Westminster lit the Trafalgar Square tree on the first Thursday of December in 2024 and 2025, at 6pm, free. That points to Thursday 3 December 2026.

The Trafalgar Square Christmas tree is lit on the first Thursday of December, and in 2026 that is Thursday 3 December. The ceremony is free, starts at 5pm and the lights go on at 6pm. Westminster City Council runs it with the City of Oslo. The council had not published a 2026 date when we checked on 25 September, so the 3 December date is based on the last two years, not an announcement.

The quick answer

  • Expected Thursday 3 December 2026. It was Thursday 5 December 2024 and Thursday 4 December 2025, both from 5pm.
  • The lights went on at 6pm and the ceremony ended at 6.30pm in 2025. It is free and you do not need a ticket.
  • The tree stays up until Twelfth Night, which was Monday 5 January 2026 last year.

What happened in 2025

Westminster City Council’s Trafalgar Tree page is taken down outside the season; the council’s own address returns an error until it is republished. The version live on the day of the 2025 ceremony gave the programme:

Time (2025) What happened
From 5pm Ceremony begins in Trafalgar Square
During The Choir of St Martin-in-the-Fields sings carols, led by the Regent Hall Band of the Salvation Army
During A poem to the tree, written and read by Westminster children
During The Corps of Drums from the Band of His Majesty’s Royal Marines Collingwood
During Det Norske Jentekor, the Norwegian Girls’ Choir
6pm The Lord Mayor of Westminster and the Mayor of Oslo switch on the lights
6.30pm Ceremony ends

The same page as it stood in December 2024 gave the 2024 ceremony as Thursday 5 December from 5pm, with the tree up until Sunday 5 January 2025. Two years running on the first Thursday of December is why we expect Thursday 3 December this year.

Where the tree comes from

The tree is a gift from the people of Oslo, sent every year since 1947 in thanks for Britain’s support for Norway during the Second World War. Norway’s King Haakon VII and the Norwegian government-in-exile were based in London during the war.

In its 2025 announcement, the council said the tree, named Ever Oslo, was felled by the Lord Mayor of Westminster and the Mayor of Oslo in the forest outside Oslo. It stood 20 metres tall and was about 60 years old. It went by electric lorry to the port of Brevik, by ship to Immingham in Lincolnshire, and on to Trafalgar Square.

According to the Greater London Authority, which manages the square, the tree is usually a Norwegian spruce over 20 metres high and 50 to 60 years old. It is chosen months or even years ahead and felled in November. It is decorated the Norwegian way, with vertical strings of energy-efficient lights. After Christmas it is chipped and composted into mulch.

Carol singing under the tree

Every December the GLA runs one-hour carol singing sessions at the foot of the tree, with no stage and no PA system. For 2026, the GLA took choir applications from 27 August. The deadline is Friday 6 November 2026, and choirs will hear their slot by Friday 13 November. The GLA publishes the programme of choirs, times and charities on london.gov.uk. The 2026 terms say choirs stand in front of the tree facing the National Gallery, which is where to look if you are passing.

Getting there

Charing Cross station is next to the square, with Embankment and Leicester Square a short walk away. The GLA allows no parking or drop-off on the square itself. Our parking zones and hours page has the evening controls for the streets around it. Road closures go on our roadworks and travel page.

The West End lights on Oxford Street and Regent Street switch on separately and earlier: see our Christmas lights switch-on page. For getting home over the holidays, see Westminster Christmas travel.

Still to be confirmed

  • The 2026 ceremony date, time and line-up, from Westminster City Council. Last year’s page was live by late November.
  • The felling ceremony in Norway, usually in November, which the council announces.
  • The GLA’s 2026 carol singing programme.

We will update this page when the council confirms.