Abingdon Airfield's display is Saturday 14 November, gates 2pm, fireworks 7.30pm. Capacity is down 40 per cent and tickets go on sale 11am on 11 September.

Abingdon’s big display is on Saturday 14 November 2026 at Abingdon Airfield, and tickets go on sale at 11am on Friday 11 September. That is nine days after Bonfire Night itself, which falls on Thursday 5 November this year.

Two changes matter this year. Capacity has been cut by 40 per cent, and there are no tickets on the gate at all. The organiser, Xplosive Group, says on its own site that the event “will sell out very early this year”. If you have gone before and turned up on the night, that no longer works.

Abingdon Funfair and Fireworks, Saturday 14 November
Where Abingdon Airfield, Barrow Road, Shippon, Abingdon OX13 6JQ
Gates 2pm
Main display From 7.30pm
Bonfire lit 8.15pm
Fairground closes 10pm
Tickets Eventbrite only, on sale 11am Friday 11 September. None on the gate
Parking £5 per vehicle, pre-booked with your tickets, ANPR

The published running order for the day:

  • 2pm gates and fairground open
  • 2pm to 4pm fairground rides at £2 each
  • 5pm music and entertainment starts
  • 6pm kids singalong fireworks show, a warm-up display before the main one
  • 6.30pm Kevin and Perry
  • 7.30pm the audience light-up, then the main fireworks, light and laser show
  • 8.15pm the bonfire is lit
  • 10pm fairground closes

The organiser’s arrival instruction is blunt and worth following: arrive at least two hours before the main display, by 5.30pm at the latest. Late arrivals “risk traffic congestion and may miss the show”.

Prices

Prices rise once the general release sells out. Both tiers, before the Eventbrite booking fee:

Ticket General release Final release
Adult, 16 and over £20 £25
Child, 3 to 15 £15 £17.50
Infant, under 3 Free Free
Family, 2 adults and 2 children £65 £75
Parking, per vehicle £5 £5

Registering on the organiser’s site gets 10 per cent off the general release prices, and its WhatsApp community gets access from 10.30am on 11 September, half an hour before general sale.

What is different in 2026

The organiser lists five changes, in its own words: attendance reduced by 40 per cent, refined traffic management with ANPR for faster access, an earlier main display at 7.30pm “which reduces peak arrival pressure”, earlier opening at 2pm, and a smaller bonfire built from pallet wood, now sited in the middle of the audience area and lit after the main display rather than before it.

One parking rule to note: there is no event parking in Shippon village. The site is about eight miles from Oxford, off Barrow Road.

Faringdon, Saturday 31 October: the town council has taken it over

Faringdon’s display is in the grounds of Faringdon House on Saturday 31 October 2026, with gates at 6pm and fireworks from 7pm.

The change this year is who runs it. At an extra full council meeting on 29 June, Faringdon Town Council agreed to take over the organisation and delivery of the display after the Rotary Club of Faringdon stepped down following 14 years running it. Rotary had taken it on from The 41 Club. The council says further details will be announced in due course, so prices and the funfair line-up are not published yet.

The Abingdon Scouts display has not been announced

The 2nd Abingdon Scout Group runs a fireworks display and barbecue at Long Furlong Community Centre in north Abingdon, with free parking at Tilsley Park five minutes’ walk away. It is the local, cheaper alternative to the airfield.

It has not been announced for 2026. The group’s fireworks page, read on 5 September 2026, still advertises Saturday 8 November 2025, with 6pm gates, a display between 7.30pm and 7.45pm, and tickets at £6 in advance or £8 on the gate. Treat every one of those details as last year’s until the group updates the page. If the pattern holds the 2026 date would fall in early November, and announcements have previously come in September or October.

Two rules from that page that have held every year: children under 16 must be accompanied by an adult, and no sparklers are allowed inside or around the venue.

What we could not find

There is no display listed for Wantage or Grove for 2026. Wantage Town Council’s own website did not respond on 5 September 2026, so this is a gap rather than a finding, and we will check again. Nothing has been published for a bonfire on Abingdon’s own recreation grounds either.

If you are driving to any of these, roadworks and diversions on the night are on our Abingdon roadworks and travel page, and town centre car park tariffs are on the parking page.

Sources