The Lights has no Christmas pantomime this year. Its panto is The Wizard of Oz on 6 and 7 April 2027 at £22. Romsey's Mother Goose runs 8 to 24 January.
If you are looking for a pantomime in Andover this Christmas, the honest answer is that the town does not have one.
The Lights, Andover’s theatre on West Street, has published its programme from now into spring 2027, and there is no pantomime anywhere in it between November and January. The venue’s only panto of the season is The Wizard of Oz, on Tuesday 6 and Wednesday 7 April 2027, two afternoon performances during the Easter holidays.
That is not a criticism of the theatre. It has a full Christmas programme, it is simply not a panto one. Below is what The Lights is actually running in December, when Romsey’s panto lands, and where the nearest big Christmas pantomimes are. Every date and price was checked against the venue’s own box office on 5 September 2026.
The Lights: The Wizard of Oz, April 2027
The theatre’s pantomime is The Wizard of Oz, produced by Hot Rock Productions, and it is on:
- Tuesday 6 April 2027, 2pm
- Wednesday 7 April 2027, 2pm
Both performances are in the main auditorium. Tickets are £22 standard, £24 Pullman and £20 concessions. The Pullman seats are rows F, G and H, seats 5 to 15. Row A is accessible for wheelchair users, and the box office asks anyone who struggles with stairs to enquire about rows A, B or C.
The description is a straight family panto, with audience participation, a Wicked Witch to boo and songs to sing along to. There are only two performances and both are matinees, so half term and school holiday planning matters more here than it would for a three week Christmas run.
Box office is 01264 368368, open Monday to Friday 10am to 5pm and Saturdays 10am to 2pm. The Lights is at West Street, Andover SP10 1AH, and is owned and managed by Test Valley Borough Council.
What The Lights is doing at Christmas instead
The December programme is festive, just not pantomime:
- Thursday 17 December, 2pm. Neil Sands presents Christmas Memories, a new 2026 production from Neil Sands Productions. £16.
- Friday 18 December, 7pm. Christmas Country Party Night with The Hundy’s, a standing arena event. Early bird tickets £15.
- Sunday 20 December, 3pm. Big Band at Christmas. £22, or £23 for a Pullman seat.
The festive programme actually opens earlier than that. Christmas with The Doctor is on Sunday 1 November at 10am, a Doctor Who celebration with stage performances by cast members, at £59, with under-16s at £29 and under-10s free. It is much the most expensive ticket in the autumn programme, and note the 10am start rather than the usual evening one.
The Test Valley panto is in Romsey, and it is in January
The borough does have a pantomime. The Plaza Theatre on Winchester Road, Romsey, run by the Romsey Amateur Operatic and Dramatic Society, is staging Mother Goose, written by Ben Crocker, with the troll Smorg as the villain and the Bog of Beauty as the setting.
It runs Friday 8 January to Sunday 24 January 2027 across three weekends:
- Fri 8 Jan 7.30pm
- Sat 9 Jan 2pm and 6pm
- Sun 10 Jan 2pm, a relaxed performance with adjusted sound, lighting and movement, chill-out zones and freedom to move around
- Fri 15 Jan 7.30pm
- Sat 16 and Sun 17 Jan 2pm and 6pm
- Fri 22 Jan 7.30pm
- Sat 23 and Sun 24 Jan 2pm, and Sat 23 Jan 6pm
Tickets are £18, or £15 for under-16s. The theatre notes that a voluntary collection is taken after the show for two local youth charities, Romsey Opportunity Group and Youth Options. Its box office is open in person on Saturdays 10am to midday with no booking fees.
Romsey is about 17 miles south of Andover down the A3057, so it is a Test Valley option rather than a local one if you live in the north of the borough.
The two nearest big Christmas pantomimes
Both are roughly 18 miles from Andover and both are, coincidentally, Beauty and the Beast.
The Anvil, Basingstoke runs from Thursday 10 December 2026 to Sunday 3 January 2027. Tickets are £19.50 to £40, with premium seats at £36, £42 and £44 and family tickets from £148, or £164 premium, for four. There is a relaxed performance on Monday 21 December at 2pm priced at £16 and a signed performance on Tuesday 15 December at 6pm. Schools pay £15.50 a pupil. Box office 01256 844244.
Salisbury Playhouse, run by Wiltshire Creative, runs from Saturday 28 November 2026 to Sunday 10 January 2027, with tickets from £18.50 to £54. It is the longest run of the four and the earliest to open.
Which to book
If you want a pantomime in the Christmas holidays with a professional cast and a long run to choose performances from, it is Basingstoke or Salisbury, and Salisbury opens first. If you want the cheaper, local, amateur panto with a relaxed performance option, it is Romsey in January. If you specifically want Andover, you are waiting until April.
Getting there matters for the two out-of-town options, both of which finish after dark on winter evenings. Our Andover roadworks and travel page covers the closures on the A303 and the routes out of town, and the train times page has the rail options, including the Andover to Salisbury leg. Town centre car park hours are on the Andover parking page.
What could still change
Venues occasionally add a Christmas show late. If The Lights announces a panto for December, or the Plaza adds performances, we will update this page. Everything here was verified against each venue’s own box office on 5 September 2026.
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