Fontwell 31 Oct, West Dean 6 Nov (£6), Petworth 7 Nov (free) and Heyshott 14 Nov, fireworks 8pm, £5 suggested donation. No Fishbourne display this year.
Bonfire night 2026 falls on Thursday 5 November. The organised displays near Chichester sit around it: Fontwell on Saturday 31 October, West Dean on Friday 6 November, Petworth on Saturday 7 November and Heyshott on Saturday 14 November.
There is no Fishbourne fireworks night in 2026. The Fishbourne Centre’s diary for the autumn has a children’s Halloween party on 31 October and nothing on bonfire night. The nearest display to Fishbourne is West Dean’s, on Friday 6 November.
Updated 24 October: the Heyshott Bonfire committee has published this year’s running order. Fireworks are at about 8pm on 14 November, the suggested donation is £5 an adult with children free, it is cash only, and the road through the village closes at 5pm.
Last checked 24 October 2026.
There is no fireworks display in Chichester city itself, and there has not been one for years. What the district has is a handful of village and estate displays, and the nearest big ticketed one is just over the border at Fontwell.
Fishbourne fireworks 2026: not happening
The Fishbourne Centre held a bonfire and fireworks night on Friday 7 November 2025, and that is what most people searching for “Fishbourne fireworks” are looking for. For 2026 its what’s on listing has only two special events in the autumn and winter:
- a children’s Halloween party on Saturday 31 October, 3.30pm to 5.30pm, £2.50 to £7.50
- a children’s Christmas disco on Friday 18 December, 5.30pm to 7.30pm, £2.50 to £7.50
We read the centre’s full events diary for 26 October to 31 December again on 11 October. Apart from its weekly regulars (coffee mornings, happy hour, soft play, Fish Fryday) those two are the only entries. There is no bonfire or fireworks night.
If you went to Fishbourne’s last year, the closest alternatives are West Dean on Friday 6 November (£6, under-16s free) and the free Petworth display on Saturday 7 November, both below. Our Halloween in Chichester page has more on the 31 October party.
West Dean fireworks 2026: Friday 6 November, £6
West Dean Bonfire Night 2026 is on, and tickets were still on sale when we checked on 11 October. West Dean’s own box office listing has it on Friday 6 November 2026, 6pm to 9pm, at West Dean Gardens, PO18 0RX.
| West Dean | Detail |
|---|---|
| Gates open | 6pm |
| Fireworks | 7.15pm |
| Ends | 9pm |
| Price | £6 an adult, children under 16 free |
Hot food and drinks are on sale through the evening. Entry is through the Gardens Gatehouse entrance. West Dean asks people to lift share where they can, to bring a torch because some areas are poorly lit, and to wear sensible footwear. Tickets are non-refundable, and West Dean says it cannot take financial responsibility for bad weather or travel disruption.
This is a change from early September. When we checked on 4 September, West Dean’s old bonfire page returned “Sorry, the event you are trying to view cannot be found” and the event was not among the seven listings in its box office. The new 2026 listing has since gone up, on a Friday rather than the weekend. Older listings on other websites still show West Dean’s 2025 date and price; the box office link above is the one to use.
Petworth: Saturday 7 November, free
Hampers Green Bonfire and Fireworks is on. The Petworth Community Association has the date up as Saturday 7 November 2026 at Hampers Green, Petworth, with a full running order.
| Time | What happens |
|---|---|
| 5pm | Event opens, torches on sale |
| 5.30pm | Congregate for the procession |
| 6pm | Torchlit procession |
| 6.15pm | Bonfire lit |
| 6.30pm | Fire act |
| 7pm | Firework display |
| 8pm | Finish |
The association says times are subject to change and weather dependent.
Entry is free. So are the marshmallow toasting, sparklers, mulled wine, glow sticks, the fire act and the bonfire and fireworks themselves, although donations are asked for. You pay for the funfair rides, soft drinks, food and the procession torches.
Parking is the part people get wrong. The association says parking is in the public car park at Petworth House only, with disabled parking at the Hampers Green Industrial Estate. It states in capitals that there is strictly no parking at the Hampers Green Community Centre.
