Compton Verney's Gift Fair runs 4 to 6 December, £8 or free for children, with candlelit Chapel concerts on 12 and 18 December. Prices, early-bird deadlines.
Compton Verney’s Christmas is a shopping fair and two candlelit concerts. The Gift Fair runs from Friday 4 to Sunday 6 December, and the Chapel concerts are on Saturday 12 December (Royal Birmingham Conservatoire) and Friday 18 December (Coventry Cathedral Chorus). All of it is published, with prices, on Compton Verney’s own event pages.
The detail that catches people out is on the concert tickets: the adult price does not include getting in. Adults need a day ticket or membership on top.
The quick answer
- The Gift Fair: Friday 4 to Sunday 6 December, from 10am. Fair only £8, fair with the galleries £20.45, children free.
- Concerts by Candlelight: Saturday 12 and Friday 18 December, at 1pm or 3pm. Adults from £25 plus a day ticket; children from £12.50. Early-bird prices end on 13 November and 19 November.
- Where: Compton Verney, near Kineton, CV35 9HZ, about 20 minutes’ drive from Stratford. Free car park. The site is cash-free.
The Gift Fair, 4 to 6 December
The Gift Fair is Compton Verney’s Christmas shopping weekend: cards, wrapping and decorations, artisan food and drink, clothing and accessories, toys and games, homeware, handmade jewellery and pet accessories.
| Dates | Friday 4 to Sunday 6 December 2026 |
| Opens | 10am each day |
| Fair only | £8 |
| Fair plus galleries and exhibitions | £20.45 |
| Children | Free |
A fair-only ticket gets you into the fair and nothing else. If you want the galleries as well, buy the combined ticket. At £20.45 it is the same as an adult day ticket booked ahead without a donation, so the fair comes free with it.
There is a cheaper way to do both winter fairs. Compton Verney also runs a Textile Fair from Friday 6 to Sunday 8 November, from 10am, at the same prices, with embroidery, knitwear, feltwork and homeware from independent makers. Its “Winter Fairs” ticket covers both fairs for £10, against £16 bought separately.
Concerts by Candlelight in the Chapel
Both concerts are in Compton Verney’s historic Chapel, both run for an hour without an interval, both have a 1pm and a 3pm performance, and both include a glass of mulled wine and a mince pie. Both are listed as suitable for all ages.
Saturday 12 December: Royal Birmingham Conservatoire. A programme of festive music conducted by Julian Wilkins (Compton Verney).
| Ticket | Early bird, to Friday 13 November | From Saturday 14 November |
|---|---|---|
| Adult | £35, plus a day ticket or membership | £40, plus a day ticket or membership |
| Child | £12.50 | £15 |
Friday 18 December: Coventry Cathedral Chorus. Sacred music inspired by the Tudor and Baroque periods and by Compton Verney’s British portraits. The published programme runs from the Coventry Carol and Adam lay ybounden to Gabrieli’s Angelus ad pastores, and three of the carols are marked for the audience to sing: While Shepherds Watched, O Little Town of Bethlehem and Hark the Herald (Compton Verney).
| Ticket | Early bird, to Thursday 19 November | From Friday 20 November |
|---|---|---|
| Adult | £25, plus a day ticket or membership | £30, plus a day ticket or membership |
| Child | £12.50 | £15 |
What a concert actually costs an adult
Add the day ticket. Compton Verney’s visit page prices an adult day ticket at £20.45 booked ahead without a donation (£22.50 with one), or £22.27 on the day without a donation (£24.50 with one). So a non-member adult paying the early bird rate and booking the day ticket ahead pays £55.45 for the 12 December concert and £45.45 for the 18th. Members pay only the concert price.
Children’s day entry is free: Compton Verney admits everyone aged 18 and under without charge, so a child’s concert ticket is the whole cost. Visitors aged 19 to 25 get a £10 day ticket.
Opening days, and the exhibition that closes at New Year
Compton Verney opens Wednesday to Sunday, grounds 10am to 5pm and galleries 10.30am to 5pm, and is closed on Mondays and Tuesdays except bank holiday Mondays. All three Christmas events fall on open days. The visit page did not list any Christmas or New Year closure dates when we read it on 6 October.
Two exhibitions are worth timing a visit around. The Pattern of Life: Enid Marx and Modern British Design runs until Sunday 3 January 2027, and Nancy Cadogan’s The Lost Trees closes on Sunday 22 November. Both are included in day admission (Compton Verney, what’s on).
Getting there
Compton Verney is near Kineton, CV35 9HZ, which Compton Verney puts at about 20 minutes’ drive from Stratford-upon-Avon and 6 miles from junction 12 of the M40. There is a free car park with 12 Blue Badge spaces and two electric vehicle chargers. From the Welcome Centre it is about a 10 minute walk to the house, or take the shuttle.
Two things to know before you set off. The site is cash-free, so bring a card. And if you come by bus, bike or on foot, Compton Verney sells a £10 “green ticket” for day entry. There is no railway station nearby: the closest are Leamington Spa, Warwick Parkway, Stratford-upon-Avon and Banbury, each 20 to 30 minutes away by taxi.
If you are combining it with a trip into Stratford, the town’s Christmas market runs on 28 and 29 November and 5 and 6 December, the second weekend overlapping the Gift Fair, and closes Bridge Street and Waterside. Town centre parking is on our parking in Stratford page, and any roadworks on the way are on our roadworks and travel page.
More Christmas near Stratford
- Charlecote Park’s Victorian Christmas house, from 16 November.
- Santa’s grottos, including Anne Hathaway’s Cottage on 12 December.
- The pantomimes and the lights switch-on on 14 November.
Still to confirm
Compton Verney has not published any Christmas or New Year closure dates on its visit page yet. We will add them here when it does, along with any sell-outs for the two concerts.
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