Racecourse fireworks Saturday 7 November, 7pm, £11 advance until 31 October. Dunkertons' low-noise show is the 3rd, the cricket club's the 6th, under-18s free.

Bonfire Night 2026 falls on Thursday 5 November, and nothing in Cheltenham runs on the night itself. Three displays sit around it, on the Tuesday, the Friday and the Saturday, and all three now have times and prices.

The quick answer

  • Tuesday 3 November, Dunkertons, Charlton Kings: low-noise display 6.30pm, £15
  • Friday 6 November, Cheltenham Cricket Club: quieter display 6pm, main display 7pm, adults £12.50 plus £1, under-18s free, no gate sales
  • Saturday 7 November, Cheltenham Racecourse: fireworks 7pm, £11 advance until 31 October, then £15

Updated 1 October: the racecourse has published its times and prices, and the cricket club now lists children up to 17 as free, where in September only under-threes were.

Dunkertons, Tuesday 3 November

The earliest and the quietest. Dunkertons at Dowdeswell Park, London Road, GL52 6UT, in Charlton Kings, is running a 12-minute low-noise display choreographed to a playlist, with no loud bangs.

From the event listing on Dunkertons’ own shop:

  • Gates open 4.30pm, live DJ set from 5pm
  • Fireworks start 6.30pm, live band after the display
  • Eateries open until 10pm, the bar until 11pm
  • £15 per person, under-threes free but still need a ticket

Tickets are non-refundable and arrive as a QR code by email. There are no pets, card payments only at the bar, and no smoking or vaping in the marquees. The Woozy Pig is running a pop-up kitchen for the night. Traffic management will be in place and entry is via the overflow car park.

Cheltenham Cricket Club, Friday 6 November

The Fairview Fireworks Party at the Victoria Ground, Princes Street, GL52 6BE, runs two displays in one evening, and the earlier one is the quieter.

From the club’s event page:

  • Entry from 5.00pm
  • Quieter fireworks display 6.00pm
  • Main fireworks display 7.00pm
  • 5pm to 9pm on the club’s listing
  • Adult (18+) £12.50 plus a £1.00 admin fee per ticket
  • Children 0 to 17 free, up from 0 to 2 when we first checked in September

Two things to know before you book. There are no tickets available on the gate, in the club’s own capitals. And there is no parking at the cricket club, with what the club calls “VERY limited parking in the local area”, so everyone is advised to arrive on foot.

Glass bottles, sparklers, fireworks, food and alcohol are all barred, and the club says anyone found bringing them in will be asked to leave. Food, a bar and live music are on site. Children under 16 must be with a responsible adult, and the terms set a maximum of two children per adult.

Two wrinkles in the small print, both still live on the page on 1 October. The conditions are headed 2026 but the first paragraph says they apply to the “Fairview Fireworks Party 2025”. And the summary at the top says tickets are non-refundable “except in the circumstances set out in Section 12 (Event Cancellation)”, while Section 12 itself says that if the event is cancelled, “neither Bookings or transaction fees are refundable”. If that matters to you, ask the club before paying.

Cheltenham Racecourse, Saturday 7 November

The big one, run by Cheltenham Round Table at the racecourse on Evesham Road. The Jockey Club’s event page now has the full timetable:

  • Car parks open 3.30pm
  • Gates open 4.30pm
  • Fireworks begin 7pm
  • Last admission 7.15pm
  • Funfair, children’s entertainment and bars stay open until 9.15pm, to spread the exit

This year’s display is set to “magical music from the worlds of fantasy and adventure”, with a funfair, food and drink stalls, glitter artists and glow toys. The page says more entertainment is still to be announced.

Prices. Advance tickets run until Saturday 31 October: £11.00 for 13 and over, £5.50 for ages 3 to 12, under-threes free. From Sunday 1 to Friday 6 November they rise to £15.00 and £8.50. The page says booking ahead secures the best price “compared to our on the day gate price”, so there will be gate sales, but it does not say what they cost.

Against 2025 that is a dearer night for adults and a cheaper one for teenagers. Last year’s advance tickets were £10 for adults and £5 for children aged 3 to 17; this year the adult rate applies from 13. Gates also open half an hour earlier than last year’s 5pm.

The racecourse rules carry over. No food or drink may be brought on site, and no sparklers, fireworks, bangers, flares or chairs. Under-18s must be with a paying adult over 21 or a parent, limited to three under-18s per adult, and under-16s must stay with them throughout. If the event is cancelled, the racecourse promises a full refund on the face value of every ticket, which is the opposite of the cricket club’s terms. Fireworks timings are “subject to weather and operational conditions”.

Proceeds go to the Round Table and 15 local causes: Abbeymead Primary School, Catch a Smile, Charlie’s Community Support, Cheltenham Open Door, Cheltenham Playhouse, Cheltenham Camera Club, Gloucestershire Young Carers, Headway, the James Hopkins Trust, the Pied Piper Appeal, Re-engage, the Royal British Legion, Sue Ryder, South Western Ambulance Service and Say Aphasia. More on the course’s other dates on our racecourse this winter page.

What is not happening

Cheltenham Rugby Club has not announced a 2026 bonfire night. It ran one on Sunday 2 November 2025 at Newlands Park. As at 1 October there is nothing about fireworks or a bonfire anywhere on the club’s site, and its events page returns a Page Not Found. If it returns, we will add it.

Cheltenham Borough Council runs no display of its own.

Getting there and parking

Only the racecourse offers parking: its car parks open at 3.30pm, and the page offers accessible parking and viewing areas if you contact the course in advance. In 2025 parking was free in the Hall of Fame car park; the 2026 page does not say. Dunkertons asks you to use its overflow car park. The cricket club has none at all, and the Victoria Ground sits in a dense residential grid in the All Saints area, so walking or a taxi is the realistic option.

Council car park tariffs, including which ones charge on a Sunday, are in our guide to parking in Cheltenham. Anything that might be dug up on the night is in Cheltenham roadworks and travel. No road closure notice has been published for any of the three displays.

Sources