Fireworks and bonfires: Dover to St Ives, November 2026

By the ULTIMATE Brighton Editorial Team

At a glance: every display by date

Each display below appears in its county’s section with times, tickets and the organiser’s link. Weather can stop a display at short notice, so check the organiser on the day.

• Thu 29 Oct · HMS Sultan, Gosport, Hampshire · fireworks 8.30pm
• Fri 30 Oct · Isfield & Little Horsted bonfire, East Sussex
• Sat 31 Oct · Newick bonfire; Ewhurst & Staplecross bonfire, East Sussex
• Sun 1 Nov · Folkestone Invicta, Folkestone, Kent · display 6.30pm
• Sun 1 Nov · Tonbridge, Kent · gates 5pm, display 6.30pm
• Sun 1 Nov · Brands Hatch Trucks & Fireworks, Kent · fireworks after 5.15pm
• Wed 4 Nov · Southsea Common, Portsmouth · display from 7pm
• Thu 5 Nov · Broadstairs, Viking Bay, Kent · fireworks 7pm
• Thu 5 Nov · Plymouth Hoe, Devon · bonfire 7pm, fireworks 7.30pm
• Thu 5 Nov · Worthing Pier, West Sussex · fireworks 7.30pm
• Thu 5 Nov · Poole Quay, Dorset · fireworks 8pm
• Thu 5 Nov · Yarmouth, Isle of Wight · torchlight procession from 6pm
• Thu 5 Nov · Lewes Bonfire · for residents; trains not stopping from 5pm
• Thu 5 & Fri 6 Nov · Leonardslee, near Horsham, West Sussex · fireworks 7.30pm
• Fri 6 Nov · Godalming, Surrey · gates 6.30pm, fireworks 8pm
• Fri 6 Nov · Utilita Bowl, Southampton · gates 5.30pm
• Fri 6 & Sat 7 Nov · Kent Life, Maidstone · fireworks 8.30pm Fri, 6.30pm Sat
• Sat 7 Nov · County Ground, Hove · display around 7pm
• Sat 7 Nov · Dunorlan Park, Tunbridge Wells, Kent · display 7pm
• Sat 7 Nov · Edenbridge, Kent · procession 6.30pm, fireworks 8.30pm
• Sat 7 Nov · Farnham Park, Surrey · procession 6pm, fireworks around 7.45pm
• Sat 7 Nov · Mayflower Park, Southampton · gates 4pm
• Sat 7 Nov · Robin Hill, Isle of Wight
• Sat 7 Nov · Littledown Centre, Bournemouth · displays at 7pm, 8pm and 9pm
• Sat 7 Nov · Westpoint, Exeter, Devon · 5pm–9pm, last admission 7.20pm
• Sat 7 Nov · Newton Abbot Racecourse, Devon · gates 4pm, fireworks 7.30pm
• Sat 7 Nov · Brixham Town FC, Devon · 6pm–8pm
• Sat 7 Nov · Sparks, Hendra Holiday Park, Newquay, Cornwall · fireworks from 7pm
• Sat 7 Nov · Chailey bonfire, East Sussex
• Sat 7 & Sun 8 Nov · Leeds Castle, Kent · Saturday sold out
• Sat 14 Nov (to be confirmed) · Rye Bonfire Pageant, East Sussex
• Fri 20 & Sat 21 Nov · Lanterns, Lights and ’luminations, Brixham Quay, Devon
• Sat 21 Nov · Barcombe bonfire, East Sussex

Kent: from Broadstairs to Leeds Castle

Broadstairs: Broadstairs & St Peter’s Town Council’s Firework Night is on Thursday 5 November 2026 at Viking Bay, by the bandstand, from 6pm to 10pm. Live music runs from 6pm to 8pm and the fireworks, by Viking Fireworks, go up at 7pm sharp. Local roads close for the evening and parking on them is suspended from 5.30pm to 7pm, so the council asks you to walk or come by public transport.

Folkestone: Folkestone Invicta’s display at the Alcaline Stadium on Cheriton Road is on Sunday 1 November 2026 at 6.30pm. Tickets are £15 for adults, £10 for children aged 5 to 15 and free for under-5s; any tickets left on the gate carry a £2 surcharge, and sparklers are not allowed.

Leeds Castle, near Maidstone: the Fireworks Spectacular, which the castle calls the largest display in South East England, is on Saturday 7 and Sunday 8 November 2026, choreographed to songs about time with projections and lasers. Saturday is sold out; tickets remain for Sunday.

