Festive Weekend of Lights & Gingerbread
Enjoy a 2 night break at Low Wood Bay as we celebrate our Christmas light switch on and Gingerbread festival.
Hosted by Grasmere Gingerbread® and Low Wood Bay Resort & Spa, the Gingerbread Festival is a fun celebration of creativity, expertise and seasonal traditions. Entrants are invited to design and exhibit a Gingerbread House or other creative construction, in this first of it's kind Gingerbread House Festival.
A gingerbread recreation of Bridgehouse, Ambleside
Chef Jiblin Thomas with recreation of Low Wood Bay
The three-day festival will take place at Low Wood Bay Resort & Spa over the weekend of 20th - 22nd November 2026. With the launch timed to coincide with the Low Wood Bay Christmas Lights Switch-On, on the evening of Friday 20th.
Organised by English Lakes Hotels and Grasmere Gingerbread®, it will showcase eye-catching and edible ‘gingerbread house’ designs created by a host of competitors from across the country.
Endorsed by Cumbria Tourism, the Gingerbread House Festival is a friendly competition for bakers of all abilities to display their skills and imaginative designs. There are several different individual or group entry categories to suit all-comers, ranging from adult and child, under 11s and under 18s through to seniors, businesses, community groups and culinary professionals.
The culinary competition will include a host of fabulous prizes, with the best entry taking away the top accolade of National Gingerbread House of the Year 2026. Participants in the Gingerbread House Festival will also be helping to raise funds for Shelter, the housing and homelessness charity.
Prizes on offer for competition category winners range from one-off £1,000 cash bonanzas to VIP luxury experiences at Low Wood Bay and sharing goodie boxes from Grasmere Gingerbread.
With major prizes on offer, Christmas-themed activities and even a life-size gingerbread house on show throughout the weekend, the festival promises a memorable start to the 2026 winter season.
I cannot wait to see all the 'gingerbread house' designs at the Gingerbread House Festival in November as we already have some weird and wonderful entries. "People seem to be very excited about the event. I believe this is because it offers a little welcome escapism and fun as we head into the darker winter months. There are great prizes to be won and it is raising money for a wonderful charity."
Grasmere Gingerbread co-director Joanne Hunter
The official launch of the Gingerbread House Festival and the Christmas Lights Switch at Low Wood Bay. There will also be a selection of local businesses, food stalls and entertainment and seasonal activities for all ages. The Christmas lights switch-on will be at 7.30pm and Father Christmas will be arriving by boat. Samples of Grasmere Gingerbread will be distributed by Hansel and Gretal and the Gingerbread man.
Judging day with the winning exhibit announced during the day. During judging day, exhibits will be on show to the public.
There will also be a selection of local businesses, food stalls and Christmas showcase, workshops, demonstrations and seasonal activities for all ages.
The festival exhibition will be open with the winning exhibits on display.
Low Wood Bay pastry chef Jibin Thomas has created a scale size gingerbread house replica of the hotel. It took Jibin around 15 hours in all to create it and involved experimenting with a plywood template and using a range of different culinary and mechanical tools for the details of construction.
There are only a few weeks left for budding bakers and contenders to finalise their ideas for the type of gingerbread house they wish to construct.
“And thanks to Jibin’s skills and creativity, we’ve made our own gingerbread model of the main Low Wood Bay hotel building to set out the stall and hopefully inspire entrants to think about the architecture of their own designs. We can’t wait to see their ideas and how they’ve built and baked them for the event.
“We also want the Gingerbread House Festival to become a regular fixture that brings people together not only to celebrate culinary expertise and creativity, but also to provide a lot of fun along the way.”
Managing director of English Lakes Hotels Ben Berry
Low Wood Bay
Ambleside Road
Windermere
Cumbria
LA23 1LP
Low Wood Bay Resort & Spa offers guests and visitors a memorable Christmas and New Year no matter the event.
Party nights are all about seasonal merriment, fun with friends, family, or work colleagues. Start the festive season with a bang at Low Wood Bay.
Come and join us in spreading some Christmas cheer at our Christmas Lights Switch-On.
The Gingerbread House Festival, a celebration of creativity and seasonal traditions.
Sign up today and receive news on our latest special offers and events.