Staithes Christmas Tree Light-Up is a free community evening by the harbour, with carol singing, mulled wine and mince pies, in the North Yorkshire fishing village where a teenage James Cook first worked.
Most people know Staithes from a photograph. Red roofs tumble down a steep gorge, fishing boats sit on the sand, and a narrow beck runs out between two cliffs. It is a summer picture, taken in summer light, usually from the top of the car park.
December shows you the other village. The sun drops behind the cliff early, the harbour wall turns dark, and a community group switches on a Christmas tree beside the water. People stand on the slipway with paper cups of mulled wine and sing.
It is small, local and free. It also happens in the place where the young James Cook first stood behind a shop counter and watched the sea.
Region: Staithes, North Yorkshire coast (between Whitby and Saltburn)
Best for: Couples, families, photographers, anyone who wants a December evening on the coast without a crowd
Getting there: Staithes, TS13. Park at the top of the village and walk down; the lanes to the harbour are steep and narrow
Time needed: An evening, or a full weekend if you add a coast walk
Staithes Christmas Tree Light-Up: When and Where
The light-up is run by Staithes Community Group at the harbour. The listed programme runs from 3pm to 5pm and includes carol singing, mulled wine and mince pies, according to the village’s community listings.
The date moves. In 2024 it fell on Sunday 1 December. The 2025 event was listed for 30 November, with the date still to be confirmed. The 2026 date has not been announced, so treat the first weekend of the season as the likely window and not a promise.
The time is the useful detail. A 3pm start means you arrive in daylight, and the tree lights come into their own as the afternoon fades. By five o’clock, the cliffs have gone black, and the harbour is lit by the tree and the windows along the front.
Dress for the slipway. Wind funnels down the gorge from the sea, and stone steps in December frost are slippery.
Where to Stay: The Endeavour is at 1 High Street, Staithes, TS13 5BQ, with four rooms named Whitby, Rhode Island, Botany Bay and Tahiti.
Worth Knowing: The light-up is run by volunteers from the community group, so the programme can change from year to year.
The Harbour at Dusk
The harbour is the stage. The beck cuts the village in two, and the harbour sits where it meets the sea, with a long breakwater on one side and cottages stacked up the opposite bank. Almost nothing here is flat.
At dusk the village changes sound. Gulls quieten, the water slaps against the slipway, and voices carry far in a gorge. A carol sung by a few dozen people sounds bigger than it is, because the cliffs hold it in.
Stand near the slipway rather than on the road above. You get the tree, the water and the front of the cottages in the same view, and the singing is loudest at the bottom.
Bring a small torch. The lanes back up are unlit in places, and the cobbles are uneven.
Where to Stay: The Endeavour takes bookings by phone on 01947 841 029, so you can ask about rooms for the light-up weekend once the date is set.
Worth Knowing: Mulled wine and mince pies are part of the listed programme, so you do not need to eat beforehand.
The Cod and Lobster
The pub is the other half of the evening. The Cod and Lobster sits on the harbour front, and it has taken a beating from the sea more than once. The front of the building was washed away in the great storm of 1953, and the pub was rebuilt.
It is open daily from 9.30am to 10pm. Food is served Monday to Thursday from 12 to 3 and 5 to 8; on Friday from 12 to 3 and 5 to 8.30; on Saturday from 12 to 8.30; and on Sunday from 12 to 8. A light-up that finishes at five leaves the whole evening for dinner.
Christmas opening hours are not published, so book a table for a December weekend rather than relying on a walk-in.
On a rough night the sea reaches the front, and the windows rattle. It is a good place to be dry.
Where to Stay: The Endeavour is on High Street, a short walk from the harbour front and the pub.
Worth Knowing: The 1953 storm took the front off the Cod and Lobster, which tells you how close to the water the building stands.
Captain Cook’s First Job
Staithes claims Captain Cook, and the claim has a source. The Captain Cook Society records that in 1745 Cook became a shop-boy to William Sanderson, a grocer and haberdasher in Staithes, and that in 1746 he moved to Whitby as an apprentice to John Walker. The village history page on staithes.org.uk confirms the Sanderson apprenticeship.
The shop Cook worked in is not the one you can visit. The village history page says Sanderson’s shop was moved to Church Street by Richard Hutton after storms, using salvaged material. The sea took the original building, and what stands is a rebuilt version in a safer spot.
That detail matters when you walk the village. The harbour you see is the one that taught a Yorkshire farm boy what the sea could do, in a place where the sea had already taken his employer’s shop.
For more on the village and its smuggling past, our guide to Staithes in Yorkshire covers the lanes and the coast in detail.
