Welwyn Hatfield, Christmas in Welwyn Garden City). This year’s event is on Saturday 21 November 2026; the programme has not been published. Our Christmas lights page has the rest.
What is still to be confirmed
- Hatfield Park’s 2026 Santa dates and prices. We will check in mid October; book as soon as they appear.
- Mill Green’s Christmas at the Mill date for 2026.
- Hatfield’s 2026 Festive Friday date and whether the grotto returns to the library.
- The Welwyn Garden City lights event programme for 21 November.
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