Free food festival on the Vine, Saturday 3 October, then Knole's autumn dates, Remembrance on 8 November and the Christmas lights on the 28th.

The Vine bandstand’s evening concerts are over for the year, and the next big date in the town centre is a daytime one: a free food festival on the Vine Gardens on Saturday 3 October. After it, the diary thins into Knole’s autumn programme and half term, then fills again in November with Remembrance Sunday on the 8th, the Art Club’s 125th anniversary exhibition from the 11th, the Business Awards on the 20th and the Christmas lights switch-on on the 28th.

Everything below comes from the organisers’ own listings, with times, venues and postcodes. The town council’s calendar was reread on 1 October 2026 and the National Trust’s Knole listings on 21 September, and every entry links back to its source so you can check before you set off. For places that are open whatever the month, see our guide to things to do in Sevenoaks.

The next five weeks at a glance

  • Saturday 3 October, 10.30am to 4pm. Kent Biodiversity and Regenerative Food Festival on the Vine. Free.
  • Thursday 15 October, 11.30am. Archaeology walk at Knole.
  • Friday 16 October, 11am to 4pm. Lord Sackville’s private garden at Knole, its last open day of 2026.
  • Mondays to 19 October, 10am to 12pm. Toddler Mondays at Knole, for under fives.
  • Friday 23 October, 6pm and 8pm. West End Classics, candlelit concerts at St Nicholas Church.
  • Wednesday 28 October, 10.30am to 12pm. Forget-me-not Café, with Sevenoaks Repair Café.
  • Thursday 29 October, 9.30am to 4.30pm. Free fishing at Monk Lakes for 11 to 17 year olds, eight places, leaving from behind the Stag.
  • Every Saturday and Wednesday. The town’s three street markets.
  • Every day to 1 November. The Gruffalo Art Adventure in Knole Park, included with admission.

Kent Biodiversity and Regenerative Food Festival, Saturday 3 October

A new festival, in its first year, on the Vine Gardens, TN13 3UH, from 10.30am to 4pm. It is free, and it gathers regenerative and organic growers, bakers, makers, street food vendors, crafters, charities and community groups, with demonstrations and live music all day. The organisers, Regenerative Foods, list this year’s themes as regenerative and organic food production, nature and landscape recovery, organic gardening with heritage seeds and plants, natural fibres, and fermented and preserved foods. Sevenoaks Town Team is supporting it (Sevenoaks Town Council).

It is on a Saturday, so the Bligh’s and High Street markets are running at the same time a few minutes’ walk away, and the car parks nearest the Vine fill early. Our page on parking in Sevenoaks has the alternatives.

The Forget-me-not Café, Wednesday 28 October

A free dementia-friendly session at Bat & Ball Station, TN14 5AP, from 10.30am to 12pm on the last Wednesday of every month, with free refreshments and volunteers on hand, for anyone noticing problems with memory or cognition and for their family and carers. On Wednesday 28 October Sevenoaks Repair Café gives the talk (Sevenoaks Town Council).

The one after that is already listed: Wednesday 25 November, when the musicians Adrian and Jane Smith talk about life as a working musician (Sevenoaks Town Council). The council takes questions on 01732 459953.

Knole through the autumn

Knole sits at the top of the town and has the fullest diary of anywhere in the district. Its listings, read on 21 September (National Trust), had:

