Meeting Santa in Barnet: Hendon's Fair, a Pub Breakfast and the Free Fayre Grotto

Father Christmas has three dates in the borough that families can still get to. He is at St Mary’s Christmas Fair in Hendon on Saturday 28 November, from 12 noon to 1pm, then at a Breakfast with Santa at the Old White Lion in East Finchley on Saturday 5 December, and in the free grotto at the Barnet Christmas Fayre on Sunday 6 December. John Lewis’s Santa’s Tea Party at Brent Cross is already sold out. The Grotto at Brent Cross, last year’s paid walk-through at £27 a child, has not returned: its operator is running only in Manchester this year.

The quick answer

• St Mary’s Christmas Fair, Hendon: Saturday 28 November, Father Christmas 12 noon to 1pm. The fair runs 10.30am to 2.30pm, with a children’s grotto and crafts, cakes, games and a raffle (St Mary’s, Hendon).
• Breakfast with Santa, Old White Lion, East Finchley: Saturday 5 December, 11am to 1pm, from £10 (Old White Lion booking page).
• Barnet Christmas Fayre grotto: Sunday 6 December, free. The Bull Theatre lists Santa’s Grotto among the parts of the 2026 fayre it is seeking sponsors for. Hours and venue for this year are not yet published (The Bull Theatre, Barnet Christmas Fayre 2026).
• Santa’s Tea Party, John Lewis Brent Cross: sold out. The booking site showed Brent Cross as sold out on 12 November (Eskimo Joe Events, John Lewis Santa’s Tea Parties).
• The Spires, Barnet: Elf Academy on 12 December and Mrs Claus on 19 December, both 11am to 3pm and free (The Spires).
• RAF Museum Elf Cadets: 5, 6, 12 and 13 December, £7 a child aged 4 and up. Children help Santa’s elves get the presents out; the museum’s page does not say Santa himself appears (RAF Museum, Elf Cadets).

Updated 12 November: St Mary’s Hendon fair, the Old White Lion breakfast, The Spires’ Elf Academy and the sold-out John Lewis tea party added. The Bull has still not published the fayre grotto’s hours.

St Mary’s Christmas Fair, Hendon: Saturday 28 November

St Mary’s Church on Church End, Hendon NW4 4JT, holds its Christmas fair on Saturday 28 November from 10.30am to 2.30pm. Father Christmas is there from 12 noon to 1pm, when children can share their Christmas wishes and get “a little surprise”, in the parish’s words.

The fair also has:

• a children’s grotto and crafts
• homemade cakes and festive treats
• games, prizes and lucky dips
• a raffle and tombola
• gifts, books and plants

Money raised goes to London’s Air Ambulance and Hendon Parish. The church has not published an entry price (St Mary’s, Hendon, on A Church Near You).

Breakfast with Santa, Old White Lion: Saturday 5 December

The Old White Lion at 121 Great North Road, East Finchley N2 0NW, is running a Breakfast with Santa on Saturday 5 December, from 11am to 1pm, from £10. Families sit down to breakfast and activities with “the helpful Elves”, then visit Santa’s grotto with their gift lists. Booking is through the pub’s DesignMyNight page.

Barnet Christmas Fayre grotto: Sunday 6 December, free

The Bull Theatre organises the fayre with a volunteer committee. Its 2026 page asks local businesses to sponsor five parts of the day: “our Main Stage, Christmas Courtyard, Climbing Wall, Santa’s Grotto or event booklet”. The grotto is therefore planned again. The same page says council funding is lower this year and that sponsorship starts at £250 (The Bull Theatre, Barnet Christmas Fayre 2026).

The fayre itself is confirmed for Sunday 6 December, 12 noon to 5pm, in High Barnet town centre. The Mayor of Barnet has been invited to open it on the new Main Stage near Barnet Church.

What the grotto looked like last year, from The Bull’s 2025 fayre page:

• open 12.30pm to 4pm, inside The Bull Theatre on the High Street
• free entry, with optional donations towards the fayre
• in through the front gate, along the path at the side of the building, and in at the Studio and cafe door, with step-free access
• two of Santa’s elves also appeared in LEON’s Magic Show at The Bull, a separate ticketed show at £5

The 2026 grotto times, and whether it stays at The Bull, will come with the full programme. Full fayre details, the stall list and the road closure are on our Barnet Christmas Fayre page.

