The new notice board on the Market Place displayed its first posters today, with different notices on each side. It is hoped this will help make local events better known.

The Mayor’s Christmas Party for Over-75s takes place on Thursday 4 December at the Hilton Garden Hotel, though it is probably too late now to get tickets, which were distributed through the Abingdon Information Centre.

On Saturday 6 December, there will be a Craft Market on the Market Place — one of the events that usually relies on its own lamp-post advertising rather than the town notice boards.

Also on Saturday 6 December, in the Roysse Room, Eben Lark will be selling their mix of vintage, home, and garden decorations and furnishings.

At 3.30pm on Saturday 6 December, the Abingdon Concert Band will perform Christmas Day in Concert at St Helen’s Church. Tickets are £10/£8, with under-12s free.

At 7.30pm on Saturday 6 December, the Thames Vale Youth Orchestra will give a concert in the Yolande Paterson Hall at St Helen & St Katharine’s School. The programme includes Offenbach’s Orpheus in the Underworld Overture, Rimsky-Korsakov’s Capriccio Espagnole, and Tchaikovsky’s Symphony No. 6 (Pathétique). Tickets are £12/£10, with under-16s free.

On Sunday 7 December at 2.30pm, Pavlova Winds will perform Paul Reade’s Cinderella Suite and Jim Parker’s Mississippi Five as part of the Abbey Chamber Concerts series at St Nicolas Church. Tickets cost £12.

On Monday 8 December at 5pm, The Abbey Cinema will show the documentary Rhino, following its collaboration with One Planet Abingdon. The film explores efforts to save one of the world’s most endangered species.

On Tuesday 10 December at 7pm, the Amey Theatre will present a live screening of The Nutcracker from the Royal Opera House — the classic Christmas ballet featuring Tchaikovsky’s music and Julia Trevelyan Oman’s designs.

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.