Laser lights from the Abingdon Bonfire & Fireworks 2025 at Dalton Barracks were visible behind Abingdon School.

The event included a large funfair and bonfire, a laser show set to music,

and a firework display — some of which I caught while cycling through Shippon.

Abingdon has marked Bonfire Night for centuries. In the 17th and 18th centuries the town’s celebrations were simple, neighbourhood events: a bonfire to burn the guy on a patch of common ground to commemorate the failure of the Gunpowder Plot.

Today’s combination of lasers, music, and fireworks would have been unimaginable to our forebears. And what would they have made of holding the celebration ten days after 5th November? Firework displays have moved to weekend dates, with large organised displays, and complicated traffic-management plans.

Wednesday 12th November 2025

Anything by or about Terry Pratchett staged by The Studio Theatre Club at the Unicorn Theatre tends to sell out quickly, and this production is no exception. Still, it is worth noting: the company will present another stage performance drawing on Terry Pratchett’s work.

Thursday 13th November 2025

The second speaker in the Conversations at St Ethelwold’s House series is Kathy Sykes, who will discuss her path from a science career to becoming a funeral celebrant.  The event is free, with optional donations to the St Ethelwold’s House Appeal Fund. Booking is required by texting 07964433720 . Also on Thursday, Abingdon Library hosts Kath Crew, who will talk about her debut book ‘A Cactus Called Ironside’ – a humorous coming-of-age story about self-realisation and the pitfalls of not quite telling the whole truth. Tickets are £2, including a welcome drink, available from Abingdon Library or via 01865 815005.

Thursday 13th – Saturday 15th November 2025

The Abbey Group Christmas Arts & Crafts Exhibition returns to St Nicolas Church, Market Place. This Christmas-themed event features arts, crafts, gifts, original artworks, prints, cards, craft kits, jewellery and glassware –  all for sale. Entry is free.

Saturday 15th November 2025

Free Bike Checks under the County Hall arches (10:30am–1:00pm ).

Repair Café – Unit 25, Bury Street Precinct
Bring items for repair – household, electrical, mechanical, toys, or tools needing sharpening. Volunteer repairers will help fix items and offer maintenance advice. Free, with optional donations.

Abingdon Bonfire & Fireworks at Abingdon Airfield. Gates open at 4:30pm. The event includes a funfair, the bonfire at 6:30pm, and fireworks at 7:30pm. ‘A half-kilometre wide display where fireworks erupt all around you in a 270° wrap-around display choreographed to music using a stadium scale sound system and fused with an immersive light and laser spectacular.’ Tickets need to be bought online in advance.

Monday 17th November 2025

At Long Furlong Community Centre, Liz Woolley examines how Oxfordshire children and evacuees coped during WW2. Visitors and Non-Members are welcome – £5 pp

Wednesday 19th November 2025

A talk organised by Abingdon Carbon Cutters at Abingdon Baptist Church, 7:30pm–9:00pm. The talk examines the government’s AI ambitions, the rapid growth of data centres, and the question of who truly benefits.

The week ahead in Abingdon brings fireworks, remembrance, concerts, and a local football derby.

Thursday 6th November
Chris Fox brings his mix of folk guitar and live looping to the Unicorn Theatre, joined by Wednesday’s Wolves. The Unicorn always makes a good setting for folk concerts.

Friday 7th November
There’s history in the Roysse Room, where Gareth Howell gives the final talk in his WWII series – 1945: The End of the Third Reich. Please book your tickets at the Museum Reception
or online at https://www.ticketsource.co.uk/abingdon-museum (+0.84 booking fee applied)

Under the floodlights at The Northcourt, Abingdon United take on Milton United in a local derby. It’s part of the Combined Counties League Premier Division North, a league made up of clubs from Oxfordshire, Berkshire, Buckinghamshire, and west London and west Surrey.

Saturday 8th November
The St Michael’s Christmas Fair runs from 10am to 2:30pm with crafts, books, cakes, a raffle, live music, children’s stalls, and those famous bacon butties. Proceeds support church funds and Emmaus Oxford.

As darkness falls, there’ll be fireworks behind Long Furlong Community Centre. Gates open at 6pm, and fireworks start somewhere between 7:30 and 7:45. It’s a family-friendly evening organised by the 2nd Abingdon Scouts, complete with a BBQ and hot drinks.

Other displays will be happening around the town: some at schools, one at the Nags Head, and a big event at Dalton Barracks next week.

Abingdon & District Musical Society perform Mozart’s Requiem and Rachmaninov’s Symphony No. 1 at St Helen’s Church on Saturday evening.

Sunday 9th November

On Remembrance Sunday, there will be the traditional parade from the Guildhall to St Helen’s Church for the 10am service, and then the parade on to the War Memorial for the act of remembrance from 10:50am.

A smaller gathering will also mark Armistice Day on Tuesday 11th November at 11am beside the War Memorial.

On Sunday afternoon, the Pavlova Wind Quintet join Glynne Butt on piano at St Michael’s for Mozart and Glinka.