Carnaby Street goes 90s for its 2026 Christmas lights, with a switch-on on 4 November

Carnaby Street’s Christmas lights will be switched on on 4 November 2026, and this year’s new display looks back to the 1990s.

The Soho street puts up a completely new design every year. Previous displays have featured planets and colourful geometric shapes, and one year the lights carried a ‘Choose Love’ theme as part of a charity collaboration.

Carnaby Street Christmas lights 2026 theme

The 2026 display is called ‘Press Play on Christmas’. Organisers say they want people to recall the days when a trip to the shops was an outing in its own right and Christmas memories were made face to face.

Neon-style colours will run through the installation, which is designed to capture the brightness and playful spirit of a British Christmas in the 90s.

Shaftesbury Capital’s Catherine Riccomini, who leads its marketing and communications, said “Carnaby Street has always done Christmas differently”. In her view the campaign is about more than the lights themselves. She said the aim was to give people reasons to come together in person, from shopping and dining to entertainment across Carnaby Street and Soho.

Switch-on night and free pass

The lights going on will be celebrated with a launch event on 4 November. Soho will then hold more seasonal celebrations in the weeks that follow, running until the end of the Christmas period.

A free Switch-On Pass will give people who sign up access to offers on launch night, and to further offers and experiences later in the winter. Registration for the pass has not opened yet. Updates will appear on the Carnaby Street website.