Santa lands in Priory Park, Reigate from 9.30am on 28 November. The Belfry grotto in Redhill opens the same day, £6.50 a child, running to Christmas Eve.

Father Christmas arrives by helicopter in Priory Park, Reigate on Saturday 28 November 2026, from 9.30am, with a grotto, fairground rides and a Christmas market. The same afternoon The Children’s Trust opens its Santa’s Grotto at Tadworth Court, 1pm to 6pm, at £20 a child. Through December, two charity sleigh runs take Santa street by street around Redhill, Reigate and Merstham.

Updated 29 September: the Belfry Shopping Centre in Redhill has published its 2026 Santa’s Grotto dates, hours and prices, added below.

The quick answer

  • Santa Helicopter Landing: Saturday 28 November 2026 from 9.30am, Priory Park, Reigate. Free to attend; the Round Table asks for donations.
  • Children’s Trust grotto, Tadworth: Saturday 28 November 2026, 1pm to 6pm. Child £20, under-1s £12.50, booked time slots.
  • Belfry grotto, Redhill: Saturday 28 November to Christmas Eve. £6.50 a child plus a £1.50 booking fee per family; adults free; booking required.
  • Sleigh runs: 2026 routes are not out yet. In 2025 they ran most weekday evenings from 8 to 24 December, starting at 6.30pm.

Santa’s helicopter landing, Priory Park

The Redhill and Reigate Round Table’s Santa Landing page confirms the 2026 date: Saturday 28 November, from 9.30am, in Reigate Priory Park. Santa is welcomed by the Mayor of Reigate and Banstead. The Round Table lists:

  • Father Christmas arriving by helicopter
  • Santa’s photo booth grotto
  • Fairground rides, face painting and balloon modelling
  • Hot food and drink, mulled wine, sweet treats and a pizza van
  • A Christmas market with stalls from local independent businesses, including Love Reigate

The Round Table’s 2025 fundraising page says the helicopter landing has been a tradition for 50 years, that terrible weather cancelled the 2024 event, and that in 2025 Santa was due to land at about 10.30am “allowing for North Pole winds and turbulence”. The 2026 landing time has not been given yet, so arrive for the start if the landing is what your children want to see. The 2025 appeal raised £2,440 from 41 online donors.

Parking in the town centre fills quickly on a Saturday in late November. Our parking in Reigate page lists the council car parks around Priory Park and their charges.

Santa’s Grotto at The Children’s Trust, Tadworth

The Children’s Trust runs a ticketed grotto at its Tadworth Court site on Saturday 28 November 2026, 1pm to 6pm. Its event page, the borough council’s listing and the charity’s FAQ sheet give these details:

Price
Child ticket (aged 1 and over) £20
My First Christmas ticket (under 1) £12.50
Accompanying adult Free, but must be booked; maximum two per child ticket
Carer Free, on request with proof of DLA, PIP or sight registration
  • What is included: story time with Mrs Claus and Santa’s elves, writing a letter to Santa, a make-and-take decoration, a visit to Santa in his grotto and a festive gift.
  • Time slots are fixed. Pick one when you book and arrive 15 minutes early. You can come earlier and join the other activities.
  • Tickets are non-refundable and non-transferable. Some will be sold on the day, but grotto slots are limited.
  • Address: Tadworth Court, Tadworth Street, Tadworth KT20 5RU.
  • No parking on site except for Blue Badge holders, who should email events@thechildrenstrust.org.uk to request a space. Everyone else parks on nearby roads.
  • No outside food or drink and no dogs other than pre-agreed guide dogs. Cash and card are accepted.
  • It goes ahead in any weather. Some activities are outdoors or under gazebos, so dress warmly.

Money raised supports the charity’s work with children and young people with brain injury and neurodisability. Three days earlier Tadworth has its own Christmas lights switch-on on Wednesday 25 November.

Santa’s Grotto at the Belfry, Redhill

The Belfry Shopping Centre in Redhill posted its 2026 grotto on 16 September. Santa’s “Giant Christmas Tree Grotto” opens on Saturday 28 November and runs to Christmas Eve, so it opens the same morning as the Priory Park landing.

Days Hours
Saturdays 10am to 6pm
Sundays 11am to 4pm
Wed 2 to Fri 4 December 11am to 5pm
Tue 8 to Fri 11 December 11am to 6pm
Mon 14 to Wed 23 December 10am to 6pm
Christmas Eve 10am to 3pm
  • Price: £6.50 per child, accompanying adults free, plus a £1.50 booking fee per family.
  • Booking is required, through the centre’s booking page.
  • Each visit includes an age-appropriate token gift, a Santa’s Little Helper hat, a sweet treat and sticker and a “Naughty or Nice List” certificate. Photos are sold separately.
  • The grotto is run by Great Grottos Ltd of Dorking for the centre.
  • The Belfry’s own multi-storey car park has 780 spaces, and Redhill station and bus station are a few minutes’ walk away.

Weekdays before 2 December, and Monday 7 December, have no published hours, so check the booking page before planning a weekday visit.

Santa’s sleigh runs in December

Redhill and Reigate Round Table. The Santa Routes page still shows the 2025 programme. The 2026 routes have not been posted, but the 2025 pattern is the best guide:

Date (2025) Route Start
Mon 8 Dec Raglan Road 6.30pm, Alma Road at Wray Park Road
Wed 10 Dec Doods Road 6.30pm, Holmesdale Road by the station
Thu 11 Dec Royal Earlswood 6.30pm, roundabout near Royal Earlswood
Fri 12 Dec Nutley Lane 6.30pm, 4 Hardwicke Road
Sat 13 Dec Frenches Road 4.30pm, 2 Ringwood Avenue
Mon 15 Dec Earlswood 6.30pm, Garlands Road then 1 Woodlands Road
Tue 16 Dec Donyngs 6.30pm, Raffles Bridge car park
Wed 17 Dec South Merstham 6.30pm, The Feathers, 42 High Street
Thu 18 Dec Rushetts Farm 6.30pm, Vevers Road at Woodhatch Road
Fri 19 Dec Gatton 6.30pm, 4 Regent Crescent
Sat 20 Dec North Merstham 4.30pm, 2 Brook Road
Mon 22 Dec South Park 6.30pm, 9 Sandcross Lane (Beehive pub)
Tue 23 Dec Meadvale 6.30pm, 1 Abinger Drive
Wed 24 Dec Lesbourne Road, Reigate 4pm, The Venture Inn

The Round Table runs a live tracker on its website so you can see where the sleigh is each night.

Redhill Redstone Rotary Club. The Rotary’s 2025 sleigh routes covered the east side of Redhill and beyond, all starting at 6pm: Whitebushes Estate (Monday 8 December), Redstone Hill (Wednesday 10 December), Watercolour and Park 25 (Friday 12 December), Smallfield (Monday 15 December) and South Nutfield (Wednesday 17 December). The club publishes a street-by-street list for each route and warns that it cannot always reach every road, and that routes may be cancelled street by street if roads are icy.

Both clubs collect for local charities as they go.

Still to be confirmed

  • The helicopter landing time on 28 November. We will add it when the Round Table announces it.
  • The 2026 sleigh routes for both the Round Table and the Rotary. In 2025 the Rotary posted its routes on 21 November.
  • Other Santa appearances. The Reigate Business Guild’s fayre and the Belfry’s lights switch-on have hosted Santa in past years; see our Christmas lights page, which is updated as their dates are announced.

Sources

More from Reigate News: Reigate Christmas lights, Gatton Park in winter, Christmas bin collections and roadworks and travel.