Free parking will be available in DDC-owned car parks from 3pm for the Christmas event days in Deal on 21 November, Sandwich on 28 November and Dover on 5 December, as well as 2 hours free parking for Small Business Saturday (5 December).
This comes as the district gets ready to welcome the festive season with a range of Christmas events organised by community partners, including: the Deal Town Christmas Light Switch On (Sat 21 Nov); the Sandwich Christmas Lights Switch On (Sat 28 Nov); and Dover’s Winter Lantern Festival (Sat 5 Dec).
DDC will also be supporting national Small Business Saturday on 5 December by offering two consecutive hours of free parking in our off-street car parks. Motorists who wish to stay longer will only pay for the additional time. In Dover, this will run between 8am and 3pm, before the town’s Christmas event free parking begins at 3pm.
These concessions apply to Council-owned off-street car parks, while normal on-street restrictions and other parking conditions will continue to apply. Free parking for Christmas event days applies in the town of the event, and free parking for Small Business Saturday applies across the district.
This follows a decision by Dover District Council's Cabinet in September.
For more information on Small Business Saturday, please see the Small Business Saturday website, for more details on DDC car parks, please see our parking pages, or for the latest on what’s on in White Cliffs Country, please see the What’s On pages.
Posted on 02 November 2026