Three Colchester grottos are on sale for 2026. The Castle's is £12.95 a child, the Zoo's £17 plus entry, and the Mercury's runs 5 to 24 December. All dates.
Three Santa’s grottos in Colchester have published their 2026 dates and are taking bookings: Father Christmas at Colchester Castle, the Santa Experience at Colchester Zoo, and the Mercury Theatre’s Santa’s Grotto. The Zoo starts earliest, on Saturday 21 November. All three need booking in advance.
The quick answer
Colchester Castle: £12.95 per child, £1 per adult, on 5 to 6, 12 to 13 and 19 to 23 December. Colchester Zoo: £17 per child plus zoo admission, from 21 November to Christmas Eve. The Mercury Theatre’s grotto runs from 5 to 24 December and has been on sale since March; it has not published its price in a form we can read.
Side by side
| Grotto | Dates | Price | Admission needed? |
|---|---|---|---|
| Colchester Castle | 5, 6, 12, 13 and 19 to 23 Dec | £12.95 child, £1 adult | No |
| Colchester Zoo | 21, 22, 28, 29 Nov; 5, 6, 12, 13 and 19 to 24 Dec | £17 per child | Yes, for everyone in the group |
| Mercury Theatre | 5 to 24 Dec, not Mondays | Not published | No, it is a separate ticket |
Father Christmas at Colchester Castle
Meet Father Christmas runs on 5 and 6, 12 and 13, and 19 to 23 December, with sessions from 10am (11am on Sundays) to 4.30pm. Tickets are £12.95 per child and £1 per adult. Each ticketed child gets a personal visit with Father Christmas and a festive gift. Babies and younger siblings can go in with the family but only children with a grotto ticket get a present.
The grotto ticket does not include Castle admission, and you do not need admission to see Father Christmas. If you want to go round the Castle as well, that is £13.95 an adult and £8.50 a child. For families who would find it useful, the Castle will send photographs of the grotto in advance; email museums@colchester.gov.uk after booking.
Nurseries and preschools have their own Tiny Tots Nursery Grotto sessions between 7 and 16 December: 45 minutes with songs, stories and activities, £8 per child, for groups of 8 to 25 children aged five and under.
The Santa Experience at Colchester Zoo
The Zoo’s Santa Experience runs on 21, 22, 28 and 29 November and 5, 6, 12, 13 and 19 to 24 December. It costs £17 per child, and every child and adult in the party also needs zoo admission or an annual membership. Tickets are sold online in advance only, for a set arrival time; the Zoo says it cannot take bookings on the day.
- Children under one can go in free with an older sibling who has a ticket, but only get a gift if you buy them their own ticket.
- Adults do not need a Santa ticket, only zoo entry.
- There is an optional storybook about Jabari the lion for £1.99 more.
- Members have three evening-only dates: 10, 15 and 17 December.
The visit includes a reindeer sing-along in the Christmas stables and a new Christmas village this year. The Santa Experience runs only on the Zoo’s Magic of Christmas days, which are the same dates. The zoo’s evening Enchanted Trail of Light is a separate ticket, at £15.50 or £18 per person, between 27 November and 28 December.
Santa’s Grotto at the Mercury Theatre
The Mercury Theatre on Balkerne Gate runs a Santa’s Grotto in its Creative Engagement Space from Saturday 5 to Thursday 24 December. The theatre’s box office lists 119 visits across 17 days, each about 20 minutes and suitable for all ages. There are ten slots a day at weekends and on 22 and 23 December, four on most weekdays from 4pm, five on the morning of Thursday 17 December and the afternoon of Friday 18 December, and five on Christmas Eve morning, the last at 12.30pm. There are none on Mondays 7, 14 and 21 December.
Bookings opened on 27 March, so weekend slots may already be scarce. The theatre blocks our fetches and its box office does not expose prices, so check the price when you book. If you are making a day of it, the Mercury’s pantomime opens on 21 November.
What else is known
InColchester, the city centre business group, says Fenwick Colchester will offer “meeting Santa” and festive storytelling this Christmas, but has published no dates or prices. The East Anglian Railway Museum at Chappel had no December events on its events list as at 25 September.
The rest of Colchester’s Christmas is on our pages for the lights switch-on and the Christmas market. Parking for town-centre grottos is on our parking in Colchester page.
Still to be confirmed
| Detail | Status |
|---|---|
| Mercury grotto price | Not readable from the box office |
| Fenwick’s Santa dates and prices | Not published |
| East Anglian Railway Museum Christmas events | Not listed |
| Colchester Zoo admission on Magic of Christmas days | Now listed: see Colchester Zoo in winter |
We will add Fenwick and any railway Santa specials when they are announced.
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