Chichester Restaurant Week runs 12 to 16 October and the Cathedral's Light Experience from 23 to 31 October. 39 dated listings, each linked to its organiser.

The six weeks from now to early November have two fixed points in the city. Chichester Restaurant Week runs from Monday 12 to Friday 16 October, and the Cathedral’s Light Experience fills the building with projections from Friday 23 to Saturday 31 October, which covers the whole of half term. Around them sit the last three weeks of the Festival Theatre’s summer season, four candlelit concerts in the Cathedral, two Chichester City home games and a free bonfire night in Petworth.

Everything below was read from the organisers’ own listings on 28 September 2026, and every entry links to the page it came from. Prices are shown only where the organiser publishes them. For places that are open whatever the month, see our guide to things to do in Chichester.

This week

Monday 28 September to Sunday 4 October.

  • Lunchtime Concert: John Robinson, organ, Tuesday 29 September, 1.10pm, Chichester Cathedral Nave, PO19 1PX. Free. Howells, Franck, Duruflé and Whitlock from the organist of Blackburn Cathedral, about 50 minutes. Entry is free with a retiring collection, and the Cathedral suggests a donation of £7. (Chichester Cathedral)
  • Art Tour, Wednesday 30 September, 10.30am, Chichester Cathedral, PO19 1PX. Adult £10. A guided tour of the Cathedral’s 20th century artworks, newly put together for 2026. (Chichester Cathedral)
  • The Music of Frankie Valli and The Four Seasons: The Candlelight Concert, Thursday 1 October, doors 6.45pm, show 7.45pm to 10pm, Chichester Cathedral, PO19 1PX. £25 to £55. A tribute concert by candlelight from the outside promoter Xperience Live, which also runs the box office. Last entry is 7.30pm. (Chichester Cathedral)
  • Lovett, Thursday 1 October, 8pm, The Nest, Chichester Festival Theatre. £15. A one hour play about Mrs Lovett before she met Sweeney Todd. Ages 14 and over. (Chichester Festival Theatre)
  • Chichester Farmers’ Market, Friday 2 October, 9am to 2pm, Chichester city centre. Producers from within 50 miles of the city, selling what they grow, rear, bake or preserve themselves. (Chichester District Council)
  • Comedy at The Nest, Friday 2 October, 8pm, The Nest, Chichester Festival Theatre. £18. October’s stand-up bill, with Andy Field and Michelle Shaughnessy named on it. Two hours with an interval, ages 16 and over, and the theatre says line-ups can change. (Chichester Festival Theatre)
  • Chichester parkrun, Saturday 3 October, 9am, Oaklands Park, PO19 6AP. Free. The weekly free 5k in Oaklands Park. Register once with parkrun before your first run and bring your barcode. (parkrun)
  • Chichester in Action: One City, Greener Choices, Saturday 3 October, 10am to 3pm, The Council House, PO19 1LQ. Talks on sustainable eating, biodiversity and home retrofit, two screenings of the National Emergency Briefing, and a marketplace in the Assembly Room where Southern Water will set out its plans for the Lavant treatment works. The marketplace is open to everyone; the talks and screenings are booked through Eventbrite. (Chichester City Council)
  • Clothing Swap Shop, Saturday 3 October, 10am to 11.30am, Vicars’ Hall, Chichester Cathedral, PO19 1PX. Free. Bring about three clean items in good condition and swap them item for item. No money changes hands, and a Fairtrade café serves tea, coffee and cake. (Chichester Cathedral)
  • Living History: Michaelmas, Saturday 3 and Sunday 4 October, 10am to 5pm, Weald and Downland Living Museum, PO18 0EU. The Tudor Group sets up a 16th century market around the museum’s market square for the feast of St Michael. (Weald and Downland Living Museum)
  • Chichester City v Gloucester City, Saturday 3 October, 3pm, Oaklands Park, Chichester City FC, PO19 6AR. Southern League Premier South, at home. (Chichester City FC)
  • A Midsummer Night’s Dream, to Saturday 17 October, Chichester Festival Theatre, PO19 6AP. From £15. Shakespeare moved to a 1994 South Downs rave, in the Festival Theatre. Two hours 20 minutes with an interval. Evening and matinee prices start at £15. Our piece on the production. (Chichester Festival Theatre)
  • Antigone Exits, to Saturday 17 October, Minerva Theatre, Chichester Festival Theatre, PO19 6AP. From £15. Nina Segal’s modern version of Sophocles in the Minerva Theatre, one hour ten minutes with no interval. Evening and matinee prices start at £15. (Chichester Festival Theatre)

Next week

Monday 5 to Sunday 11 October.

