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.

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.