Kent Life, Sandling, Maidstone: the farm park’s Firework Spectacular is on Friday 6 November (fireworks 8.30pm) and Saturday 7 November (fireworks 6.30pm), with children’s fairground rides and music.

Tunbridge Wells and Tonbridge: the Royal Tunbridge Wells Round Table’s display over the lake in Dunorlan Park is on Saturday 7 November 2026, with festivities from 5.30pm and an 18-minute display at 7pm; advance prices (£11 adults, £7 children aged 5 to 15) rise after midnight on Friday 30 October. Tonbridge Round Table’s display at the Racecourse Sports Ground in Tonbridge Park is on Sunday 1 November: gates at 5pm, display at 6.30pm, £13 for adults and £9 for children aged 5 to 15.

Edenbridge and Brands Hatch: the Edenbridge Bonfire Society’s torchlit procession starts at 6.30pm on Saturday 7 November, with the fireworks at 8.30pm. At Brands Hatch, Trucks & Fireworks runs over Saturday 31 October and Sunday 1 November; the fireworks are on the Sunday only, after 5.15pm, depending on the light.

Dover and Canterbury: when we checked, neither the Farthingloe display near Dover nor Kent Cricket’s fireworks evening in Canterbury had a 2026 date on its organiser’s page. Folkestone’s and Broadstairs’ displays are the nearest we could confirm.

Broadstairs Town Council: Firework Night →   Folkestone Invicta: tickets →   Leeds Castle: Fireworks Spectacular →   Kent Life (Visit South East England) →   Dunorlan Park fireworks →   Tonbridge fireworks →   Edenbridge Bonfire Society →   Brands Hatch: Trucks & Fireworks →

Surrey: Godalming and Farnham

Godalming: Godalming Town Council’s annual fireworks, run with Guildford Rugby Club, are on Friday 6 November 2026 at the Rugby Club on Guildford Road (GU7 3DH). Entrances open at 6.30pm and the fireworks start at 8pm. Entry is by ticket only: £25 for a family of two adults and two under-16s, £11 for adults and £6 for under-16s with an adult; on-site parking is limited and costs £7.

Farnham: Farnham Round Table’s Fireworks and Torchlit Procession is on Saturday 7 November 2026. The procession leaves Waggon Yard car park at 6pm and climbs Castle Street into Farnham Park (GU9 0AU), where the fireworks begin at around 7.45pm. Tickets, and torches to carry, are sold online only, with none on the gate.

Guildford itself: we found no 2026 public display confirmed on an organiser’s or the council’s page; Godalming’s is the closest.

Godalming Town Council: fireworks →   Farnham Round Table: tickets →

Sussex: Hove, Worthing and the bonfire societies

Brighton & Hove’s big display is Fireworks Night at the County Ground in Hove on Saturday 7 November 2026: gates at 5pm, display at around 7pm, advance tickets only from Sussex Cricket. On the night itself, Thursday 5 November, the Worthing Lions fire their display from the end of Worthing Pier at 7.30pm, free to watch from the promenade.

Lewes Bonfire on 5 November is for residents: the societies, the council and the rail operator all ask visitors to go to a display closer to home, and trains are not expected to stop at Lewes, Falmer, Cooksbridge, Glynde or Southease from 5pm. The Sussex bonfire societies keep the tradition in the villages too, from Isfield on 30 October to Barcombe on 21 November, with Rye’s pageant planned for Saturday 14 November (still to be confirmed). Inland, Leonardslee Wine Estate near Horsham has fireworks at 7.30pm on 5 and 6 November.

Every Sussex display, with tickets, times and the full Lewes travel advice, is on our Brighton guide’s Bonfire Night page.

Bonfire Night 2026 on the Brighton guide →   Our guide to Hove →   Our Worthing guide →   Our guide to Rye →

Hampshire and the Isle of Wight

The Solent’s season opens early, on Thursday 29 October, at HMS Sultan in Gosport (gates 5.30pm, fireworks 8.30pm). Portsmouth’s display on Southsea Common is on Wednesday 4 November, from 7pm. Southampton has two: the Utilita Bowl in West End on Friday 6 November (gates 5.30pm) and Mayflower Park on Saturday 7 November (gates 4pm, advance tickets only).

On the Isle of Wight, Yarmouth’s torchlight procession, led by a samba band, leaves the Square at 6pm on 5 November before the beacon is lit and the fireworks begin; on Saturday 7 November the island hospice Mountbatten holds its fireworks night at Robin Hill near Newport. Tickets and times for each are on our Brighton guide’s page.

