The Good Food Show Winter is now the Festive Good Food Show, at the NEC 26 to 29 November. Adults £25, £26 on Saturday: which chef is on which day, and parking.

If you are looking for the Good Food Show Winter, it has a new name. The November show at the NEC is now the Festive Good Food Show, and it runs from Thursday 26 to Sunday 29 November 2026. The organisers say they have given the winter show “a shake-up”, with more Christmas in it. Same venue, same week.

Adult tickets are £25, or £26 on Saturday, including the booking fee. Which chef you see depends entirely on the day you pick, so the line-up by day is below. Everything here was checked against the show’s own pages on 30 September 2026.

Dates and opening times

  • Thursday 26, Friday 27 and Saturday 28 November: 9.30am to 5.30pm
  • Sunday 29 November: 9.30am to 5pm

Where: NEC Birmingham, B40 1NT, which is in the Solihull borough at Bickenhill. (Festive Good Food Show)

Ticket prices

Tickets are for a named day. All prices include the £1.75 booking fee, which is charged per ticket.

Ticket Thursday, Friday, Sunday Saturday
Adult £25 £26
Child £6.75 £6.75
VIP (18+ only) £101.75 £106.75

Which children go free is unclear, because the show’s FAQ says it two ways. One answer puts child tickets at ages 5 to 17 and free entry at 0 to 4. The next answer down the same page says 0 to 5 go free and child tickets are for 6 to 17. If you are bringing a five-year-old, ask See Tickets before you book, or buy the £6.75 ticket to be safe.

A registered disabled visitor can bring a carer free; bring a Blue Badge, Freedom Pass, DLA or PIP letter as proof. Groups of 10 to 23 save 20% and groups of 24 or more up to 25%, but group rates end on 1 November. The first 9,500 people to book get a free cookbook.

VIP adds a lounge, a front-block seat at one Big Kitchen session, two glasses of fizz, VIP parking, a goody bag and VIP cloakroom and toilets. (Festive Good Food Show, FAQs)

What the general ticket gets you, and what it does not

General admission covers the show floor, 350+ exhibitors, the free stages (the Festive Kitchen, the Christmas Challenge Stage and the Let’s Talk Good Food stage), live music, a recipe booklet and a free gingerbread man on arrival.

It does not include a Big Kitchen seat. The celebrity cooking theatre is booked separately, as are the Cheese Hub, Kitchen Tales, the Fabulous Food Finds tastings, the Christmas Table workshops and the restaurant. New this year there is one price per Big Kitchen session, seats are allocated in booking order, and the back of the theatre is open plan so you can watch from behind without a seat. Under 5s can sit on a lap. (FAQs, Big Kitchen)

Who is in the Big Kitchen, day by day

This is the published Big Kitchen timetable. Sessions run 40 minutes. “Free” means the show lists the session as free; the rest are paid seats.

Thursday 26 November - 11.15am: Max La Manna (free) - 12.30pm and 3pm: John Torode and Lisa Faulkner - 4.15pm: Mariella Frostrup and Belles Berry

Friday 27 November - 11.15am: John Torode and Lisa Faulkner - 12.30pm and 4.15pm: Jane Dunn of Jane’s Patisserie - 1.45pm: Maunika Gowardhan (free) - 3pm: Glynn Purnell and David Taylor (free)

Saturday 28 November - 10am and 3pm: John Torode and Lisa Faulkner - 11.15am: Cyrus Todiwala (free) - 12.30pm: Sabrina Ghayour (free) - 1.45pm and 4.15pm: Si King, the Hairy Biker

Sunday 29 November - 10am, 12.30pm, 1.45pm and 4.15pm: James Martin - 11.15am: John Torode and Lisa Faulkner - 3pm: Ping Coombes (free)

So James Martin is Sunday only, Si King is Saturday only, Jane Dunn is Friday only, and John Torode and Lisa Faulkner are on all four days. Glynn Purnell is on Friday. The show warns that the line-up varies by day and can change. (Big Kitchen timetable)

Parking

The show’s travel page gives NEC parking as £14.95 if pre-booked up to the night before, which it says saves £5 on the day rate. Blue Badge parking close to the halls is the same £14.95 pre-booked, with limited spaces allocated first come, first served. Shuttle buses run from the car parks to the halls. The NEC is cashless, so pay by card or phone. (Festive Good Food Show, NEC)

Coming from the town? Our parking in Solihull page covers the town centre car parks, and Solihull roadworks and travel has anything shut on the M42, A45 and the roads round the NEC that week.

By train

Birmingham International station is joined to the NEC halls by a covered walkway; the show says allow 10 to 15 minutes from the platform. Dogs are not allowed in the NEC, except assistance dogs. (Festive Good Food Show)

What we will update

Big Kitchen seat prices once they are shown outside the booking flow, and any changes to the chef line-up. This page is checked again in the week of the show.

Sources