  • Chancellor’s Autumn Lecture: The Trinity and the Evangelists in Art, Tuesday 6 October, 6.30pm, Vicars’ Hall, Chichester Cathedral, PO19 1PX. £10. How Christian artists have shown the Trinity and the four Gospel writers. The ticket includes a glass of wine or a soft drink. (Chichester Cathedral)
  • The Music of Phil Collins and Genesis: The Candlelight Concert, Thursday 8 October, 7.30pm, Chichester Cathedral, PO19 1PX. £25 to £55. The second of the autumn’s candlelit tribute concerts in the Cathedral. (Chichester Cathedral)
  • Musa Mboob and Xam Xam, Friday 9 October, 8pm, The Nest, Chichester Festival Theatre. £18. The Gambian percussionist and singer with his band. One hour 50 minutes with an interval, ages 8 and over. (Chichester Festival Theatre)
  • Women of the Weald and Downland Living Museum, Saturday 10 October, 10am to 5pm, Weald and Downland Living Museum, PO18 0EU. £25. A one day conference on the women who have shaped the museum since it opened in 1970. The ticket includes coffee and a light lunch, and members get 10% off. (Weald and Downland Living Museum)
  • Bell Tower Open Day, Saturday 10 October, 2pm, Bell Tower, Chichester Cathedral, PO19 1PX. Adult £15, child £10. A look inside what the Cathedral describes as the only surviving medieval detached bell tower of any English cathedral. (Chichester Cathedral)
  • Chichester City v Plymouth Parkway, Saturday 10 October, 3pm, Oaklands Park, Chichester City FC, PO19 6AR. Southern League Premier South, at home. (Chichester City FC)
  • London Concertante: Vivaldi’s Four Seasons and The Lark Ascending by candlelight, Saturday 10 October, 7.30pm, Chichester Cathedral Nave, PO19 1PX. £25 to £60 plus booking fees. Tickets run from £25 for a very restricted view to £60, all plus booking fees. (Chichester Cathedral)
  • Monstering the Rocketman, Saturday 10 October, 8pm, The Nest, Chichester Festival Theatre. £15. A play about Elton John’s libel fight with The Sun in the 1980s. One hour 15 minutes, ages 14 and over, with strong language and sexual themes. (Chichester Festival Theatre)

Later in October

  • Chichester Restaurant Week, Monday 12 to Friday 16 October, Chichester city centre. Restaurants, cafés and pubs in the city centre put on offers at £10, £20 and £30. It is the third year, and the BID had not published the list of venues when we read its announcement on 28 September. (Chichester BID)
  • In Conversation with Munya Chawawa and Justin Audibert, Wednesday 14 October, 1pm, Minerva Theatre, Chichester Festival Theatre, PO19 6AP. The comedian, who is in A Midsummer Night’s Dream, talks to the theatre’s artistic director about his career and his Black Boys Theatre Club. (Chichester Festival Theatre)
  • Thursday Late at Pallant House Gallery, Thursday 15 October, 5pm to 8.30pm, Pallant House Gallery, PO19 1TJ. The gallery stays open late at half price admission, with drop-in life drawing from 6pm and a curator’s tour at 7.30pm. The concert with the South Downs Poetry Festival and the drink and draw workshop are ticketed separately. (Pallant House Gallery)
  • Selsey Coastal Scheme public exhibition, Thursday 15 October 3pm to 7.30pm, Friday 16 October 1pm to 7.30pm, Saturday 17 October 10am to 3.30pm, Selsey Town Hall. The leading options for the sea defence scheme go on show, with the project team there to answer questions. Our guide to the exhibition. (Chichester District Council)
  • Tim Burton’s Universe by Mystery Ensemble, Friday 16 October, 7.30pm, Chichester Cathedral Nave, PO19 1PX. £25, £30 or £35. Music from Tim Burton’s films, played in the Nave. (Chichester Cathedral)
  • ChichestHER Family Day: Women and Protest, Saturday 17 October, 10.30am to 12.30pm, The Novium Museum. Free. Objects to handle and a protest badge to make, with no need to book. It is also the opening day of ChichestHER, the museum’s free exhibition on 19 local women, which runs to 17 April 2027. (The Novium Museum)
  • The Life and Afterlife of Fanny Cornforth, Thursday 22 October, 6.30pm, The Novium Museum. Free. A talk by Kirsty Stonell Walker, biographer of Rossetti’s model, who spent her last years as a patient at Graylingwell. The museum opens at 6pm. Free, but booking is essential. (The Novium Museum)
  • Chichester Light Experience: Illuminating Art, Friday 23 to Saturday 31 October, timed evening entry, Chichester Cathedral, PO19 1PX. Adult £13, child £8, students £11, family of four £36. Projections and sound by Luxmuralis through the whole building, back after more than 14,500 people came to the first one. Book ahead online for a timed slot and expect to queue outdoors. (Chichester Cathedral)
  • October Half Term: Plagues and Potions, Saturday 24 October to Sunday 1 November, 10am to 4pm, Weald and Downland Living Museum, PO18 0EU. A trail round the historic buildings every day, with crafts and potion making on 27 to 29 October, ghost stories on the 27th and 29th and a Victorian school on the 28th. Saturday 31 October is the museum’s Halloween day. (Weald and Downland Living Museum)
  • Roman Army Week, Monday 26 to Friday 30 October, 10am to 4pm, Fishbourne Roman Palace, PO19 3QR. Sword and shield drill, spear throwing and a pumpkin trail in the palace gardens. It is included with general admission, and activities cost an extra £1 for each child taking part, paid on arrival. (Sussex Past)
  • The Tale of the Nightingale with Red Sauce Theatre, Wednesday 28 October, 10.15am and 11.30am, The Novium Museum. £6 a child, £2 an adult. A 45 minute puppet show about Florence Nightingale for children aged 5 to 9, who must come with an adult. (The Novium Museum)
  • Liza Pulman and Joe Stilgoe: Hooray for Hollywood, Thursday 29 October, 2.30pm, Chichester Festival Theatre, PO19 6AP. From £10. A century of film musicals in one show, in the Festival Theatre. (Chichester Festival Theatre)
  • Stitches Comedy Club: Sara Pascoe, Zoe Lyons and Stephen K Amos, Friday 30 October, 8pm, Chichester Festival Theatre, PO19 6AP. From £10. Three headline comedians in the Festival Theatre, introduced by James Alderson. (Chichester Festival Theatre)
  • Children’s Halloween Party, Saturday 31 October, 3.30pm to 5.30pm, The Fishbourne Centre, PO18 8BE. £7.50 for ages 2 to 11, £2.50 for under twos. A disco with party games and a prize for the best costume. Entry is by ticket only. (The Fishbourne Centre)
  • The Archers: Live at 75, Saturday 31 October, 7.30pm, Chichester Festival Theatre, PO19 6AP. From £15. The Radio 4 serial’s anniversary tour reaches the Festival Theatre. (Chichester Festival Theatre)

