Lighting up London: How the capital’s prime streets prepare for Christmas

Christmas festivities came early to Marylebone Village with the Christmas Lights Switch-On in mid-November. There were live music performances, a mini fairground complete with Ferris Wheel, craft workshops and stalls loaded with mulled wine and street food as exclusive boutiques and restaurants offered tempting discounts. The Christmas lights bulbs, switched on by local celebrity Jamie Lang, were made 100% from recycled plastic bottles and recycled for the third consecutive year as part of the estate’s strict sustainability targets, while residents and visitors helped to raise funds for The Marylebone Project, a local centre for homeless women. Last year, Marylebone Village’s Christmas Lights event raised £25,000 for Great Ormond Street Hospital, part of an annual £900,000 donated by the estate to charitable causes in 2024-25.

Festive preparation underway in Marylebone

 “Marylebone is a traditional neighbourhood and the Christmas Lights event is a very important date in our calendar for retailers, residents and visitors alike, with local nurseries and schools all getting involved too,” says Rob Kirk, Head of Retail and Leisure at Howard de Walden Estate, the owners of this prime London neighbourhood since the 18th Century. “It’s a chance to get together as a community, to celebrate our area and to raise money for our chosen charity. We feel a responsibility to look after our businesses and residents, something this event does. It kickstarts the Christmas campaign for our businesses with footfall rising by 15 to 20% once the Christmas lights are up.”

For 300 years, London’s Great Estates, Howard de Walden, Cadogan, Grosvenor and Portman among them, have owned substantial tracts of central London, bringing an aristocratic family heritage to some of the capital’s most prized streets. 

Far from remaining a relic of a long-lost age however, these estates have moved with the times, bringing new life and verve to the city. Howard de Walden Estate’s transformation of Marylebone High Street from Mayfair’s long-neglected northern neighbour into one of London’s most desirable retail and residential locations, escalating property prices sharply on the way, is a leading example.

Christmas comes to Chelsea

So too is this year’s completion of work on Sloane Street where the Cadogan Estate have spent £46 million widening pavements and creating a lengthy ‘green corridor’ of trees and lush planting. The impressive result marks a “new era” for Sloane Street, says Hugh Seaborn, Cadogan’s Chief Executive, who oversees 93 acres of Chelsea and Knightsbridge.

“Chelsea is always magical at Christmas but this is our biggest display yet,” says Seaborn. “From the magnificent Ralph Lauren ‘Holiday Experience’ on Sloane Square and the 30,000 glowing white roses of the moving ‘Ever After Garden’ opposite Saatchi Gallery to the beautiful botanical lights on Sloane Street, festoon lighting along Pavilion Road, giant crowns adorning the King’s Road and the ‘12 Days of Christmas’ theme at Duke of York Square, complete with a 35 foot Norway Spruce, Chelsea is undoubtedly the best place to wander, shop, eat, drink and feel the Christmas spirit.”

Other highlights include Anya’s Grotto on Pont Street – taking bookings right up to Christmas Eve - and workshops, live music and literary nights on Chelsea Manor Street, part of what Cadogan calls the “King’s Road emerging creative quarter”. Entry is free to the Chelsea Winter Village & Illuminations at Royal Hospital Chelsea, running up to the 28th December and offering a 1.5 km light trail, carol concerts, fairground rides and a craft market. 

Celebrating the holiday season in style in Belgravia and Mayfair

The Duke of Westminster’s Grosvenor Estate covers some 300 acres of Belgravia and Mayfair and while it can trace its illustrious history back as far as 1677, its Christmas preparations are decidedly 21st Century. They include the elegant, warm lights in Elizabeth Street, a year-round photographic favourite with Instagrammers for its colourful boutique retailers. Broadcaster Gyles Brandreth performed the official switch-on in November on an evening that saw a pop-up Christmas Market in Eccleston Yards and musical performances by Fulham Brass Band and London Gay Men’s Chorus.

In upscale Mount Street, home to thoughtfully curated luxury retailers and on-trend restaurants and the scene of recent substantial investment by Grosvenor, a three-day ‘Neighbourhood Holiday Festival’ kicked off celebrations, demonstrating the estate’s commitment to the area and support for their retailers. Events included the unveiling of the Connaught Christmas Tree, festive treats in local shops and film screenings in Grosvenor Chapel to raise funds for a local primary school and the Homeless Restaurant at Farm Street Church. 

A season for giving

Supporting local charities are a key aspect of the London great estate’s Christmas plans. Since 2019, Cadogan’s Ever After Garden has raised £1.2 million for The Royal Marsden Cancer Charity. The Portman Estate, 110 acres between Marylebone and Marble Arch including chic Chiltern Street, adds to its current year-round partner, Roald Dahl’s Marvellous Children’s Charity, with a Christmas raffle raising funds for The Samaritans and a food drive supporting the Portman Early Childhood Centre. These estates also have detailed sustainability policies, including goals of cutting emissions and improving air quality. Cadogan has set a commitment of achieving net zero carbon and reducing mains water consumption by 50% by 2030 while Howard de Walden has made achieving net zero carbon “a core element” of their strategic business objectives.

The investment the estates make in sustainability, improving the streetscape, upgrading their historic building stock and assembling a compelling range of retailers from established brands to up-and-coming designers, creates a hugely desirable neighbourhood for residents and visitors and never more so than over the Christmas period.

“The Christmas campaign in Marylebone Village continues right through to the New Year,” says Rob Kirk from Howard de Walden Estate. “It’s always good to bring people together, to show a shared pride in where they live and feel connected with the community.”