No Wandsworth theatre stages a panto this year. Battersea Arts Centre has Dear Santa from 28 November, a £15 grotto and a soft play. Nearest panto: Wimbledon.

There is no pantomime in Wandsworth this Christmas. No venue in the borough appears in the Big Panto Guide’s London list for 2026-27, Battersea Arts Centre’s Christmas programme contains three shows and none of them is a panto, and Putney Arts Theatre’s published season ends with That Face on 14 November.

What the borough does have is a proper family Christmas programme at Battersea Arts Centre on Lavender Hill, all three parts of it already on sale, and two real pantomimes within about twenty minutes of most of the borough.

Battersea Arts Centre, all three confirmed

Dear Santa, 28 November to 24 December. Rod Campbell and Norwell Lapley Productions’ stage version of the book by the author of Dear Zoo. Performances at 11am, 2pm and 4.30pm, in the Council Chamber, which has step-free access by lift on the first floor. It runs 55 minutes with no interval and is aimed at ages 2 to 6, though all ages are welcome. Every performance is a relaxed performance.

Prices step up as December goes on, and the opening weekend is the cheap one:

  • 28 and 29 November, pay what you can, recommended £15
  • 1 to 17 December, £16.50
  • 19 to 24 December, £18

Add £2 transaction fee per order. School and nursery groups have their own performances on Tuesdays to Fridays, 1 to 17 December, at 10.30am and 1.30pm.

Santa’s Grotto, 4 to 24 December, 9.30am to 5.30pm. £15 per child and accompanying adults go free, up to two adults per child ticket, plus the £2 transaction fee. Children get their name on the nice list and a present. The venue warns that there may be a queue before you reach Santa, that the space is dimly lit with bright fairy lights, and that there is audience participation and contact with performers. Suitable for all ages.

Festive Soft Play, 1 to 24 December, for ages 0 to 5. Entry at 9.30am, 11.30am, 1.30pm or 3.30pm, and a session runs up to 90 minutes. One child and one adult is £10, an extra adult £2.50, an extra child £5, plus the £2 transaction fee. This is the cheapest Christmas outing in the borough by a distance.

The nearest actual pantomimes

Peter Pan, New Wimbledon Theatre, Saturday 5 December 2026 to Sunday 3 January 2027, 93 The Broadway, SW19 1QG. Jessie Wallace plays Captain Hook, Aston Merrygold is Peter Pan, Tom Read Wilson is the Magical Merman and Pete Firman returns as Smee. This is the one most of the borough will default to: it is a straight run down the District line from Southfields, or a short hop from Tooting and Balham.

Cinderella, Lyric Hammersmith, 14 November 2026 to 3 January 2027, Lyric Square, King Street, W6 0QL. Age guidance 6 and over, tickets from £10 to £48, and the theatre warns that prices rise with demand. The Lyric’s panto has a long-standing reputation for being the affordable, sharply written one.

Polka Theatre in Wimbledon usually programmes family shows across the same weeks but has not yet put its Christmas listings on its own What’s On page, so we are not quoting dates for it.

Booking notes

Battersea Arts Centre’s £2 fee is charged once per order, not per ticket, so book the grotto, the soft play and Dear Santa together if you are doing more than one. The grotto and Dear Santa both sell out in the week before Christmas; the first weekend of Dear Santa is pay what you can and is the value pick.

Battersea Arts Centre is a two-minute walk from Clapham Junction station. If you are driving, read parking in Wandsworth first, because Lavender Hill is inside a controlled zone, and check Wandsworth roadworks and travel for closures. Albert Bridge remains shut to vehicles until further notice.

For the rest of the season, see our Christmas lights switch-on page and the Battersea Power Station ice rink, which opens on 6 November.