You might not want to admit it just yet, but it’s about time to start thinking about booking those festive events for the family.

Make this Christmas one to remember by nabbing your tickets early to some of Kent’s most spectacular seasonal experiences before they’re all gone…

BEDGEBURY NATIONAL PINETUM: The sell-out Christmas at Bedgebury light trail returns this winter, with new installations and more than a million twinkling lights covering the country park. The six-week trail will include brightly-coloured robins, luminous seed pods and sparkling light tunnels, as well as seasonal sounds, a visit from Father Christmas and a chance to toast your own marshmallows.

Details: Friday, November 15 until New Year’s Day 2025 at Bedgebury National Pinetum and Forest in Goudhurst. Book online here.

DREAMLAND: Margate’s vintage fairground will be transformed into a winter wonderland with a magical Christmas grotto this festive season. The attraction’s Christmas World will give visitors a chance to enter Santa’s workshop and meet his elves, who will guide them through activities such as making reindeer food and reading the Christmas storybook. You can even meet Santa and receive a special present and a digital photo to take home. There’s also the free-to-enter experience, which doesn’t include the grotto but does feature an indoor snowball fight, electric sleigh ride and live entertainment.

Details: Friday, December 14 to Monday, December 23 at Dreamland in Margate. Book online here.

LEEDS CASTLE: The festive Christmas Lights at Leeds Castle trail, which is created by the same team behind the Bedgebury event, is set to return for a third year. It will see the historic castle, just outside of Maidstone, transformed into a grotto of sparkling lights and jaw-dropping installations. The illuminations will include new features as well as some returning favourites from past years, including the rainbow trees, light tunnels and colour-changing lilies. There will also be food vendors and stalls selling hot chocolate and spiced winter warmers, as well as a chance to spot Father Christmas along the way.

Details: Friday, November 22 to New Year’s Day 2025 at Leeds Castle, near Maidstone. Book online here.

PORT LYMPNE RESERVE: If you feel like getting away this December, why not book a cosy Christmas break at Kent’s largest wildlife park? The elves will greet you on Christmas Eve and take you on a safari tour across the park’s savannah, followed by a three-course meal and a visit from Santa Claus before you settle down in your cosy cabin. On the big day, the park is closed to the public so guests will have the entire reserve to themselves, not to mention a full English breakfast, festive film screenings and a delicious Christmas lunch created by Port Lympne’s head chef, Lee Edney. You can top it all off with a VIP animal experience on Boxing Day and you’ll also receive free tickets to Port Lympne’s sister park, Howletts near Canterbury, to use on another day.

Details: Christmas Eve to Boxing Day at Port Lympne Hotel and Reserve in Hythe. Book online here.

KENT AND EAST SUSSEX RAILWAY: The long-running Santa Specials have been operating from this railway station for 50 years, and they almost always sell out before the season even begins so it’s definitely something worth booking well in advance. This year, the 75-minute steam train journey includes a free gift and family photo, a visit to the station’s Winter Wonderland, complimentary hot drinks and an up-close-and-personal visit from Father Christmas himself aboard the decorated carriage.

Details: Select dates from Saturday, November 30 until Christmas Eve at the Kent and East Sussex Railway in Tenterden. Book online here.

OVO ARENA: Fancy treating the family to a magical trip to London this Christmas? Grammy Award-winning composer Danny Elfman and the BBC Concert Orchestra will be performing songs from the animated festive film The Nightmare Before Christmas. The songwriter, who voiced the lead character Jack Skellington in the musical numbers, will star in the unique ‘cine-concert’, which sees the film projected onto a big screen while musicians, singers and special guests perform in sync on stage.

Details: Thursday, December 12 at the OVO Arena in Wembley, London. Book online here.

KentOnline may receive a commission from ticket sales generated by this story