Christmas Lights in Dublin 2026

DublinTown, the city-centre business group, hangs Christmas lights over more than 20 streets each year, and in 2025 they covered 24. They include Grafton Street with its Christmas chandeliers, Henry Street, Mary Street, South William Street and Capel Street. In 2022 DublinTown counted more than a million LED bulbs, over 300,000 of them on Grafton Street, and about 4 km of lights in all.

The switch-on date for 2026 has not been announced yet. In 2025 the lights were up across the city by 5 November and were switched on on Thursday 13 November at Mary Street rather than Grafton Street, to support the north side of the city; the button lit Mary Street and Henry Street first. In 2024 the switch-on was on 14 November, from the balcony of Bewley's Café on Grafton Street. All the lights are low-energy LEDs on time clocks.

The red line on the map below is a 1.8 km walking route through the lit streets, about 24 minutes on foot without stops: from the St Stephen's Green end of Grafton Street, by College Green and O'Connell Bridge, up O'Connell Street past the GPO, then along Henry Street and Mary Street to Capel Street. It ends a short walk from Smithfield Square, where TwinkleTown runs from 20 November to 31 December 2026; its days are in the guide to the Christmas Markets in Dublin.

Photo (December 2012): Nollaig Shona Duit lights on Wicklow Street, off Grafton Street by Miguel Mendez (CC BY 2.0)

Dublin Winter Lights is Dublin City Council's festival of light projections on the city's landmark buildings. In 2026 it runs in December and extends into January 2027: the December part has Christmas-themed projections, and the January part, with winter themes, starts in mid-January and ends on the St Brigid's Day public holiday weekend. The council plans eight to nine weeks of projections in all.

The council has confirmed that the festival still takes place in December, and the 2026 locations and programme will be revealed in December.

In 2025 Winter Lights ran from 1 to 31 December at 25 city-centre locations, from dusk. Beams of light rose from the Spire, the trees on O'Connell Street changed colour, eight artists projected their work onto the GPO, rainbow arches lit the Millennium Bridge, and a floating installation with 180 beams travelled the Liffey from Heuston Station to Dublin Port. Flux, a light show by the SCALE collective, filled the Dublin Castle courtyard, more than 3,000 balls of light hung in Meeting House Square, and an advent calendar was mapped onto City Hall.

The pin on the map marks O'Connell Street, which the walking route crosses between O'Connell Bridge and Henry Street.

Photo (December 2023): Winter Lights projections on the Custom House by Thoslee (CC BY-SA 4.0)

Wild Lights: Passport to Wonder is the 2026 edition of the evening light festival at Dublin Zoo in Phoenix Park, 3.4 km west of the city centre, from Thursday 12 November 2026 to Tuesday 5 January 2027. The zoo bills it as Ireland's largest festival of lights.

Nine zones of handcrafted lanterns, light, music, colour and movement lead around the world: a Lapland zone inspired by Nordic Christmas traditions, an Irish folklore zone with Celtic legends, music and fairies, and a Japan zone with cherry blossoms and a giant maneki-neko, the beckoning cat. Few animals are visible during the event.

It opens every night of the period except 24, 25 and 26 December, from 17:00 to 21:00, with last entry at 19:30. Entry is ticketed, a sensory-friendly night is planned for 1 December, and Santa's Grotto runs from 21 November to 23 December with combined tickets only.

The closest Dublin Bus routes are the 26, 68, 69, 46A, C5 and C6. The zoo has no parking of its own, and parking in Phoenix Park is first come, first served. The trail is outdoors, so dress for the weather. In 2025 the theme was The Wild Kaleidoscope, with 13 zones.

Photo (December 2022): The Wild Lights sign at Dublin Zoo by Sheila1988 (CC0)

Wonderlights fills the gardens of Malahide Castle, 12.3 km north-east of the city centre, with over a million lights on select dates between Saturday 14 November and Tuesday 29 December 2026. It is the trail's sixth year at the castle; Follow Fox Events created it in 2019.

The 2026 theme has not been revealed yet. In 2025 the trail was called Once Upon a Glow, with a Portal of Light measuring 5 m by 10 m, the Symphony of Light show on the pond and projection mapping on the castle walls.

An Alpine-style food village serves hot chocolate and mulled wine, and new for 2026 are photographers on site. The trail is wheelchair accessible and buggy friendly, and entry is ticketed for set dates. Malahide and Fota House in Cork are the only two Wonderlights venues in 2026, so the 2025 trail at Marlay Park does not return.

Photo (September 2020): Malahide Castle and its gardens from above by Jonjobaker (CC BY-SA 4.0)