Riverside's ice rink is open all year: public skating from £8.80 with skate hire, Halloween ice disco 30 and 31 October, Christmas sessions not yet dated.

Chelmsford does not need a pop-up Christmas rink, because it has a real one. The ice rink at Riverside Leisure Centre on Victoria Road is run by Chelmsford City Council and is open all year, with public skating, a Friday night ice disco and school holiday sessions. Every price below includes skate hire.

The quick answer

  • Where: Riverside Leisure Centre, Victoria Road, Chelmsford CM1 1FG, about a ten minute walk from Chelmsford station.
  • Public skating from £8.80 (weekday daytime and Monday and Wednesday evenings) or £10.80 (Friday evening and weekends), on the free ourChelmsford Lite card. Skate hire is included.
  • Halloween ice disco: Friday 30 October, 2.15pm to 4.15pm, and Saturday 31 October, 2.30pm to 4.30pm. £10.80, online booking only, no tickets on the door.
  • Christmas at Riverside 2026: not dated yet. The council has not published this year’s festive sessions. In 2024 they ran from 1 December to 3 January; this page will add the 2026 dates when they appear.
  • Book ahead. Sessions open ten days in advance online, in the Chelmsford City Sports app or on 01245 615050. The centre is cashless.

Is there a Christmas ice rink in Chelmsford this year?

Yes, in the sense that Riverside’s rink stays open through December and the school holidays, with its usual holiday skate sessions running every day of the holidays at £10.80 (Lite) or £9.50 (Plus), according to the council’s ice skating page.

What is not yet confirmed is the themed Christmas at Riverside programme. The council’s page for it is offline as of 20 October, and no 2026 dates or prices are published. No temporary outdoor rink has been announced for the city centre or Hylands either.

For a sense of what to expect, here is what the council published for the 2024 season on its Christmas at Riverside page (archived copy):

  • Festive sessions ran from Sunday 1 December 2024 to Friday 3 January 2025, with “twinkling lights, falling snow” and Christmas music.
  • Weekend sessions every December weekend, 10am to 12pm and 2.30pm to 4.30pm.
  • Holiday sessions three times a day (10am, 12.15pm and 2.30pm, each 90 minutes) from 23 December, including Christmas Eve and New Year’s Eve.
  • The centre closed on Christmas Day, Boxing Day and New Year’s Day.
  • Prices were £9.80 on a Lite card and £8.50 on Plus, including skate hire. Penguin, snowman and polar bear skating aids cost £3.50 for 30 minutes.

Those are last year’s details, not this year’s. Essex schools break up on Friday 18 December 2026 and go back on Monday 4 January 2027, so expect the holiday sessions to fall between those dates (Chelmsford school term dates).

Prices for public skating

From the council’s ice skating page, checked on 20 October 2026. All prices include skate hire.

Session Lite card Plus card
Weekday daytime, Monday and Wednesday evenings £8.80 (£8.00 discounted) £7.50 (£6.70 discounted)
Friday evening, Saturday and Sunday £10.80 £9.50
Holiday skate £10.80 £9.50
Friday ice disco, 7.30pm to 9pm £10.80 £9.50
Spectator, public sessions £3.70 £3.70

The ourChelmsford Lite card is free, and the council sets one up automatically the first time you book. You do not need to live in Chelmsford to have one. Spectators at the Friday ice disco and club nights pay the full skating price.

October half term on the ice

Two things run at the rink over half term, which is Monday 26 to Friday 30 October:

  • Halloween ice disco, Friday 30 October 2.15pm to 4.15pm and Saturday 31 October 2.30pm to 4.30pm. A DJ, Halloween music, lighting and smoke effects. Aimed at confident skaters aged 5 to 17, with under-12s accompanied by an adult. Costumes and face paint are welcome, but masks, hats or anything that blocks your view are not allowed on the ice. £10.80, booked online in advance only (Halloween ice disco).
  • Ice skating for beginners holiday course, Monday 26 to Friday 30 October, 9.30am to 10am each day, for complete beginners aged 5 to 17. £46 for the five days, £5 off when two siblings book together (beginners holiday course).

The rest of the city’s half term programme is on our Chelmsford October half term page, and the Halloween events are on Chelmsford Halloween.

Rules worth knowing before you go

The council’s rink rules include no carrying children on the ice, no phones on the ice pad, no headphones, no baseball caps and no chains of skaters. Scarves must be tucked in, and everyone skates anticlockwise. Gloves and long socks are recommended. Lockers need a 50p coin, which you do not get back.

Skates go from children’s size 7 to adult size 14, and you hand your shoes in at skate hire. Friday club nights and weekend afternoon sessions can include loud music and strobe or flashing lights.

Getting there and parking

Riverside is in the city centre beside the River Chelmer, reached on foot through the Bond Street development, Victoria Road or Waterloo Lane. The council puts it at about ten minutes’ walk from Chelmsford station (how to find Riverside).

There is a cashless customers-only car park entered from Victoria Road, paid by card, contactless or MiPermit. At peak times the ice rink undercroft car park is kept for monthly members with a permit, with a three hour maximum stay. On a busy December weekend, plan on the surface car park or a city centre car park instead: prices and alternatives are on our parking in Chelmsford page. Check Chelmsford roadworks before you drive in.

More Christmas in Chelmsford

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