  • The Gruffalo Art Adventure, to 1 November, 10am to 5pm. Twelve giant sculptures through the parkland, aimed squarely at half term. It is included with admission rather than free with the parkland, so see our Gruffalo trail at Knole Park guide for what it costs and how to book.
  • Toddler Mondays, Mondays to 19 October, 10am to 12pm, for under fives, with storytime in the bookshop.
  • Attic tours, 23 September to 28 November, 11.30am to 12.15pm. A behind the scenes look at the roof spaces above the showrooms.
  • Volunteer coffee mornings, 23 September to 28 November, 10.30am to 12pm. For anyone thinking about volunteering at Knole.
  • The changing faces of Knole archaeology walk, Thursday 15 October, 11.30am. This is the repeat of the walk that ran free on Heritage Open Day.
  • Lord Sackville’s private garden open day, Friday 16 October, 11am to 4pm. The 26 acre garden opens on only a handful of dates a year, and 16 October is the last of them for 2026.
  • Deer Keeping: Autumn Rut, 16 and 17 October, 5.30pm to 7.30pm. Now sold out, so watch for a repeat rather than turning up.
  • Book Club at Knole, Thursday 22 October, 6pm to 7.15pm, on this year’s page-to-screen theme.
  • The Gruffalo film screening and playtime, Saturday 24 and Sunday 25 October, 10.30am to 11.45am, in half term.
  • Children’s craft: make and decorate a wooden autumn wreath, Tuesday 27 October, 10.30am to 12pm.
  • A Christmas Woodland Wonder, 21 November to 23 December, 11am to 4pm. Decorations and a trail through the grounds.

The National Trust does not publish prices on the summary listing, so use each event’s own page before booking. Our guide to Knole Park covers opening times, parking and the deer, and the Chartwell visitor guide has the prices there now the free day has gone.

The weekly markets

Three markets run every week whatever else is on, all confirmed by the town council (Sevenoaks Town Council):

  • Bligh’s Saturday Market, Bligh’s Meadow, 9am to 4pm, with jewellery, ceramics, candles, prints and speciality foods including cheeses and patisserie.
  • High Street Saturday Market, upper High Street outside the Chequers, 9am to 4pm, for breads and baked goods, olives, fruit, vegetables and flowers.
  • Wednesday High Street Market, also outside the Chequers, 8am to 2pm. This is the market that used to be held in Buckhurst Lane.

Sevenoaks Christmas lights switch-on, Saturday 28 November

The date is now fixed: the Mayor of Sevenoaks switches the High Street lights on at 4.30pm on Saturday 28 November, inside an event that runs from 3pm to 5.30pm along the High Street, TN13 1UX. The council lists live entertainment, fairground rides, a Santa’s grotto, stalls, food and drink and street entertainers (Sevenoaks Town Council).

Plan the car around it. The High Street and part of Akehurst Lane close from 1.30pm to 7pm, which is three and a half hours longer than the event itself, so a car left on the High Street at lunchtime is staying there until the evening. Our page on parking in Sevenoaks has the off-street car parks and tariffs. The lights themselves are the ones from the town council’s Christmas light design competition, and our guide to where to meet Father Christmas has the grottos that take bookings.

October

  • Kent Biodiversity and Regenerative Food Festival, Saturday 3 October, 10.30am to 4pm at the Vine Gardens, free. More above.
  • The Knole autumn programme, above: the archaeology walk on the 15th, Lord Sackville’s garden on the 16th, the deer rut on the 16th and 17th, book club on the 22nd, the Gruffalo film on the 24th and 25th and the wreath craft on the 27th.
  • West End Classics, Friday 23 October, two candlelit concerts at St Nicholas Church, Rectory Lane, 6pm to 7pm and 8pm to 9pm. Danny Whitehead, Raoul in The Phantom of the Opera, and mezzo-soprano Rachel Roper sing Phantom, Les Misérables and The Sound of Music with the Celonatius Ensemble. Tickets £25 to £45, separate tickets per concert, in aid of the music charity Music in Action (Eventbrite). Our feature on the concerts.
  • Forget-me-not Café, Wednesday 28 October, 10.30am to 12pm, with Sevenoaks Repair Café. More above (Sevenoaks Town Council).
  • Free fishing at Monk Lakes, Thursday 29 October, 9.30am to 4.30pm, for 11 to 17 year olds, with only eight places, booked by email. It is part of the Bradbourne Re-bourne river project, the group meets at 9.30am at the South Park car park behind the Stag, TN13 1ZZ, and free transport to and from the lakes is provided (Sevenoaks Town Council).