Where to Stay: The Endeavour has a Botany Bay room and a Tahiti room, both names from Cook’s first voyage.
Worth Knowing: The Captain Cook Society dates Cook’s move to Whitby to 1746, one year after he started in Staithes.
A Village Built on Fish
Staithes was a working village long before anyone photographed it. Fishing grew here in the 16th century, according to the village history, and by the 17th century the herring catch was large. The boats were launched from the beach and the harbour, and the fish were taken out of the gorge by cart.
You can see the work in progress in the layout. The cottages crowd the water because the men needed to be near the boats. The streets are narrow because nobody planned for cars. A fishing village built for the tide leaves little room for much else.
The lifeboat station is now a museum that shows how the village has changed. A building built to rescue people from the sea has become a place to tell people about it.
Walk to the end of the harbour wall in the last of the light. You look back over the roofs to the tree, and the cliffs on either side close in.
For another stretch of the same coast, our guide to Staithes in the fishing village series covers the fishing history in more depth.
Where to Stay: The Endeavour is a few minutes from the harbour wall.
Worth Knowing: The village’s history places the growth of the fishing industry in the 16th century and the large herring catch in the 17th century.
Staithes Museum and the Village by Day
If you arrive early, the museum fills the gap before the tree goes on. Staithes Museum is free to enter. It tells the story of the village, the fishing and the people who lived there, in a small building that suits the subject.
Go to the door in the early afternoon, and if it is open, go in.
The village looks different in the afternoon. Smoke from chimneys hangs in the gorge, the beck runs dark, and the tide is out or coming in over wet sand. If the light holds, it is the best hour for photographs.
Keep walking after the museum. The village has more lanes than the map suggests, and the best views are the ones you find by taking the wrong turn.
Where to Stay: The Endeavour is on High Street, close enough that you can go back and warm up between the museum and the light-up.
Worth Knowing: Entry to Staithes Museum is free.
Parking and the Walk Down
Parking decides the shape of the evening. The village car park charges £2.60 for one hour, £4.00 for two hours, £5.30 for four hours, £6.00 for six hours and £7.20 for 24 hours.
A 3pm light-up with a pub dinner afterwards will take you past four hours, so the six-hour ticket is the sensible one. If you are staying overnight, the 24-hour charge applies.
From the car park, you walk down. The road to the harbour is steep, and the climb back after mulled wine is harder than the descent. Allow ten minutes each way and pace yourself on the way up.
Do not drive into the village centre. The lanes are narrow, and the residents need the space.
Where to Stay: The Endeavour means you leave the car at the top, walk down, and avoid the climb altogether once you are checked in.
Worth Knowing: The 24-hour parking charge of £7.20 covers a whole weekend morning and evening.
Practical Tips
- The light-up has run in the first weekend of the season in recent years, from 3pm to 5pm. The 2026 date has not been announced.
- Park at the top of the village and walk down. The 24-hour charge is £7.20.
- Book a table at the Cod and Lobster for a December weekend, because Christmas opening hours are not published.
- Use the AllTrails app to plan a coast walk from Staithes before the evening starts.
- Wear boots with a good grip. The slipway and the lanes are steep and wet.
- Bring a small torch for the walk back up the hill after dark.
Responsible Visiting
Staithes is a village where people live, work and keep boats. Stay off private slipways and boats, keep clear of the doorways along the front, and take your cups and wrappers with you. Leave the car at the top.
Reader Q&A
When is the Staithes Christmas Tree Light-Up?
The 2026 date has not been announced. In 2024 it took place on Sunday 1 December, and the 2025 event was listed for 30 November.
Is it free?
Yes. It is a community event run by Staithes Community Group at the harbour, with carol singing, mulled wine and mince pies.
What time does it start?
The listed programme runs from 3pm to 5pm.
Where do I park?
At the village car park at the top of the village. It charges £2.60 for one hour and £7.20 for 24 hours.
Is the Cod and Lobster open for dinner?
It is open daily from 9.30am to 10pm, with food served at lunch and in the evening. Christmas hours are not published, so book ahead.
Did Captain Cook really live in Staithes?
He worked in the village. The Captain Cook Society records that in 1745 he became a shop-boy to William Sanderson in Staithes, and in 1746 he moved to Whitby.
Where to Stay
The Endeavour, Staithes. At 1 High Street, TS13 5BQ, with four rooms named Whitby, Rhode Island, Botany Bay and Tahiti. Phone 01947 841 029.
When the carols stop, and the tree is left on, the harbour goes quiet, and the cliffs close in over the water.
