Santa's Grotto in Grosvenor Shopping opens 21 November, 10.30am to 4pm, £2 a family, booking now open for 12 dates. Plus the £2,000 Golden Ticket draw.
Santa’s Grotto returns to Northampton town centre on Saturday 21 November, in the Upper Mall of Grosvenor Shopping, and a visit costs £2 per family. Before that, from Sunday 1 November, shoppers can start collecting Golden Tickets for a chance to win a share of £2,000 in town centre vouchers. Both are part of Northampton BID’s Christmas programme, announced on 27 October.
Updated 11 November: booking is now open on the BID’s events listing, which gives 12 dates, all 10.30am to 4pm. Pre-booking is required, the £2 is paid through PayPal, each child gets a gift and families take their own photos with Santa.
The Business Improvement District, which represents around 650 town centre businesses, says the programme is meant to sit alongside WinterFest, led by West Northamptonshire Council, and Northampton Town Council’s Victorian-themed Christmas activities, so that the town has one joined-up festive season rather than three separate ones.
The dates
- Sunday 1 November: the programme launches at Northampton Town Council’s fireworks event, with the Golden Ticket Prize Draw opening the same night.
- Saturday 21 November: Santa’s Grotto opens, the same day as the Christmas lights switch-on.
- Saturday 5 December: Small Business Saturday.
- Sunday 13 December: Golden Ticket entries close.
- Tuesday 15 December: Golden Ticket winners announced.
- 21, 22 and 23 December: the grotto’s final three days, on top of its weekend opening.
- December: a 24-hour Christmas radio station, made with NLive Radio, goes on air.
Santa’s Grotto, from 21 November
The grotto opens in the Upper Mall of Grosvenor Shopping Northampton on Saturday 21 November and runs at weekends in the run-up to Christmas, then on Monday 21, Tuesday 22 and Wednesday 23 December. Every session runs from 10.30am to 4pm. The 12 dates on the BID’s booking listing are:
- November: Saturday 21, Saturday 28, Sunday 29
- December: Saturday 5, Sunday 6, Saturday 12, Sunday 13, Saturday 19, Sunday 20, Monday 21, Tuesday 22, Wednesday 23
The grotto is not open on Sunday 22 November, the day after the switch-on. Visits are £2 per family, paid through PayPal when you book, with all proceeds going to a local charity. Pre-booking is required, so you cannot just turn up. Each child receives a gift, and families take their own photos with Santa. The charity has not been chosen yet: the BID says it will name it when it announces the Golden Ticket winners on Tuesday 15 December.
This year’s grotto is being built by construction students from Northampton College, which opened its new £500,000 construction workshops at Booth Lane. The gift bags come from Northampton Town Council.
Book through the BID’s Santa’s Grotto page, which was updated for 2026 on 29 October and links to the list of bookable dates. Northampton Town Council, which sponsors the grotto, confirms the £2 family price on its own grotto page.
The Golden Ticket Prize Draw
The draw, sponsored by Costa Coffee Northampton, works by collecting tickets from participating town centre businesses. Entries open on 1 November and close on Sunday 13 December, and the winners share £2,000 in Northampton town centre vouchers, announced on Tuesday 15 December. The BID says the point is “to reward visitors while encouraging people to shop locally and discover the range of businesses on their doorstep.”
What else is new
Small Business Saturday on 5 December is the BID’s day for Northampton’s independent shops, cafes and traders. A new interactive Vicinity Christmas Trail will send visitors around the town centre, and in December a 24-hour Christmas radio station, made in partnership with NLive Radio, will start broadcasting. When we checked on 11 November the BID had still not published the trail’s route or the station’s frequency and start date.
What the BID says
Mark Mullen, Chief Operations Officer at Northampton BID, said: “Christmas is a really important time for our town centre businesses, and we want to give people even more reasons to come into Northampton, spend time together and enjoy everything the town has to offer.
“By bringing our activities together with Winterfest and the Town Council’s Victorian-themed celebrations, we can create a fantastic festive atmosphere for families while encouraging people to discover our independent businesses, enjoy our shops and hospitality venues, and support the local economy.
“We’re looking forward to welcoming people into town and making Northampton a destination for Christmas shopping, family days out and festive celebrations.”
What it means for you
- Families: at £2 a family the grotto costs far less than the other visits on our Father Christmas in Northampton page, which compares it with Delapré Abbey’s grotto and the steam train Santa Specials.
- Shoppers: collect Golden Tickets from participating town centre businesses between 1 November and 13 December.
- Town centre businesses: the BID wants businesses to join the Golden Ticket draw, take a Santa’s Grotto promotional pack, take part in the Christmas radio station, or have their own festive events and offers promoted. Contact info@northamptonbid.co.uk.
Updates on the programme go on the BID’s Christmas page and in its weekly newsletter. For the rest of the season, from the WinterFest Star Flyer to the Christmas markets near Northampton, see our WinterFest guide.
About Northampton BID
Northampton Town Centre BID was set up in 2010 and is in its third five-year term, running until March 2031. It is made up of around 650 retail, professional and hospitality businesses, is managed by Partnerships for Better Business, and is governed by a board of town centre business owners who give their time voluntarily.
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