Stafford Fireworks 2026: Sun 1 Nov, 7pm, No Gate Sales

Bonfire Night 2026 falls on Thursday 5 November. Stafford’s own display is four days before it. The Staffordshire Fireworks Extravaganza runs on Sunday 1 November 2026 at Staffordshire County Showground, Weston Road, Stafford ST18 0BD, with gates at 4pm, the display at 7pm and gates closing at 9pm.

It is put on by the Rotary Club of Stafford Castle, and the one thing to know before anything else is that you cannot pay on the gate. The club’s own ticket listing says it in capitals: “PLEASE NOTE THERE WILL BE NO TICKETS AVAILABLE ON THE GATE. ALL TICKET SALES ARE STRICTLY ONLINE IN ADVANCE ONLY.”

Updated 1 October: the showground’s own events calendar now lists the 1 November date, and the organisers’ answers on bonfires, dogs, under-3s, parking and re-entry are added below. The listing also warns that the event “sells out every year”.

Updated 4 October: Lower Drayton Farm near Penkridge has announced two bonfire parties, on 7 and 8 November, the nearest display with a real bonfire. Details below. Rotary tickets are still on sale.

Tickets and prices

The organisers describe this as “Online tickets only - 2025 prices held”, so the same £12 and £3 as last year. Refunds are not given “unless specifically agreed prior to booking”.

What is confirmed

Confirmed by the organisers for 2026:

• Date: Sunday 1 November 2026
• Times: gates 4pm, fireworks “7pm PROMPT”, gates close 9pm
• Venue: Staffordshire County Showground, Weston Road, Stafford ST18 0BD
• Display: fired by Pyro2000
• Funfair: Stanworth Fun Fairs, with dodgems, waltzers, Freak Out, Super Bowl and Miami for adults, and a runaway train, balloon ride, mini jets, a toy ride, bungee trampolines and an inflatable slide for children
• Music: Castle Rotary Radio
• Food and drink: several food vans and an on-site bar
• Parking: free, including disabled parking

Before you go: the organisers’ answers

The Rotary club answers the common questions on the ticket listing:

• There is no bonfire. “No, it is a firework display.”
• No dogs. The organisers say the event “is not suitable for dogs”.
• Under-3s need a ticket too, because the club needs “to know exactly how many people are at the event”.
• Phone tickets are fine, no need to print.
• Food and rides take cash and card, but there are no cash machines on site. You can bring your own snacks.
• Re-entry is allowed with a pass from the ticket check-in point on the car park.
• Wellies are “always” recommended. About 12 funfair rides are expected.

Two rules matter at the gate. Alcohol and sparklers are both banned, in the organisers’ words “BRINGING ALCOHOL OR SPARKLERS IS STRICTLY PROHIBITED.” Bring your own drink and you will be turned away with it.

The borough council does not run a display

This catches people out every year. Stafford Borough Council has a fireworks page, but it is safety advice, not a listing. The council’s line is that the safest option is to “go to a professionally organised event”, and it offers advice to anyone planning a private display through Environmental Health on 01785 619000. There is no council-run bonfire or display anywhere in the borough.

Stone has nothing on its own calendar

Stone Town Council publishes a full-year events calendar, and for November 2026 it lists the farmers’ market on Saturday 7 November, Remembrance Sunday on 8 November, Armistice Day on 11 November, the Christmas lights switch-on on 19 November, the craft and collectables market on 21 November and the Christmas market on 28 November. No bonfire or fireworks event appears anywhere in it. Westbridge Park has hosted a Stone display in past years, but nothing is published for 2026 and the town council’s own calendar does not carry one.

A bonfire, near Penkridge, the weekend after

If you want an actual bonfire, the nearest is at Lower Drayton Farm, Lower Drayton Lane, Penkridge ST19 5RE, about six miles south of Stafford and a mile from M6 junction 13. The farm announced its 2026 Bonfire Parties on 30 September in a post carried on its own events page:

• Saturday 7 November, with an Oasis tribute, The Definitely Maybe’s
• Sunday 8 November, with a DJ set from TJDJ
• A “roaring bonfire”, low-bang fireworks, funfair rides, hot food and a licensed bar

Tickets are sold by the car: £35 for a five-seater (up to five people) and £44 for a seven-seater (up to seven). Walk-ins are £11 a head, but there is no parking for them, so it is drop-off or taxi only. Carers go free, and PLAY@ members get in free but still have to book online. The farm has not yet published gate or display times; we will add them when it does.

The nearest alternative, on the Sunday after

If 1 November does not work, the closest sizeable display is over the Shropshire border. Weston Park runs its Bonfire and Fireworks Night on Sunday 8 November 2026 at Weston-under-Lizard, Shifnal TF11 8LE, west of Stafford on the A5. From the estate’s own event page: gates 3pm, bonfire lit 5pm, a first display at 6pm and a second at 7.30pm.

Weston Park members pay £12 a head. Admission there “is by advanced ticket only” too, so again there is nothing to buy at the gate.

Visit Staffordshire’s bonfire night round-up lists the showground and Weston Park as the closest to Stafford, alongside Alton Towers, Drayton Manor, Betley and Statfold Country Park, all of which are a longer drive.

Getting there and parking

The showground is on Weston Road, the A518 out of Stafford towards Uttoxeter, a couple of miles from the town centre. Parking is free, with 4,000 spaces on a grass car park opposite the showground, which is the main reason to drive rather than park in town. The car park is lit, both of its entrances reach the disabled bays, and you need to bring your Blue Badge. Because it is on grass, the organisers say you may have to carry a buggy off the car park, though the event itself is pushchair friendly. If you are coming in by car and stopping in Stafford first, our guide to parking in Stafford has the current council tariffs and the Sunday rules, and the roadworks and travel page tracks the live closures on the routes in.

Weston Road carries the traffic for every showground event, so leave more time than the distance suggests. A 7pm display with 4pm gates means the queue builds through the late afternoon.

What is still unknown

The showground’s own forthcoming events list now carries the Staffordshire Fireworks Extravaganza on 1 November from 4pm, so the date is confirmed by the venue as well as the organisers. The one gap left is that the club has not named which charities this year’s proceeds go to; you can add a donation when you buy tickets. We will update this page if that changes.