Stanley Arts in South Norwood opens a Santa's grotto on nine days from 27 November to Christmas Eve: £6.70 a child with a gift, adults free. Dates and times.
The first Santa’s grotto announced in the borough for Christmas 2026 is at Stanley Arts in South Norwood. It opens on Friday 27 November and runs on nine days up to and including Christmas Eve. Tickets are £6.70 per child, every child gets a present from Santa, and adults go in free without a ticket. (Stanley Arts: Santa’s Grotto)
Nobody else in Croydon has published a 2026 grotto yet. The shopping centres and Coulsdon’s Yuletide Magic, which both had Santa last year, have not announced this year’s plans; what we know about them is further down.
Stanley Arts grotto dates and times
| Day | Times | |
|---|---|---|
| Friday 27 November | 4pm to 7pm | the opening night, alongside the Christmas market and the tree light switch-on |
| Sunday 6 December | 10am to 4pm | |
| Saturday 12 December | 10am to 4pm | |
| Sunday 13 December | 10am to 4pm | |
| Friday 18 December | 3pm to 6pm | after school |
| Saturday 19 December | 10am to 4pm | |
| Sunday 20 December | 10am to 4pm | |
| Wednesday 23 December | 10am to 4pm | |
| Thursday 24 December | 10am to 4pm | Christmas Eve |
You book a time slot rather than a fixed appointment, and the venue says you can arrive whenever you like within it. The grotto is in The Living Room at Stanley Arts, 12 South Norwood Hill, SE25 6AB. (Stanley Arts events listing)
What you get for £6.70
- A chat with Father Christmas in a “snowy grotto” and a present for each child.
- Every child needs their own ticket, but brothers and sisters can go in together in the same slot.
- Adults do not need a ticket, but must stay with their children throughout.
- Free tea, coffee and squash, and crafts and activities while you wait.
Booking with the panto saves 10%. Stanley Arts is staging its own pantomime, Dick Whittington, in the Stanley Hall in December, and says that booking panto tickets at the same time as the grotto takes 10% off the panto tickets. Panto tickets start at £14. (Stanley Arts: Dick Whittington) Both pantomimes in the borough are on our Croydon panto page.
Make a night of 27 November
The grotto’s opening evening, Friday 27 November, 4pm to 7pm, is the same evening as the Stanley Arts Christmas Market (5pm to 9pm, and again on Saturday 28 November, 10am to 4pm) and its Christmas tree light switch-on at 7.30pm. Details are on our Croydon Christmas markets and Christmas lights switch-on pages.
Other places to see Santa near Croydon: not announced yet
- Centrale and The Whitgift. In 2025 the shopping centres ran Santa’s Christmas Skyride at Centrale from 29 November to 24 December, an enclosed lift ride to meet Santa with a reindeer soft toy included. That programme was announced on 10 November 2025, and nothing for 2026 has been published by the centres or by Croydon BID, whose events calendar had no Santa or grotto listings when we searched it on 16 October. (Croydon BID, 10 November 2025)
- Coulsdon Yuletide Magic. Coulsdon Community Partnership’s Christmas event had Santa’s grotto at the Fine Toad, 35 Chipstead Valley Road, CR5 2RB, in 2025, with grotto tickets sold through its website. Its site still fronts the 2025 event, so 2026’s date and grotto tickets are not out. (Coulsdon Community Partnership)
- District switch-ons in Selsdon, Sanderstead and New Addington have featured Santa in past years, but none has published a 2026 date.
We will add each one here when its organiser publishes it.
Getting there
Stanley Arts is on South Norwood Hill, a short walk from Norwood Junction station. For the town centre, our parking in Croydon page has council car parks and tariffs, and Croydon roadworks and travel covers closures on the way.
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