Short answer: The rest of November is the switch-on fortnight. <strong>Armistice Day</strong> is Wednesday the 11th. Plymouth’s lights go on Thursday the 12th and Exeter’s on Friday the 13th. <strong>Plymouth Winter Wonderland</strong> opens on Friday the 20th, and the last weekend of the month is when almost everything else starts at once — Rosemoor, Powderham, the Bay of Lights, both Santa trains and the first two pantomimes.
Wednesday 11 November: Armistice Day. The silence falls at 11am. Exeter Cathedral from 10.45am, Torquay Town Hall and Paignton War Memorial at 11am, Churston at 10.55am.
Thursday 12 November: Plymouth Christmas lights switch-on, The Piazza on Armada Way. Free, and the first of the county’s big switch-ons.
Friday 13 November: Exeter city centre switch-on. Free.
Friday 13 November: the Exeter Cathedral Christmas Market opens on Cathedral Green, free to walk round, and runs to 13 December.
Saturday 14 November: Winter Twilight Fest at Crealy, Clyst St Mary. From £16.
Saturday 14 November: fireworks at Sherwell Valley Primary, Torquay. One of the last displays of the season; the school had not published a price when we checked.
Friday 20 November: Lanterns, Lights and ’luminations at Brixham harbour. Free, and the prettiest of the small-town switch-ons — lanterns over the water rather than a countdown in a car park.
Friday 20 November: the Appledore Pirates fireworks, Irsha Street. Free, and the last fireworks in Devon this year.
Friday 20 November: Plymouth Winter Wonderland opens in Central Park and runs to 3 January. £1 entry, with a covered ice rink and a walk-through grotto.
Saturday 21 November: Newton Abbot switch-on at St Leonard’s Clock Tower. Free.
Saturday 21 November: Babbacombe Model Village illuminations begin. Adult £22.95, child £18.95 — and read the opening times before you book, because it closes at 3.30pm on weekdays.
This is the busiest weekend of the Devon winter. Six things start within three days.
Thursday 26 November: Raymond Briggs’ Father Christmas opens at The Drum, Theatre Royal Plymouth, to 27 December. £16 to £20, aged 3 to 7, 50 minutes — the first Christmas show in the county and the best one for very small children. All nineteen Devon Christmas shows are here.
Friday 27 November: Sleeping Beauty opens at Exeter Northcott, to 3 January. £21.50, £19.50 child. The first full panto.
Friday 27 November: RHS Glow opens at Rosemoor, Great Torrington. From £8 for members, £13 otherwise — selected nights only, so check the calendar before you drive.
Friday 27 November: Candlelit Dartmouth. Free to walk round.
Friday 27 November: the Polar Express begins at the South Devon Railway, Buckfastleigh. Both Devon Santa trains are compared here.
Saturday 28 November: the Bay of Lights opens along Torquay seafront, every night to 3 January, and it costs nothing. A mile and a half of it, with a free firework display to open.
Saturday 28 November: the Train of Lights and Santa begin at Dartmouth Steam Railway, Paignton. Adult £39.50, child £29.
Sunday 29 November: Powderham Christmas Light Walk opens at Powderham Castle, Kenton.
Sunday 29 November: Bideford switch-on on The Quay. Free.
Five light trails run this winter and four of them have opened by the end of November. The free lights driving route strings the ones that cost nothing into a single evening.
Winter parking in Devon changes in November: several town car parks drop their rates or go free out of season, and the seafront ones stop charging altogether.
What is actually open in Devon in winter is the honest version — a good deal shuts, and knowing which before you drive an hour is the difference between a good day and a wasted one.
Bonfire Night has been and gone: all 33 Devon displays are still listed if you want to plan for next year, and the Appledore Pirates on the 20th is the only one left. Remembrance Sunday was the 8th.
Every Devon Christmas lights switch-on is collected on one page: all 22 dates, town by town.
Booking ahead: Christmas Day lunch in Devon explains the price gap between a festive lunch and the day itself, and the deadlines.
December is the big month: every December date is here, and Christmas and New Year has the lights, swims and switch-ons town by town.
Pick a town and plan the day around who's with you.
Browse all Devon town guides →