Kingston Lacy's Starlit Christmas Ball runs 21 November to 3 January, free with admission and no booking. House open 10.30am to 3pm, closed 25 and 26 December.
Kingston Lacy, the National Trust house outside Wimborne, dresses its state rooms for A Starlit Christmas Ball from Saturday 21 November 2026 to Sunday 3 January 2027. The Christmas display is free with normal admission and needs no booking; the house is open 10.30am to 3pm (last entry) every day except 25 and 26 December, and the estate, cafe and shop are open 9.30am to 4pm every day except Christmas Day. Parking is free.
The one thing that does need booking is Storytelling with Santa, which runs from 28 November at £15.50 a child. Everything on this page is from the Trust’s own Kingston Lacy pages, read on 25 September 2026.
The quick answer
- Dates: 21 November to 3 January. House 10.30am to 3pm last entry, closed 25 and 26 December. Grounds, Stables cafe and shop 9.30am to 4pm, closed Christmas Day only.
- Cost: normal admission, £23 adult, £11.50 child (5 to 17), £57.50 family, free for National Trust members. Parking free. No booking, but entry to the house may be by timed ticket at busy times, first come first served.
- Santa: from 28 November, £15.50 per child up to 12 with one adult, booking essential; relaxed sessions on 18 December.
What the ball is
The Trust’s Christmas at Kingston Lacy page says: “The magic of a winter’s night sky is the inspiration for Kingston Lacy’s 2026 Christmas. The house and gardens will be decorated for a spectacular Christmas ball, with plenty of festive stardust.” On the state floor “you’ll follow a magical story, brought to life with glorious costumes and twinkling decorations”. Outside, the Fernery is lit “with festive lights and lanterns” and the Laundry Courtyard is “filled with twinkling lights and decorations”.
Two limits are worth knowing before you go. The Trust says “the four bedrooms on the top two floors of the house will not be viewable during our Christmas opening”, so the visit is the state rooms rather than the whole house. And numbers inside are capped for conservation, so “you may be asked to queue for a short period before entry” and “entry may be by timed tickets at peak times”, issued on the day, first come first served. The Trust’s own tip: “Visitor numbers usually peak in the morning and you may find the queues are reduced in the afternoon.” With last entry at 3pm, that means arriving between about 1pm and 2.30pm.
Opening times and prices
| What | Dates | Hours | Cost |
|---|---|---|---|
| A Starlit Christmas Ball, in the house | 21 November to 3 January, not 25 or 26 December | 10.30am to 3pm (last entry) | Normal admission, no booking |
| Garden, park, Fernery and Laundry Courtyard lights | Daily except Christmas Day | 9.30am to 4pm | Normal admission |
| Stables cafe and shop | Daily except Christmas Day | 9.30am to 4pm | Free to enter |
| Storytelling with Santa | From 28 November; relaxed sessions 18 December | Booked session times | £15.50 per child plus admission |
Admission on the Trust’s Kingston Lacy page is £23 for an adult, £11.50 for a child aged 5 to 17, and £57.50 for a family of two adults and up to three children, without Gift Aid. Parking is “free at Kingston Lacy for all visitors”. The Badbury Rings car park on the estate is charged for non-members at £1.60 an hour, £3.20 for up to four hours or £6.40 for the day.
Storytelling with Santa
The Trust describes it as “an adventure to find Santa in his hidden storybook nook for a cosy Christmas tale, an early gift and a photo with the man himself”. Tickets cost £15.50 per child (up to age 12) with one accompanying adult and normal admission applies. It runs from 28 November and “booking is essential”. The relaxed sessions on 18 December are “quieter with nothing too noisy before or during the story and fewer people attending each session”. Book through the links on the Christmas page. Other Santa events across the county, including the Swanage Railway’s Yuletide Express from the same weekend, are on our Santa specials and grottos page.
Food, shop and the winter garden
The Stables cafe is “open every day between 9.30am-4pm” with hot chocolate, mulled wine, baked potatoes and mince pies. The shop’s Christmas food range this year is packaged in a design taken from the “Winter” panel of the pietra dura cabinet in Kingston Lacy’s own Spanish Room, with its robin, holly and snowdrop in semi-precious stones.
Outside, the Trust says the garden may still have “the very last colours of autumn or the earliest camellias, hellebores and snowdrops”, and the Woodland Walk is open but unlit: “be sure to start no later than 3pm”.
Getting there
Wimborne’s council car parks were free on Dorset Council’s Christmas shopping dates last year, and the town’s own Christmas fair is at the Allendale Centre on 5 and 6 December: see the Christmas markets page. For the roads over the holiday fortnight, see Christmas and New Year travel and roadworks and travel.
Still to be confirmed
The Trust’s page says to “check back closer to Christmas 2026” for further plans. Storytelling with Santa session times and end date, and any late-opening or lantern-lit evenings, were not listed on 25 September.
Have your say