Luton's panto this year is the Griffin Players' Sleeping Beauty at the Library Theatre, 5, 6, 12 and 13 December. Plus Dunstable's Snow White, from £21.

Luton has a pantomime this Christmas, and it is a home-grown one. The Griffin Players, the town’s amateur dramatics company, stage Sleeping Beauty at Luton Library Theatre on Saturday 5, Sunday 6, Saturday 12 and Sunday 13 December, two performances a day (Luton Library Theatre).

If you want the big professional panto with a television name, that is next door in Dunstable: Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs at the Grove Theatre, 4 December to 3 January, with Natalie Cassidy as the Wicked Queen, from £21 (Everyone Theatres).

The quick answer

In Luton: Sleeping Beauty, the Griffin Players, Luton Library Theatre, LU1 2NG, Sat 5 and Sat 12 Dec at 11am and 4pm, Sun 6 and Sun 13 Dec at 12 noon and 5pm. Tickets are on sale now through the Griffin Players; neither the theatre nor the company prints a price on its listing. Christmas show for under-tens: Adventures in Wonderland at the Hat Factory, 5 to 23 December, £13.75. Nearest professional panto: Snow White, Grove Theatre, Dunstable, 4 Dec to 3 Jan, from £21 plus a £3.50 booking fee. Every detail here is from the organisers’ own pages, read on 6 October 2026.

Sleeping Beauty at Luton Library Theatre

The Griffin Players describe themselves as a long-running amateur company based in Luton, first formed by staff at the Vauxhall plant, which puts on three or four shows a year, usually two pantomimes (one for families, one for adults), a musical and a play (The Griffin Players). Sleeping Beauty is this year’s family one, and the theatre’s listing promises “everything you expect from a traditional pantomime”.

The eight performances, as the Library Theatre lists them:

  • Saturday 5 December: 11am and 4pm
  • Sunday 6 December: 12 noon and 5pm
  • Saturday 12 December: 11am and 4pm
  • Sunday 13 December: 12 noon and 5pm

The director is Alex Parsons, with Cheryl Desborough as musical director and Kyra Spratley as choreographer (The Griffin Players).

Tickets: the theatre’s page says tickets are available now and sends you to the Griffin Players’ TicketSource box office. Neither the theatre nor the company prints a ticket price, so this page does not give one. The box office is the place to check.

Where it is: the Library Theatre is on the third floor of Luton Central Library, St George’s Square, LU1 2NG, a few minutes’ walk from Luton station.

The adult panto, in January

The company’s second panto of the season is Pricked, its “naughty annual adult pantomime”, at the same theatre on 22, 23, 29 and 30 January 2027. It is not one for children.

The Hat Factory’s Christmas show

Not a pantomime, but the other Christmas show in town for young children: Adventures in Wonderland, from Full House Theatre with the Culture Trust, at the Hat Factory Arts Centre, LU1 2EY. It runs between 5 and 23 December at 11.30am and 2pm, is aimed at ages 4 and up, and costs £13.75 including the booking fee. Expect puppets, music and a lot of audience joining in with Alice’s adventure (The Culture Trust). The Culture Trust’s listing gives the run, not a day-by-day calendar, so check the booking page for the dates that have performances. If you book the 5 December show, note that a promotional trailer is being filmed in the theatre that day, and the audience may appear in it.

The big professional panto: Dunstable

Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs is the Grove Theatre’s pantomime, from Friday 4 December 2026 to Sunday 3 January 2027, at Grove Park, Court Drive, Dunstable, LU5 4GP.

  • Cast: Natalie Cassidy of EastEnders as the Wicked Queen, Quang Luong from He’s a Gladiator, Will Kenning as Nurse Nellie, Oliver Scott as Muddles and Kira MacCarter as Snow White.
  • Tickets: from £21, and a non-refundable £3.50 transaction fee is added to each booking. Box office 01582 602080.
  • Access performances: signed on Monday 28 December, 3pm; relaxed on Wednesday 30 December, 2pm; audio described on Sunday 3 January, 1pm.
  • It is written by Paul Hendy and produced by Evolution Productions (Everyone Theatres).

The Grove is in Central Bedfordshire, not Luton borough, but it is the nearest theatre running a full professional panto this year.

Is there a panto in Luton this year?

Yes. The Griffin Players’ Sleeping Beauty is on the Library Theatre’s own listing with eight performances and tickets on sale. What Luton does not have is a professional, weeks-long pantomime run of the Dunstable kind; for that, the Grove is the nearest.

Getting there and parking

The Library Theatre and the Hat Factory are both in the town centre, within a short walk of Luton station. If you drive, our parking in Luton page has the council car parks and the evening charge, and our roadworks and travel page carries closures for the weekend you go.

Sources

  • Sleeping Beauty, Luton Library Theatre, for the eight performance dates and times, the venue and the TicketSource booking route, read on 6 October 2026.
  • The Griffin Players and its upcoming productions page, for the company, the creative team and the January adult panto.
  • Adventures in Wonderland, The Culture Trust Luton, for the Hat Factory show’s run, times, age guidance, price and the 5 December filming notice.
  • Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, Everyone Theatres, for the Grove Theatre run, cast, prices, booking fee and access performances.