Half term itself has its own pages: October half term, pumpkin picking, Halloween events and fireworks displays.

November and December

  • Conservation volunteering at Longspring Wood, Friday 13 and Saturday 14 November, 10am to 1pm. The town council is clearing rhododendron to bring biodiversity back to the wood, no experience needed, and volunteers sign up by email (Sevenoaks Town Council).
  • Remembrance Service and Parade, Sunday 8 November, 10.45am to 12pm at the Vine War Memorial, TN13 3TB (Sevenoaks Town Council). Our Remembrance Sunday page has the services across the district.
  • Brushworks, Wednesday 11 to Saturday 21 November, 10am to 4pm at the Kaleidoscope Gallery, Buckhurst Lane, TN13 1LQ. Sevenoaks Art Club is 125 this year, and most paintings in its anniversary exhibition carry a set percentage donation to Hospice in the Weald, the Mayor’s chosen charity (Sevenoaks Town Council).
  • Armistice Day Service, Wednesday 11 November, 10.45am to 12pm at Greatness Cemetery, Seal Road, TN14 5AA. The Mayor lays crosses on the war graves and prayers are read (Sevenoaks Town Council).
  • Open Mic Night at House in the Basement, Friday 13 November, 5.30pm to 7.30pm, for 11 to 17 year olds.
  • Sevenoaks Business Awards, Friday 20 November, 7pm to 11pm at the Bat & Ball Centre, TN14 5DN. Nominations closed on 25 September; one of the categories, the Customer Choice Award, still goes to a public vote before the night (Sevenoaks Town Council).
  • Christmas workshops at Knole: fused glass with Jane Padgham on Monday 23 and Tuesday 24 November, 1pm to 3.30pm; watercolour Christmas cards with Suzanne Abraham on Thursday 26 November, 10.30am to 3.30pm; wreath making with Sian Johnson on Monday 7 and Tuesday 8 December, 10.30am to 1pm, and garland making on Tuesday 8 December.
  • Forget-me-not Café, Wednesday 25 November, 10.30am to 12pm.
  • Sevenoaks Christmas lights switch-on, Saturday 28 November, 3pm to 5.30pm, lights on at 4.30pm.
  • The Holly Party, Friday 11 December, 7.30pm to 11pm at the Bat & Ball Centre. Sevenoaks Town Team’s shared Christmas party, £28 plus booking fee, with the eight-piece band Jonah’s Wail and a buffet from Perfect Cuisine (Sevenoaks Town Council).
  • Deer keeping: winter feed, Saturday 12 and Sunday 13 December, 9.30am to 10.30am, out with Knole’s park and deer keeper on the morning feed.

The rest of the festive season has its own guides: Christmas fairs and markets, pantomimes and where to meet Father Christmas.

Getting there

The Vine Gardens, the High Street and the Stag are all within a ten minute walk of each other, so one trip covers most of the town centre listings above. Knole is a walk up from the High Street through the park gate. If you are driving into town on a Saturday, our page on parking in Sevenoaks has the current tariffs and the car parks that fill first, and there is a separate list of free parking. Coming by rail, see train times to London for the timetable in both directions, and check the roadworks and travel page for engineering work before a weekend trip. If you are making a day of it, we also keep guides to things to do with kids, family walks and breakfast and brunch.

This page is rewritten as organisers confirm new dates. The Sevenoaks Town Council calendar was reread on 1 October 2026 and the National Trust’s Knole listings on 21 September; the West End Classics details were checked on 15 September. Dates can still change, so use the links before you travel. More in our What’s On section.

Sources

Image: “Sevenoaks, Knole Park, Knole House” by Michael Garlick, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons (https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Sevenoaks,Knole_Park,_Knole_House-geograph.org.uk-_7392566.jpg).