Abingdon Airfield's fireworks are Saturday 14 November, display 7.30pm, roads shut from midday. The Scouts' display is Saturday 7 November, £7 in advance.

Abingdon’s big display is on Saturday 14 November 2026 at Abingdon Airfield, and tickets are on sale now, online only. That is nine days after Bonfire Night itself, which falls on Thursday 5 November this year. The 2nd Abingdon Scouts’ smaller display at Long Furlong is the weekend before, on Saturday 7 November.

Updated 3 October: the Scouts have confirmed Saturday 7 November and their 2026 prices; Oxfordshire County Council has published the road closures for the airfield night; and the organiser now prices parking “from £4 by arrival slot”, with car parks opening at 1pm.

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
Car parks open 1pm
Gates 2pm
Main display From 7.30pm
Bonfire lit 8.15pm
Fairground closes 10pm
Tickets Eventbrite only, on sale now. None on the gate
Parking From £4 per vehicle by arrival slot, pre-booked with your tickets, ANPR

The published running order for the day:

  • 1pm car parks open
  • 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

General release tickets were still on sale when we checked on 3 October. Prices rise to the final release once they are gone. Both tiers, before the 10 per cent 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 From £4 by arrival slot From £4 by arrival slot

Registering on the organiser’s site gets 10 per cent off the general release prices. Earlier in the year parking was listed at a flat £5; the organiser now prices it by arrival slot, from £4, so an early slot is the cheap one.

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.

Road closures on the night

Oxfordshire County Council has given notice that on 9 November it proposes to make a special event order for the night. Its notice says that from 8am on Saturday 14 November parking and loading are banned, and from midday the roads below close until 1am on Sunday 15 November:

  • Faringdon Road (Gozzards Ford), between Sheepstead Road and the A415 Marcham Road
  • Blackhorse Lane, between Faringdon Road and Cothill Road
  • Barrow Road, between Faringdon Road (Gozzards Ford) and Faringdon Road (Shippon)
  • Faringdon Road (Shippon), from Barrow Road to Cholswell Road, and east of Cholswell Road
  • Cholswell Road, between Faringdon Road and Long Tow
  • Long Tow, between Cholswell Road and Wootton Road
  • Honeybottom Lane, between Whitecross (B4017) and Church Lane
  • Green Lane, between Honeybottom Lane and Church Lane

Spring Road in Abingdon is not closed, but has no waiting, loading or unloading along its entire length, from the double mini roundabouts at its southern end to the roundabout with Faringdon Road.

The council’s signed alternatives are Lashford Lane, Church Lane, Cothill Road, Sheepstead Road, North Street, the A415 Marcham Road, Spring Road, Faringdon Road, the B4017 Wootton Road, Whitecross and Lamborough Hill, and Besselsleigh Road. Shippon residents and other non-event traffic are signed from the Spring Road roundabout via Long Tow. Residents and businesses keep access, as do taxis and private hire vehicles using the event’s pick-up and drop-off system. The traffic management is promoted by Event Support Team Ltd of Coventry.

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: Saturday 7 November

The 2nd Abingdon Scout Group’s fireworks display and barbecue is on Saturday 7 November 2026 at Long Furlong Community Centre, Boulter Drive, in north Abingdon (OX14 1XP). It is the local, cheaper alternative to the airfield, and the money goes to the Scout group.

  • Gates 6pm, with the display due to start between 7.30pm and 7.45pm, depending on the weather and safety checks
  • Single tickets £7 in advance, £9 on the gate
  • Four-ticket bundle £24 in advance, £32 on the gate
  • Under-threes free

Prices are up £1 a ticket on 2025, when singles were £6 in advance and £8 on the gate. Unlike the airfield, you can pay on the night: tickets are sold on the day at the community centre and on the gate, subject to availability, by card or cash. The group says tickets are limited and advises buying in advance.

Free parking is at Tilsley Park, Dunmore Road (OX14 1PU), five minutes’ walk away, with limited disabled parking at the community centre. Children under 16 must be with an adult.

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 or again on 3 October 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