National Memorial Arboretum Illuminated: 4 to 22 December

The National Memorial Arboretum at Alrewas runs its winter light trail, Illuminated, on evenings from Friday 4 to Tuesday 22 December 2026. It is a one-mile route through the grounds, lit with light, sound and colour installations, and this year it marks the end of the Arboretum’s 25th anniversary with stories from its first 25 years.

The date that matters most right now is 30 October. Until then tickets are sold at the advance price, which saves £5 on every adult ticket and £3 on every child’s. After that, the standard price applies.

The quick answer

• Dates: 4 to 22 December 2026, entry every 30 minutes from 4.30pm. No tickets on 7 or 14 December.
• Adults £20 (off-peak) or £22 (peak) if booked by 30 October; £25 or £27 after that. Children 5 to 15 from £12; under-5s free but still need a ticket.
• Parking is £5 a car on top, bought with the tickets or at the Welcome Desk.

Everything on this page is from the Arboretum’s Illuminated page and its Illuminated FAQs, checked on 25 September 2026.

Prices: peak, off-peak, and the 30 October deadline

• Off-peak evenings: 4 to 6 December, 8 to 10 December and 15 to 17 December.
• Peak evenings: 11 to 13 December and 18 to 22 December.
• Advance prices end on 30 October 2026.

So for two adults and two children the difference is real: £64 on an off-peak evening booked now, against £80 for the same evening booked in November, before parking.

Groups of ten or more get £18 adult and £10 child tickets on off-peak evenings only, by phone on 01283 244 896. School and uniformed youth groups get the same prices, plus one free adult per ten booked, on 01283 245 100. NMA Friends save 10% on up to four adult tickets but must book by phone.

Times

Entry is every 30 minutes from 4.30pm to 6.30pm, and until 7pm on peak evenings. Once in, you can stay as long as you like and walk the route more than once until the Arboretum closes.

If you are running late, the Arboretum will still let you in up to 7.30pm on Monday to Wednesday evenings and 8pm on Thursday to Sunday.

Relaxed sessions, with more muted light and sound, are at 4.30pm on 9, 13 and 15 December. Capacity for these is limited.

On Illuminated evenings the Remembrance Centre and grounds close to ordinary visitors at 4pm. Ticket holders can still arrive earlier, use the restaurant and collect a wristband, and then join the trail at their booked time.

Parking, getting there and what to bring

The Arboretum is on Croxall Road, Alrewas, DE13 7AR. Parking is £5 a car, charged per vehicle, so two cars in the same party need two tickets. Blue badge bays are in Car Park A near the Remembrance Centre, first come first served, and you may be sent to Car Park B further along Croxall Road.

A few rules that catch people out:

• No dogs, apart from assistance dogs.
• No bikes, scooters or balance bikes. Wheelchairs and mobility scooters are fine. Scooters can be hired for £10, age 14 and over, booked on 01283 245 100.
• Every child needs a ticket, including under-5s whose ticket is free.
• The route is mostly hard paths, with temporary trackway through the woodland sections. Toilets are about halfway round.
• It goes ahead in bad weather. If it is called off for safety, the decision is made by 2pm on the day and ticket holders are offered another date.
• Tickets are non-refundable. Date changes cost £2 a ticket, and none are allowed within 14 days of your date.

Door tickets are sold only if a time slot has not sold out.

Before Christmas at the Arboretum

The Arboretum’s autumn is built around Remembrance, and several of its events come before Illuminated:

• Field of Remembrance, 30 October to 15 November.
• Remembrance Sunday, 8 November, and Armistice Day, 11 November. Both are covered on our Lichfield Remembrance Sunday page.
• October half term, 26 to 30 October, with free drop-in crafts: see Lichfield October half term.

Entry to the grounds by day is free; parking is £5 booked in advance or £8 on the day (NMA parking). The Arboretum’s homepage currently gives its hours as 10am to 5pm daily under its summer timetable. It has not yet posted winter or Christmas Day hours, and we will add them here when it does.

The other Christmas light show in the district

Lichfield Cathedral’s own light show, Follow the Star, runs from 15 to 21 December. Prices, times and how it compares are on our Lichfield Christmas lights and markets page, along with the city switch-on on 22 November.

Still to be confirmed

• The Arboretum’s winter opening hours and Christmas Day arrangements.
• The visual guide to the route, which the Arboretum says goes online once the trail is built.