Watford · Local news you can trust
Santa's Christmas Emporium opens at the Harlequin on 28 November: £5 for up to five people, all of it to Watford Mencap. How booking, dog and SEND visits work.
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Christmas
Watford Ice Rink Tickets on Sale: Adults £12 Until 22 Nov
Big Skate opens at Pondside on 5 December, with adults at £14 and children at £10, or £12 and £8 if you book before 23 November. Checked November 2026.
Watford
Ice Rinks Near Watford: 8 Places to Skate This Winter and What They Cost
We checked 8 ice rinks near Watford, from Big Skate at Pondside to Planet Ice in Hemel, for 2026 dates, prices and rules. Updated November 2026.
Business
Watford Town Hall Café to Be Run by Tasty Bean Team, Spring 2027
The family firm behind the Tasty Bean at Oxhey Activity Park will run the new Town Hall café from spring 2027. Tea from £2.50 and a terrace on the Town Square.
Environment
Gum Scraped From 5,718m² of Watford's Shopping Parades
Veolia cleared chewing gum from about 1km of pavement at Watford shopping parades, funded by grants of almost £25,000 over three years. Updated November 2026.
Remembrance
Watford MP Places Remembrance Cross at Westminster
Matt Turmaine placed a wooden cross for Watford's war dead in Parliament's Garden of Remembrance. On Sunday he gives a reading at St Mary's and lays a wreath.
Christmas
Christmas Shopping in Watford: From an 1876 Jeweller to the Hornets Shop
We checked 14 Watford shops, from Jackson Jewellers to Millie Moo & Friends in the Harlequin, for opening hours and addresses. Updated November 2026.
Christmas
Where to Buy a Christmas Tree Near Watford, From A41 Farms to Your Door
We checked 7 places to buy a real Christmas tree near Watford, from Carpenders Park to two farms off the A41, for dates and prices. Updated November 2026.
Business
Superdry Watford Moving to Harlequin Upper Mall: 5,549 sq ft
Superdry & Co is moving its Harlequin Watford store to a 5,549 sq ft Upper Mall unit near M&S, with a new format and Bench streetwear. No opening date yet.
Council
Watford Council Abolition Delayed to 2029 at the Earliest
The government has withdrawn Hertfordshire's four-council plan. Any new council now starts in April 2029, 11 months after Watford's mayoral term is due to end.
Transport
Watford to Croxley Trackless Tram: Have Your Say by 4 Dec
A trackless tram from Croxley station to Watford Junction, with 11 stops on the old branch line route, is the county's preferred plan. Comments close 4 December.
Food & Drink
Christmas Dinner in Watford 2026: Pubs With Prices
Eight pubs in and around Watford with 2026 Christmas Day menus, from £49.99 to £104.95 a head, plus deposits and hygiene ratings. Checked November 2026.
Theatre
Watford Panto Bookings Ahead of Past Years, Says Its Writer
Bookings for Watford Palace Theatre's A Christmas Carol panto are ahead of previous years, its writer says. Why Scrooge, the £25 seats and the access dates.
Watford is the busiest town in this part of Hertfordshire, with the ring road around the middle of it, the Metropolitan and Overground lines coming in, and Cassiobury Park on its western edge. Rickmansworth, Chorleywood, Abbots Langley and South Oxhey are next door in Three Rivers, and Bushey, Radlett and Borehamwood are next door again in Hertsmere.
Watford Today covers all three areas, and there is a reason for grouping them: the Government confirmed on 16 July 2026 that Watford, Three Rivers and Hertsmere would merge into a single South West Hertfordshire authority, a plan it paused on 7 September 2026. They remain separate councils with separate bin rounds and separate planning registers, and we name the right one every time, working from the published record with a link to each document.
Every fact carries a link to its official source.