What’s On – Local events guide

Discover new cooking techniques, save money, and reduce food waste! Littlemoor, Weymouth’s 6-week energy-efficient cooking course. Join us for FREE!

Savoury refreshments ,homemade cakes tea and coffee. Raffle and Tombola. Various stalls offering Christmas gifts and crafts, spinning wheel demonstrations 6ft Table spaces available -please contact cycc@mail.com

Talk by eminent plant scientist Dr Julian Sutton. Dilemmas of a Nobody. How do we combine our love of collecting plants and conserving garden? This is the pre Christmas social meeting, a talk so refreshments, raffle and plant and sundries sales table. Plant Heritage meets monthly and talks about good garden plants.

Join Dorchester Choral Society to start your Christmas celebrations at our Winter Concert. The first half features Duruflé’s wonderful, melodic and ethereal Requiem. After an interval for mulled wine and mince pies, the choir will sing carols and Vaughan Williams’s Fantasia on Christmas Carols. Ticket are available in advance or on the night: dorchesterchoralsociety.org

Come on down to Briantspuddle Village Hall for lots of festive cheer! Including craft stalls, turkey rolls and mulled wine, mince pies and children’s Christmas activities.

Santa is coming to Dorchester Youth and Community Centre! £5 per child to include visit to Santa, a gift and a Christmas craft activity.
Youth market, craft stalls, Chocolate tombola, games and refreshments 🎄🎄🎄

7:00 pm. Celebrate the season and help raise funds for local families caring for seriously ill children this Christmas. Sing the classic carols everyone knows and loves, performed by local choir Encore and the Julia’s House choir. Hear words from Julia’s House families that share the real meaning of Christmas. Enjoy festive treats of mulled wine and mince pies. Adults £10, children £5, Under 5’s Free.

6:30 pm for 7:00 pm. Come and join us for a Christmas meal at The Walnut Grove, Durngate Street, Dorchester. Please book one week in advance and contact Rosemary for menu choices, also to be submitted one week in advance.

Come to our Christmas coffee morning and bring and buy sale. There will be a prize for the best Christmas jumper and Christmas Hat.

10:00 am. Christmas Wreath making, Frampton Village Hall DT2 9NF Saturday 13th December 10am. Come and make your own Christmas wreath, with Chelsea Gold Medallist Denise Jones. All materials and refreshments provided Oddfellow Members £40/Guests £55.

Join us at St Peter’s Church Dorchester for our free Christmas lunchtime concert. This is a performance of Benjamin Britten’s ‘A Ceremony of Carols’ sung by vocal consort and accompanied by harpist, Marni Lai. Admission is free and all are very welcome. More information at www.musicatstpetersdorchester.org

Join DHC for an afternoon’s delight in the spoken word, celebrating seasonal poetry and prose. Enjoy readings from well-known Dorset authors such as Thomas Hardy and topical readings from the archives. Experienced performers, such as Mark Chutter, and renowned folk musician, Tim Laycock will bring these readings to life. Tickets £5 for DAT members, and £7.50 for non-members. Book via ticketsource – see web link below.

3:00 pm. The carol service is held at St John the Baptist Church, Woodsford. Refreshments afterwards at Crossways Village Hall.

You are warmly invited to our cathedral-style service of Choral Eucharist in St Peter’s Church. The music includes: Judith Weir’s ‘Drop down ye heavens’, Schubert’s ‘Mass in G’ and Stopford’s ‘There is no rose’. All are very welcome to this free service and for refreshments afterwards. More information at www.musicatstpetersdorchester.org

Attended by thousands this is a day when the main streets in Dorchester are closed to give way to local businesses and organisations. Loads to see and do in the Corn Exchange, Dorset Museum, Cornhill, South Street, Trinity Street and High West Street. Supported by KeeP 106.

7:30 pm. A fun-filled Christmas evening in the company of the one and only Ed Hintz and friends. Bring your own drink. Festive nibbles included. A shared event between Crossways Village Hall and The Oddfellow’s Chairman’s Charity.

6:00 pm for 6:30 pm. Organised by the Friends of the Borough Gardens and the Town Council with the support of Keep 106, the Carols are for everyone to join in, with music from Dorchester’s own band – the Durnovaria Silver Band, accompanied by the Encore Singers. All are welcome to add to the atmosphere by bringing their own home-made lantern. Carol books will be provided. In case of very bad weather the event may be cancelled so keep an eye on the Borough Gardens Facebook page for information.

7:30 pm. Christmas is coming and once again the Ridgeway Singers & Band are preparing to bring their popular seasonal celebration to the Dorford Centre in Dorchester as well as Bridport and Sturminster Newton, with local songs, carols, toe-tapping tunes, stories and poetry. Expect a festive and infectiously enjoyable evening with opportunities to join in if you wish. Refreshments will be available.

You are warmly invited to our service of Nine Lessons & Carols in St Peter’s Church. You can expect gorgeous choral settings, traditional readings and carols, descants and all the trimmings! All are very welcome. More information at www.musicatstpetersdorchester.org

You are warmly invited to our service of Choral Midnight Mass on Christmas Eve in St Peter’s Church. The setting is Charpentier’s ‘Messe de minuit pour Noel’, which will be accompanied by instrumental ensemble. This service is free to attend and all are very welcome. More information at www.musicatstpetersdorchester.org.

Retired or thinking of retiring? Joining u3a gives you the chance to make friends and learn something new or further an existing interest. We currently have over 85 member run groups/activities in Dorchester during the day for you to take part in ranging from Archaeology and Art to Science, Weaving, Wildlife and Conservation . Please come along to learn more about what we have to offer.

2:00 pm. Windrush Willow at The Sleeping Bear Hotel. Come and join in our workshop, learn to create willow dragonflies and bird feeders. Cost £35.00 refreshments provided.

West Dorset CAMRA and Dorchester Casterbridge Rotary Club proudly present the 37th Dorchester Beerex. Over the years, Dorchester Beerex has raised over £300,000 for local good causes. This year’s event takes place on Friday 6th and Saturday 7th February 2026. We will have 84 real ales, a large selection of ciders and perry, seating for 100 upstairs and 50 downstairs.

Get ready for an epic clash of titans! Join us for a thrilling charity football match as the South Western Ambulance Service takes on Dorset Police in a battle for bragging rights and, more importantly, to raise vital funds for four incredible charities. Tickets on sale now – Check out our website!