One wrinkle: the page’s heading says “Saturday 7th November 2026”, but the sentence directly underneath still says “Tuesday 7th November”. 7 November 2026 is a Saturday. The weekday in the body text is left over from an earlier year.
Fontwell: Saturday 31 October, ticketed
Fontwell Park Racecourse, near Arundel, is in Arun district, not Chichester, but it is the biggest ticketed display within easy reach and it draws heavily from here. Its fireworks night page now gives the date: Saturday 31 October 2026, Halloween night and the end of half term.
| Fontwell | Detail |
|---|---|
| Gates open | 4.15pm |
| Display starts | 7.30pm |
| Ends | 8.15pm |
| Adult (13 and over) | £12, second release |
| Child (4 to 12) | £10, second release |
| Family of four | £38, second release |
A “Sizzle and Savour” ticket adds a hot dog and a hot drink: £17 an adult, £15 a child, £49 for the family bundle. Places in the Premier Lounge restaurant, with a two-course buffet and a covered balcony view, are £39 an adult. There is a fire display artist before the fireworks, and the funfair is charged separately on the night. Fontwell says tickets are limited and sell quickly, and the prices it shows are already second release. For infants aged 0 to 3 it asks you to reply to your booking confirmation email.
Heyshott: Saturday 14 November, fireworks at 8pm
Heyshott’s bonfire is back for 2026. It was cancelled at short notice in 2025, with a notice on 28 October that year. Heyshott Parish Council’s bonfire page dated the 2026 bonfire for Saturday 14 November, and the bonfire committee’s own website now has the running order. The committee says all times are approximate.
| Time | What happens |
|---|---|
| 5pm | Road through the village closes to traffic without an official pass |
| 6.30pm | Torches on sale in Hoyle Lane; bar open at the Unicorn, hot dogs and soup on sale |
| 7pm | Torchlit procession from Hoyle Lane to the village green |
| 7.30pm | Punch and Judy |
| 8pm | Fireworks |
| 8.30pm | Raffle draw |
Entry is free, but bring cash. The committee says the bonfire runs entirely on donations and asks for a suggested minimum of £5 an adult, with children free. It is a cash-only event with no card payments, and collection buckets go round on the night.
The bonfire is on Heyshott Village Green, opposite the Unicorn Inn, GU29 0DL, near Midhurst. A professional parking company runs the parking again this year. Cars are directed onto the verges on the outskirts of the village, on the Midhurst side or the Graffham side depending on which way you arrive, and the committee asks everyone to follow the marshals’ instructions.
Midhurst: nothing published yet
Midhurst Rother College ran a fireworks night on Friday 7 November 2025, doors 6.30pm, display 7pm. On 24 October, two weeks before the equivalent date, the PTA’s TicketSource page still listed only that 2025 night as a past event and had nothing on sale for 2026.
What this adds up to
- Free, on the bonfire weekend: Petworth, Saturday 7 November.
- Cheapest ticketed display: West Dean, Friday 6 November, £6 and free for under-16s.
- Biggest show with a funfair: Fontwell, Saturday 31 October, from £10 a child.
- Latest in the season: Heyshott, Saturday 14 November, free entry with a £5 suggested donation.
- Fishbourne: no display this year.
Chichester city centre has no display of its own. The city’s big set piece is the Christmas lights switch-on on Saturday 21 November, and we cover that on our Christmas lights page. For getting to and from a display, the roadworks and travel page covers what is closed, and the parking page covers the city car parks. Everything else on this month is on our what’s on in Chichester page.
Still to be confirmed
- Midhurst Rother College fireworks night. Nothing on sale on 24 October; if it runs, tickets would normally be up by now.
This page will be updated as each of those lands.
Sources
- West Dean Bonfire Night 2026, West Dean’s box office, read 24 October 2026
- Hampers Green Bonfire Night 2026, Petworth Community Association, read 24 October 2026
- Fireworks Night, Fontwell Park Racecourse, read 24 October 2026
- The Fishbourne Centre, what’s on and its events diary, read 11 October 2026
- Bonfire, 14th November 2026, Heyshott Parish Council, read 11 October 2026
- Heyshott Bonfire, its event information and parking pages, Heyshott Bonfire Committee, read 24 October 2026
- Midhurst Rother College PTA, TicketSource
Have your say