Compare the Market and Martine McCutcheon launch Britain's Best Christmas Lights with a £3,000 prize and £300 for neighbours

Key Takeaways

• Compare the Market has launched Britain's Best Christmas Lights 2026, a UK search for the best outdoor Christmas display, with Martine McCutcheon chairing the judges.

• The winning household receives £3,000, a bronze plaque and a visit from McCutcheon, while up to 50 neighbours can each claim £300 towards December energy bills.

• Entries opened on 3 November 2026 and close at 23:59 on 15 November 2026, with entrants emailing photos and a written pitch to christmas@comparethemarket.com.

• The panel also includes 2025 winner David Carter from Nottingham and Compare the Market energy expert Emma Spencer, and the prize pot totals £18,000.

Compare the Market has launched Britain's Best Christmas Lights 2026, a nationwide search for the UK's finest outdoor display, with Martine McCutcheon chairing the judges and £3,000 and a bronze plaque for the winning household. The prize stretches beyond one front garden, because up to 50 neighbours who share the winner's full postcode can each claim £300 towards their December energy bills, which takes the total pot to £18,000. That arrangement gives anyone living beside an ambitious display a fairly strong financial reason to stop grumbling about the glare and start offering to hold the ladder.

Research released with the campaign finds that 81% of Brits are concerned about their winter energy bills and that 27% have put up fewer decorations in recent years, while 79% say seeing Christmas lights makes them feel happier during the winter. Compare the Market has therefore built its festive activity around the gap between those numbers, offering households money towards the bill that might otherwise persuade them to leave the lights in the loft.

Compare the Market's Britain's Best Christmas Lights asks households to email photos by 15 November

Entries opened at 00:01 on the 3rd November 2026 and close at 23:59 on Sunday 15th November, so households have less than a fortnight to get their displays ready for the camera. Each entry goes by email to christmas@comparethemarket.com with up to five photos of their decorated home, their contact details and city or region, along with a written case of up to 500 words explaining why their display deserves to win. The competition is open to UK residents aged 18 or over who own or mainly live at the property, although tenants need permission from their landlord, and each person and property can enter only once.

The judging runs to 50 points across six criteria, with 10 points each for wow factor and creativity, lighting and visual design, Christmas spirit and community spirit, and five points each for use of the property and extra features. The community score means that a display bringing a street together can compete with one that simply owns more bulbs. McCutcheon chairs a panel with David Carter, last year's winner from Nottingham, and Emma Spencer, Compare the Market's energy expert, so the panel includes somebody who understands exactly what a display costs to run.

McCutcheon explains, "I absolutely love Christmas and I am a big believer that when it comes to decorations, more is more", she said, before adding that the best displays are "the ones that bring people together, make a difference to the local community and put a smile on everyone's face." That second point steers the search away from sheer scale and towards the neighbourly payoff that the £300 offer rewards.

The winner will be contacted before 27th November under the competition terms and must then host a filmed Crowning Moment at home, where McCutcheon will present the prize and help to switch on the display in front of a production team and media. Neighbours can claim their share after that event on a first come, first served basis, as long as they supply proof of address and apply by 31st January 2027.

Every Monday, The PR Insider rounds up the cleverest PR stunts, unexpected brand collabs and marketing campaigns worth saving for your next brainstorm. Sign up here, to get it free in your inbox.