Free Food and Drink at Tesco Christmas Markets 2025: Full List of UK Stores

If you love free food, festive vibes, and a good bargain, Tesco has something special lined up this winter.

The supermarket is rolling out 165 pop-up Christmas markets across the UK throughout November and December, all free to visit. Expect food and drink samples, goodie bags, and plenty of Christmas inspiration.

What Are Tesco Christmas Markets

Tesco’s Christmas Markets are travelling pop-up events held at selected Extra and Superstore locations.

Each one runs for a few days between November and mid-December, giving shoppers the chance to taste festive products and try new food and drink from well-known brands, all for free.

The markets run 11am to 7pm Monday to Saturday, and 10am to 4pm on Sundays.

What’s Free at the Events?

Visitors can enjoy complimentary samples from some of the biggest food and drink brands, including:

• Costa Coffee

• Chocomel

• Castello and Boursin cheeses

• Drambuie and Glen Moray whisky

• Baileys

• Thatchers cider

• Pepsi

• McCain

• Lurpak

• Quality Street

• Teapigs and Tassimo

• Lindt and Toffifee

• Purina for pet owners

• Aveeno for skincare fans
  

TikTok users who have already visited have shared what’s in the goodie bags, including Baileys whipped cream, Chocomel hot chocolate, Lindt chocolates, and other festive samples.

To receive a goodie bag, you need to buy two items in store during your visit. The total spend can be as little as £3.50, depending on what you buy. Many shoppers have picked up mince pies, chocolates, or Christmas sweets to qualify.

My Experience at Tesco’s Pop-Up Events

I’ve been to a couple of Tesco’s summer roadshow events, which work in a very similar way.

I went to the Aldershot Tesco store Christmas market with my son, and it was busy!

Sadly, so busy that less than 30 minutes into the event opening, all the free sample bags had all gone, so that was a bit disappointing, but they do say that there are only limited numbers available, and there were at least a hundred people in the line to get into the event, and that was an hour after opening!

This was the Aldershot Tesco Christmas market, some time after we had been through, so much quieter than earlier on!

We queued for about twenty minutes to get in, but once we were inside there was loads to do. They were handing out all sorts of Pepsi mocktail creations featuring their limited-edition gingerbread-flavoured Pepsi, which we thought we'd hate, but actually it was good; we bought a case of cans in the shop afterwards, although it did take us 20 minutes to find them! The gingerbread Pepsi mocktail, made with ice cream, cherries, cream and a little gingerbread man cookie, was surprisingly good. They also had cinnamon and orange versions too, plus a couple we skipped, as the ones we had were pretty big and we'd pop!

My son went straight for the Quality Street stand and definitely had more than his fair share! The guy there was lovely and dug into the tubs and found my son's favourite flavours and gave him a big handful, which he was very happy about! He also tried chocolate panettone for the first time and absolutely loved it; he's decided he wants one for Christmas, which is a shame as they were the Tesco premium versions, and are over a tenner each, but it is Christmas, so why not! There were lots of mince pies up for grabs, and although he was a bit too young for it, they were serving Baileys cream with mince pies and Baileys chocolate, which I did try, and it was yummy! I had a salted caramel latte from Costa as well, all for free. They were doing hot chocolates too, but the line for that was pretty long, plus we were pretty stuffed after the Pepsi!

There was a Santa’s grotto, but you needed a booking. I didn’t spot how to book it, and if you didn’t have a slot booked, you couldn’t get in, which was a bit of a shame.

They also had personalised Celebrations tubs. If you bought three Celebration tubs in-store, and brought them outside to the kiosk, they would print custom stickers with people's names on for you, and attach them to the tubs for you, which you could give as gifts, which was pretty fun.

My son enjoyed himself, even though he’d arrived in a bit of a mood and not feeling Christmassy at all. By the time we left, he was buzzing with festive spirit and hasn’t stopped since! Staff were pretty friendly, but there was one lady worker who seemed to be having a rough day, and was pretty vocal about it, which was a shame as she was talking rather loudly to a colleague about it, right by the people waiting in the line to go in, which was a bit of an atmosphere killer, but it was a cold day, and I'd probably not be enjoying that either!

All in all, it was a lovely little Christmas market and a proper dad and son outing. We’ll almost definitely be back for the summer one in 2026. The only shame was the lack of sample bags, but with the number of people there, I can see why they can’t keep up!

Where to Find The Tesco Christmas Markets

The pop-up markets are visiting 165 Tesco stores nationwide, including major cities and smaller towns. Some of the confirmed stops include:

• 8th November – Accrington Extra, Lancashire

• 10th November – Colchester Extra, Essex

• 13th November – Reading Extra, Berkshire

• 15th November – Aldershot Superstore, Hampshire (I went here!)

• 20th November – Aylesbury Extra, Buckinghamshire

• 22nd November – Abingdon Extra, Oxfordshire

• 26th November – Blackpool Clifton Extra, Lancashire

• 26th November – Doncaster Extra, South Yorkshire

• 29th November – Liverpool Allerton Road Superstore, Merseyside

• 30th November – York Tadcaster Road Extra, Yorkshire

• 1st December – Bournemouth Extra, Dorset

• 5th December – Chichester Extra, West Sussex

• 13th December – Bristol Brislington Extra, Bristol

• 14th December – Edinburgh Corstorphine Extra, Edinburgh

• 15th December – Pontypridd Extra

• 18th December – Swansea Marina Superstore

• 19th December – Llanelli Extra, Carmarthenshire
  

To see if your local Tesco is hosting a Christmas market, check the full list on the Tesco website and double check before you go, just to be on the safe side, as dates can change!

What to Expect When You Visit

You don’t need a ticket or booking, just turn up. The atmosphere is festive and pretty relaxed, (just be prepared to queue on busy days!) with tasters, samples, and ideas to help you plan your Christmas meals and gatherings.

You’ll find inspiration for party food, drinks, desserts, and new seasonal favourites. Tesco’s 2025 festive food range features over 260 new products, including the below, but these weren't actually being sampled at the show :

• Tesco Finest Slow Cooked Turkey Crown

• Maple Bacon and Chestnut Sliced Sprouts

• Confit Garlic Maris Piper Roast Potatoes

• Char Siu Duck Bao Buns

• Chocolate and Salted Caramel Wreath Cake
  

Why Tesco Is Doing This

It’s a clever mix of celebration and sampling. You get to try new Christmas food and drink for free, and Tesco gets to showcase its festive range, but there’s no pressure to buy. It’s a fun, free day out that fits nicely into any money-saving December plan.

If you’re already shopping there, it’s worth timing your visit to match one of the events. Free tasters, a few freebies for the bag, and a good look at what to buy or skip this Christmas, and all for free, unless you are lucky enough to be able to get a sample bag, and then you'll need to buy £3.50 worth of items being promoted at the show to get one!

Money-Savvy Tip

Bring a reusable bag in case you’re handed/take extra samples or freebies. Visit early in the day for the best selection, and check social media to see what people have received at your nearest market.

If you’re already using Clubcard offers or cashback apps like JamDoughnut, you can easily turn your Tesco trip into a double win with free samples and cashback savings on your shopping.

Tesco’s free Christmas markets are a great way to enjoy a bit of festive fun without spending much. You’ll get free tasters, maybe a small goodie bag, and a chance to sample this year’s new Christmas range.

With the cost of living still tight, this is one free event worth adding to your Christmas calendar. We certainly found it to be a festive and fun thing to do.

To see the full list of Tesco stores hosting markets, visit www.tescochristmas.com.