Banbury Fireworks 2026: Bicester 7 Nov, Kidlington 5 Nov

There is no bonfire night display in Banbury this year, and there is not going to be one. The display most of the town went to, Bodicote’s at Banbury Cricket Club on White Post Road, has ended for good after 54 years. Bonfire Night 2026 falls on Thursday 5 November.

Two displays nearby are confirmed and on sale: Kidlington on Thursday 5 November and Bicester Round Table at Pingle Field on Saturday 7 November. Banbury Town Council’s own fireworks are at the end of November, not the start.

Updated 30 October: Bicester Round Table has put its 7 November display on sale (gates 5pm, fireworks 7.30pm, £7 plus a 55p booking fee), and Kidlington’s ticket prices are now shown: adults £6 in advance, £7 on the night.

Bodicote’s display has ended

Bodicote Village Hall Committee ran the fireworks and bonfire at Banbury Cricket Club every year from 1970. It announced on its own Facebook page that it was stopping, saying it had “had to make the very difficult decision that this event will no longer be able to take place”.

Three reasons were given:

• Parking has gone. Development at Bodicote House, Cherwell District Council’s former headquarters next to Kingsfield, removes the field the event used for parking, and there is no other suitable site.
• Access has narrowed, with new housing built around Kingsfield and behind Banbury Cricket Club.
• The financial risk. Running costs for a display that size had risen a long way.

It started in 1970 as a small village display and grew into the biggest in the Banbury area.

If you want a second check on that, look at the venue. Banbury Cricket Club published a fireworks notice on its website in 2019, 2021, 2022, 2023 and 2024. The 2024 one gave 6pm gates, a 7.30pm display and £5 cash on the gate with under-5s free. It has published nothing about fireworks since. Its archive was read on 5 September 2026.

Kidlington, Thursday 5 November: confirmed and on sale

This is the one to book. Kidlington Town Council runs it and tickets are already live.

The council describes low-noise fireworks with a laser show, a fire performer before the main display, family fairground rides, food and refreshment stalls and a barbecue run by Gosford All Blacks Rugby Club.

Two rules that will catch people out. There is no parking on site at all, other than for Blue Badge holders, whose badge must be clearly displayed on arrival. The council asks people to walk if they can, and anyone who drives to park only in designated areas without blocking roads or driveways. And you may not bring or light sparklers anywhere on the site.

The prices above are the ones TicketSource shows when you start a booking, read on 30 October, when more than 50 tickets were still available. Advance booking saves £1 a head or £5 on a family ticket.

Stratfield Brake sits between Kidlington and the A34, about sixteen miles south of Banbury on the A4260.

Bicester, Saturday 7 November: on sale

Bicester Round Table’s display at Pingle Field is the biggest in the district, and this is its 51st year. Its TicketSource listing went up in late October.

The Round Table says there are all new food vendors this year, that sparklers are not allowed on site, and that every penny from tickets and donations goes to people and groups in Bicester. More than 50 tickets were available on 30 October. The listing does not say whether tickets will be sold on the gate, so book ahead.

Bicester Town Council’s published 2026 events schedule has no fireworks in it, because the Round Table event is not a council one.

Bicester Hotel Golf and Spa also ran a public display last year, on 2 November 2025, with gates at 5.30pm, fireworks around 7pm and tickets at £7.50 with under-5s free. Its news index still links only that 2025 page, checked on 30 October 2026, so there is no sign of a 2026 display there.

Banbury’s own fireworks are on 29 November

Banbury Town Council does not run anything on bonfire night. Its 2026 events calendar goes Michaelmas Fair on 14 to 17 October, Remembrance Sunday on 8 November, then the Christmas Lights Switch On.

The council’s fireworks are at that switch-on: Sunday 29 November, at around 5pm, for about five minutes, over the Market Place as the lights come on. It is free and there is no ticket. Full details are on our Banbury Christmas lights switch-on page.

Village displays

Several villages around Banbury have run their own bonfire nights in past years, including Cropredy Cricket Club and King’s Sutton playing fields. None had published a 2026 date on any website we could find by 30 October. Village committees often confirm only on a Facebook page.

If you are told about one, check it against the organiser’s own post before you drive out. Listing sites in this area are unusually stale: the national fireworks directories still carry Bicester Round Table entries from 2017 and a Bodicote listing for a display that no longer exists.

What is still to be confirmed

• Bicester Hotel Golf and Spa: no 2026 display announced by 30 October.
• Cropredy, King’s Sutton and other village displays: none published.
• Whether Bicester sells tickets on the gate.

We will update this page as each is announced. If a display does bring road closures with it, they will show up on our Banbury roadworks and travel page, and our parking page has the town centre tariffs.

Sources

• Bodicote Village Hall’s own announcement that the fireworks and bonfire event will no longer take place, for the decision and the parking, access and cost reasons.
• Banbury Cricket Club’s website archive, read 5 September 2026, for its fireworks notices in 2019, 2021, 2022, 2023 and 2024 and the absence of one since. The 2024 notice gives the 6pm gates, 7.30pm display, £5 cash entry and the White Post Road and Blackwell Drive closures that used to apply.
• Kidlington Town Council’s event listing and its TicketSource shop, read 5 September and again 30 October 2026, for the ticket prices, the 5 November date, the 6pm gates and 7pm prompt start, Stratfield Brake as the venue, the low-noise fireworks and laser show, the Gosford All Blacks barbecue, the Blue Badge-only parking and the sparkler ban.
• Bicester Round Table’s 2026 listing on TicketSource, read 30 October 2026, for the 7 November date, gate, bonfire and fireworks times, the £7 pre-sale price and 55p fee, the under-5s rule and the sparkler ban.
• Bicester Town Council’s 2026 event schedule, for the absence of a council fireworks night.
• Bicester Hotel Golf and Spa news index and its 2025 fireworks page, read 30 October 2026, for last year’s date, times and £7.50 price.
• Banbury Town Council’s events calendar, read 5 September 2026, for the absence of any bonfire night event and the 29 November switch-on.

Checked on 30 October 2026. Displays get cancelled for weather and for money. Confirm with the organiser on the day.