The Grotto at Brent Cross: Manchester only in 2026

Last Christmas the shopping centre hosted The Grotto, a paid, walk-through experience run by the company that stages the same show in Manchester. Its 2025 ticket page gives the details: a 15 to 20 minute route through several rooms with elves and “festive missions”, ending with Santa in his cabin, a gift for each child, and a professional photo on sale at the end (The Grotto Brent Cross 2025, ticket page).

Every booking needed at least one adult and one child, with no more than five people per group, and a service fee was added at checkout. It sat in the Centre Showcase on the lower level, opposite Vision Express, between Krispy Kreme and You Me Sushi. The ticket page opened sales for a season starting 29 November 2025.

For 2026 there is nothing. On 29 October, and again on 12 November:

• the grotto’s page on brentcross.co.uk returned “page not found”
• Brent Cross’s own guide to Christmas 2026, “Things to Do in North London at Christmas”, lists ten outings, including the ON ICE rink, Topsy Turvy soft play and free days at the RAF Museum and Golders Hill Park, and no grotto (Brent Cross)
• The Grotto’s own website advertises a single 2026 season, at the Corn Exchange in Manchester from 20 November to 24 December (The Grotto)

On 12 November The Grotto’s website still advertised only Manchester, from 20 November to 24 December, so Brent Cross will not have it this Christmas.

Elf Cadets at the RAF Museum: from 5 December, £7

The RAF Museum in Colindale runs Elf Cadets on Saturday 5, Sunday 6, Saturday 12 and Sunday 13 December in Hangar 1. Children aged 4 and up take on four small challenges “to help Santa prepare to deliver gifts all over the world”, then add a label they have made to the museum’s display. Sessions last 30 minutes, starting at 10.30am, 11am, 11.30am, 12pm, 12.30pm, 2pm, 2.30pm, 3pm and 3.30pm. Tickets are £7 a child; adults do not need a ticket but must stay with their children (RAF Museum, Elf Cadets).

The museum’s description is about Santa’s elves; it does not promise a meeting with Father Christmas, so do not book it as a grotto. Entry to the museum is free. More on its Christmas opening is on our RAF Museum London at Christmas page.

Santa’s Tea Party at John Lewis Brent Cross: sold out

John Lewis runs Santa’s Tea Parties in 23 of its shops this year, Brent Cross among them. Each child gets cocoa, a festive snack and a Plus-Plus toy from Santa, and adults get a hot drink and cake (John Lewis, Santa’s Tea Parties 2026). Tickets are £25 a child and £8 an adult, plus a booking fee. The parties run in store between 4 and 24 December, with dates that differ by shop.

The booking site listed Brent Cross as sold out when we checked on 12 November (Eskimo Joe Events). John Lewis’s terms say tickets may be sold on the day, subject to availability.

Elf Academy and Mrs Claus at The Spires: 12 and 19 December, free

The Spires shopping centre on Barnet High Street has two free Christmas Saturdays. There is no Santa, but there is Mrs Claus (The Spires, Elf Academy):

• Saturday 12 December, 11am to 3pm: Elf Academy, with a Christmas elf walking the centre, tree ornament decorating, elf face painting and a graduation certificate
• Saturday 19 December, 11am to 3pm: Mrs Claus’s Christmas storytime and singalongs, an elf headband craft and a gift-wrapping challenge

On both days children can follow The Great Gift Hunt, a trail of Santa’s presents hidden in shop windows. Everyone who finishes gets a sweet treat, and entries go into a draw for a £100 gift card for The Works (The Spires, The Great Gift Hunt).

Places we checked that have nothing for 2026

• Belmont Farm, Mill Hill: its events page lists Halloween and party hire, and no Christmas visit.

If you run a grotto in the borough that is booking now, the newsdesk will add it once we can read the details on your own page.

Getting there and parking

The fayre falls on a Sunday. Moxon Street car park, directly behind The Bull, charges Monday to Saturday only, and Church Hill Road in East Barnet is free every day. Barnet Council has charged on December Sundays in past years, so check the signs on the day: full details on our parking in Barnet page. High Barnet station on the Northern line is at the top of the hill. Stalls line the High Street on the day and the road closure has not been published yet. Works and closures that week are on our Barnet roadworks and travel page.

For the RAF Museum, Colindale station on the Northern line is the nearest.