West Sussex schools break up for the week of 26 to 30 October. Our October half term page has the full list of what is booked for that week.

November

  • The Last Laugh, Tuesday 3 to Saturday 7 November, Chichester Festival Theatre, PO19 6AP. From £10. Tommy Cooper, Eric Morecambe and Bob Monkhouse share a dressing room, in a play that comes from the Noël Coward Theatre. (Chichester Festival Theatre)
  • The Music of Bruce Springsteen: The Candlelight Concert, Friday 6 November, 7.45pm, Chichester Cathedral, PO19 1PX. £25 to £55. The Cathedral lists a second night on Saturday 7 November on its own page. (Chichester Cathedral)
  • Hampers Green Bonfire and Fireworks, Saturday 7 November, 5pm to 8pm, Hampers Green. Free. The torchlight procession leaves at 6pm, the bonfire is lit at 6.15pm and the fireworks are at 7pm, all weather permitting. It is free to attend. Park at the Petworth House car park only. Our fireworks page has the rest of the district. (Petworth Community Association)

Remembrance Sunday is 8 November. Chichester City Council had not published this year’s arrangements when we checked its site on 28 September, so it is not listed here; our Remembrance Sunday page will carry them. Chichester BID has not announced a date for the Christmas lights either, and our switch-on page explains where that stands.

Regular events

  • Chichester Farmers’ Market: the first and third Friday of each month, 9am to 2pm, in the city centre. The remaining 2026 dates are 2 and 16 October, 6 and 20 November, and 4 and 18 December (Chichester District Council).
  • Cathedral lunchtime concerts: Tuesdays at 1.10pm in term time, in the Nave, free with a retiring collection. After John Robinson on 29 September come John Peskett and Tony Halstead on 6 October, Piano à Deux on 13 October, the Halcyon Quartet on 20 October and Chichester Symphony Orchestra on 27 October (Chichester Cathedral).
  • Chichester parkrun: every Saturday at 9am in Oaklands Park, PO19 6AP, free (parkrun).

Getting there

The Cathedral, the Council House, Pallant House Gallery and the farmers’ market are all inside the city walls and a few minutes’ walk from each other. The Festival Theatre, The Nest, the parkrun and Chichester City’s ground are all at Oaklands Park, just north of the walls, and the theatre puts the railway station a 20 minute walk away. If you are driving, our page on parking in Chichester has the car parks and tariffs. For rail, see train times to London, and check the roadworks and travel page before a weekend trip.

This page is rewritten as organisers confirm new dates. Dates and times can still change, so use the links before you travel. More in our What’s On section.

Send us your event

Running something in Chichester or the district? Email hello@chichesterlive.co.uk with the date, time, venue, price and a photo. Listings are free of charge, and yours goes on this page and in the diary on our front page.

Sources