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.

Abingdon’s noticeboards and railings are filling up as we head towards November. There are plenty of big events over the next couple of weeks. I have just space for the next week, and will cover more separately in a few days’ time.

Saturday 25 October – Poppy Appeal Launch
This year’s Poppy Appeal will be launched on the Market Place with stalls and military vehicles.

Now Open – Christmas Card Shop
The Christmas Card shop has opened in St Nicolas Church, raising funds for a range of charities.

Tuesday 28 October – Agnostics Anonymous Discussion
The next Agnostics Anonymous Open Discussion asks: “Why do Christians bother with the Old Testament?” It takes place at the Parish Centre, opposite the main door of St Helen’s Church.

Tuesday 28 October – Saturday 1 November – Hello, Dolly!
Abingdon Operatic Society present the musical Hello, Dolly! at the Amey Theatre. Their big productions are always popular and a highlight of the Abingdon year.

Tuesday 28 October – Saturday 1 November – Abingdon Artists Autumn Exhibition
At Christ Church Barn, Northcourt Road, this exhibition features recent work by local artists, with cards and artworks for sale and live demonstrations during the week.

Friday 31 October – Sunday 2 November – Abingdon Traditional Craft Fair
At the Abbey Buildings, alongside a wide range of crafts for sale, there’ll be live demonstrations and ‘have-a-go’ sessions for visitors.

Saturday 1 November – The Oxford Waits
The period-instrument group The Oxford Waits bring 17th-century songs, dance tunes and readings – all in costume – to St Helen’s Church.

You can start in the attic of the County Hall Museum, where there’s an exhibition built from one person’s memories which features among other objects: a lost toy elephant, a maternity jumper, and letters and photos from a relative who hoped to be a missionary in 1913. Each everyday object has a story, and Sarah Frodsham shares why they matter to her.

Step out into the autumn air on Wednesday the 15th and head to Abingdon Baptist Church. The lights will be glowing, and Nilmini Roelens will be talking about ‘Solar Villages in Sri Lanka’. It’s hosted by the Abingdon Carbon Cutters.

The very next night, Thursday the 16th, you’ve got a choice.

At the Unicorn Theatre, ‘The Lost Trades’ bring folk harmonies with a touch of 1960s California to the medieval setting. Detta Kenzie is playing support.

Or, if you’d rather hear some local music in a brewery, head to the Loose Cannon Tap Room, where Cheap Petrol, Faith Healers, and Dave King are on the bill – thanks to Music in Abingdon.

On Saturday the 18th, the ‘Oxford Gospel Events Choir’ will fill Christ Church on Northcourt Road with harmonies, raising funds for ‘Family of Hope’, a school in Uganda. Just hand over £10 at the door and let the music lift you up.

Over the weekend and through half-term (check dates on their website), there’s another sort of gathering just outside town. High Lodge Farm has plenty of pumpkins and activities for children on their Spooky Trail.

On Tuesday the 21st, it’s ‘Books and Bakes’ at St Ethelwold’s House. Tables piled with paperbacks and cake — and are you the one who goes home with more books than you can carry?

And, on Saturday the 25th, the sound of Haydn’s ‘The Creation’ fills St Helen’s Church.

The clocks go back an hour at 2am on Sunday, 26th October 2025. There’ll be plenty more happening in Abingdon after that – but that’s for another time.

Abingdon 1945 Exhibition
(4 October – 23 December, 10:00 am – 4:00 pm at Abingdon County Hall Museum)
Marking 80 years since the end of WWII, this free exhibition explores Abingdon in 1945 – from food shortages and evacuees to VE/VJ Day celebrations and post-war changes.

Abingdon Michaelmas Fair & Fair Service
(Sunday 4:00–9:00 pm, Monday & Tuesday 2:00–10:30 pm at Abingdon town centre – Market Place, High Street, Ock Street)
Europe’s longest street fair returns. Opens with the Traditional Fair Service and Blessing: Sunday 5 October, 3:30 pm, on the Golden Galloper in Abingdon Market Place

Conversations with Susie Howard
(Thursday 9 October, 7:00 pm at St Ethelwold’s House)
A talk about the growth and development of “St Eths” with Susie Howard. Free event — to reserve a place, contact the organisers.

Mighty in Power – Launch Concert
Friday 10 October, 7:30 – 9:30 pm at St Michael & All Angels’ Church
An evening of music from the newly released CD Mighty in Power by Abingdon composer, David Preston, sung by the Northcourt Singers. Tickets £15 on the door (children free).

Just Jane – Jane Austen Afternoon
Saturday 11 October, 3:00 – 5:30 pm at St Michael & All Angels’ Church
An afternoon of Jane Austen readings with contemporary music, coffee, tea, cakes and conversation. Tickets £15 (door) / £10 if pre-booked; under-18s free.