Two island displays we were asked about, at the Spyglass Inn in Ventnor and the Isle of Wight Community Club in Cowes, had no 2026 details on an official page when we checked.

Portsmouth, Southampton and the Isle of Wight →   Crossing to the Isle of Wight →

Dorset: Poole and Bournemouth

Poole Quay has free fireworks on Bonfire Night itself, Thursday 5 November 2026, with entertainment from 5pm and the display at 8pm; the tourism office suggests parking at the Dolphin Shopping Centre or Harbourside Park. Bournemouth Fireworks at the Littledown Centre puts on three displays on Saturday 7 November, at 7pm, 8pm and 9pm; the 7pm show is the quietest and the one families choose.

Poole and Bournemouth: times and tickets →   Poole Tourism →   Bournemouth Fireworks →

Devon: Plymouth Hoe, Exeter and the English Riviera

Plymouth Hoe: the city keeps Bonfire Night on the night, Thursday 5 November 2026. The fairground and food stalls open at 4pm, the bonfire next to Smeaton’s Tower is lit at 7pm, and at 7.30pm Sonic Fireworks launch a 15-minute display from the wall of the Royal Citadel. The bonfire and fireworks are free to watch (the rides and food are paid for), the event closes at 10pm, and the council expects up to 20,000 spectators. Roads around the Hoe close from 6pm to 9pm, so Visit Plymouth suggests the city-centre car parks, such as Western Approach or Theatre Royal. Dress warmly: it is cold on the Hoe in November.

Exeter: Exeter Round Table’s Galactic Skies, a fireworks, music and drone display by Sonic in aid of Devon Air Ambulance, is at Westpoint, Clyst St Mary (EX5 1DJ), on Saturday 7 November 2026, from 5pm to 9pm. Tickets are limited and sold in advance only, admission stops at 7.20pm, and Stagecoach runs shuttle buses from the Sowton and Honiton Road park and rides and from the city centre. Double Locks holds its annual bonfire and fireworks night on the same evening.

The English Riviera: Newton Abbot Racecourse hosts its Fireworks Night with Newton Abbot Rugby Club on Saturday 7 November 2026 (gates 4pm, fireworks 7.30pm, finishing at 10pm; £9 adults, £6 children, £24 for a family of four, parking £5). In Brixham the same night, Brixham Town FC’s bonfire night at JC Park runs from 6pm to 8pm, limited to 500 tickets sold in advance. And on Friday 20 and Saturday 21 November, Lanterns, Lights and ’luminations brings a lantern parade and a firework display to Brixham’s quay.

Not this year: Shaldon’s beach bonfire on 31 October has been cancelled. The British Firework Championships over Plymouth Sound are a summer event, held in August.

Visit Plymouth: Bonfire Night →   Galactic Skies, Westpoint (Devon Air Ambulance) →   Newton Abbot Fireworks Night →   Brixham Town FC Bonfire Night →   Lanterns, Lights and ’luminations →

Cornwall: Newquay, and St Ives at New Year

Newquay: the Sparks Firework Festival at Hendra Holiday Park (TR8 4NY) is on Saturday 7 November 2026. Gates open at 4pm, the fireworks start from 7pm and the evening runs on to 11pm, with fire performers, live music and DJs, street food and a silent disco after the display. Tickets are sold online only and are non-refundable; children must be with an adult, and the festival is not suitable for pets.

Truro City Council has cancelled its 2026 bonfire and fireworks display. For St Ives, Hayle, Looe and Bodmin, no 2026 display was confirmed on an organiser’s, council’s or tourism board’s page when we checked; we will add them here once they are announced.

Looking ahead: St Ives keeps its fireworks for New Year’s Eve. On 31 December 2026 the town’s celebrations, managed by St Ives BID, centre on the harbour, where the fireworks go up at midnight.

Sparks Firework Festival (Visit Newquay) →   St Ives Town Council: New Year’s Eve →

Along the coast

Our long read follows the whole coast, county by county, from the White Cliffs of Dover to the harbour at St Ives, with the ferries to France, the Solent crossings and the Night Riviera sleeper to Penzance.

Our advice: book early, as most ticketed displays sell out, travel by train or bus where you can, and choose an organised display over fireworks at home.

The South Coast: Dover to St Ives →   Bonfire Night near Brighton →   The ULTIMATE Brighton City Guide →

Questions and answers