Old MacDonald's Farm's Christmas Journey opens Friday 20 November, weekends only until 18 December, then daily to Christmas Eve. Santa roams; no grotto.
Old MacDonald’s Farm on Weald Road, Brentwood, opens its Christmas event, A Christmas Journey, on Friday 20 November 2026. It runs Fridays to Sundays until mid-December, then every day from Friday 18 to Thursday 24 December. Entry is 10am to 5pm.
The quick answer
- Open: 20-22 Nov, 27-29 Nov, 4-6 Dec, 11-13 Dec, then daily 18-24 Dec. Closed Monday to Thursday until 18 December.
- Santa: he roams the farm with an elf at intervals through the day. There is no sit-down grotto, and you can meet him as many times as you like.
- Under 2s go free. Gift and free tickets, and open-dated tickets, cannot be used at Christmas.
The dates
The farm’s main website lists A Christmas Journey from “Fri 20th Nov - Thur 24th Dec 2026”, and its Christmas FAQ gives the exact open days: (Old MacDonald’s Farm, special events; Christmas FAQ)
| Block | Days | Pattern |
|---|---|---|
| Fri 20 to Sun 22 November | 3 | Weekend |
| Fri 27 to Sun 29 November | 3 | Weekend |
| Fri 4 to Sun 6 December | 3 | Weekend |
| Fri 11 to Sun 13 December | 3 | Weekend |
| Fri 18 to Thu 24 December | 7 | Every day |
That is 19 days in total. The farm says “tickets are limited per day, so please book early”, and the final week, when schools have broken up, is the obvious pinch point.
A word of warning if you land on the farm’s separate Christmas website: its front page still carries last year’s opening line (“Starting on Fri 21st Nov”), which were the 2025 weekdays. The FAQ page and the main site have the 2026 dates above.
Is there a Santa’s grotto?
Not in the traditional sense. The farm’s answer to that exact question in its FAQ: “We will be having a roaming Santa where he will be making various special appearances throughout the day. He will be accompanied by one of his elves and you are welcome to stop and have a chat, grab a selfie, tell him how good you have been or even be lucky enough to join him on one of the rides!”
So there is no timed grotto slot to book and no queue for a single visit. The flip side is that there is no guaranteed private moment with Santa or a present handed over in a grotto. If that matters, the farm’s Santa’s Post Office is the closest thing: an elf “sorting out all of the nice lists”, Christmas arts and crafts run by Artbound, and the chance for children to send a letter to Santa. (Old MacDonald’s Farm, Santa’s Post Office)
What is included
The farm’s Christmas site lists these in the child ticket, on top of all-day access to the animals: (Old MacDonald’s Farm, Christmas)
- Roaming Santa and the Christmas Parade
- The Ice Sisters, the farm’s “singing Princesses”
- A Christmas-themed train ride, a reindeer ride and a snowy tractor ride
- An interactive Gingerbread Hunt and a Winter Woodland walk
- Old MacDonald’s Christmas Show and the animated chicken show
- Meet and greet with giant white polar bears
- The Doggy Dog roller coaster, open every day, and all other rides “as many times as you like”
Treat the detail of that list with a little caution until nearer the time, because the same site still shows 2025’s dates on its front page. The farm’s own FAQ confirms that under-2s can see the animals and shows and ride the reindeer ride, tractor ride, Santa sleigh ride and Christmas train.
Tickets and prices
The farm’s booking site has a Christmas Tickets 2026 section open now, but prices only appear once you choose a date, and the farm has not published a Christmas price list. We will add prices here when they are published. (Old MacDonald’s Farm, bookings)
The rules in the Christmas FAQ worth knowing before you buy:
- Under 2s are free, but add them to the basket so the farm can count heads, and bring proof of age for toddlers over 16 months.
- Free and gift tickets are not valid at Christmas. The FAQ says tickets from “gifts, incentives, raffles, charity donations, prizes etc.” are valid only from February to November. The booking site adds that open-dated tickets are valid from February to October and “cannot be used for the Christmas event”.
- No refunds on online tickets. If the farm has to close, for example in bad weather, you can use the tickets on another day.
- No American Express. Other debit and credit cards are accepted.
- Picnics are welcome, and there is a Grab and Go cafe.
Getting there and parking
The farm is on Weald Road, Brentwood CM14 5AY, near junction 28 of the M25. On the opening Saturday, 21 November, Brentwood High Street is also expected to be closed for Lighting Up Brentwood, as it was in 2025, so avoid routing through the town centre that day. Check Brentwood roadworks and travel before you set off, and parking in Brentwood if you are combining the farm with a trip into town.
Other places to see Santa in Brentwood
- Lighting Up Brentwood, Saturday 21 November, 12pm to 6pm, free, includes a Santa Parade on the High Street. In 2025 the parade set off at 11.45am. Details on our Brentwood Christmas lights switch-on page.
- Brentwood Theatre has The Elves and the Shoemaker for ages 3 to 7 from 10 to 24 December: see Brentwood pantomime and Christmas shows.
Still to be confirmed
- Christmas ticket prices, expected on the booking site’s price list before 20 November.
- Show and Santa times on the day. The farm says only that they are “at various intervals daily”.
Dates and rules above were checked on Old MacDonald’s Farm’s own websites on 28 September 2026.
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