Reading Fireworks: No Town Display Since 2022

Bonfire night 2026 falls on Thursday 5 November, and the honest answer for Reading is that the town no longer has a display of its own. The Lions club event that was Reading’s fireworks night last ran in 2022. Reading Borough Council does not put one on. What the borough gets instead is a funfair operator’s free display in October, and that has not been confirmed for this year.

This page sets out what is verified, what has lapsed and where the nearest confirmed 2026 display is. Everything was checked on 4 September 2026.

Reading’s own display: gone

The Reading Lions Fireworks Spectacular was held at Reading City FC’s ground on Scours Lane, off the Oxford Road. The archived event site shows the last one clearly: Friday 4 November 2022, gates 5.30pm, display 7.30pm, family ticket £18 for two adults and three children, adults £7, children £3, under 5s free. It sold out in advance the year before.

Three checks say it has not come back.

1. In its October 2023 fireworks round-up, Reading Today reported under the heading “Reading Fireworks”: “Sadly, Reading Lions are unable to hold a fireworks event this year.”
2. The event domain has lapsed. readinglionsfireworks.org.uk no longer belongs to the club. Loaded today it serves an unrelated train timetable site. The last useful web archive capture, from January 2025, shows the page had already been reduced to a redirect to the Lions’ main site.
3. Reading Lions Club’s own website no longer mentions fireworks anywhere. readinglions.org.uk lists the club’s current work as food donations, prostate cancer screening, spectacle recycling and Message in a Bottle. Its upcoming events entry is a booking that opened on 1 September 2026, and it is not a fireworks night.

The council does not run one

Reading Borough Council has no bonfire night event. Its only fireworks page is safety and noise advice, last updated on 14 June 2022, and it covers the law on selling and setting off fireworks rather than any council display. Nothing appears in What’s On Reading, the listings service the council itself runs through Reading Arts and Venues.

That is not a criticism of the council. It is the position, and it is worth knowing before you drive into town on 5 November expecting something to be on.

The free display Reading does get, in October

Beach’s funfair brings a free fireworks display to Palmer Park, off the Wokingham Road, RG6 1LE. It is not a bonfire night event: it lands in October, tied to half term rather than to 5 November.

Its recent form, from the operator’s listings:

Entry is free, there is parking on site, and the funfair opens at 1pm at the weekend, 5pm on a Friday. Rides are paid for on a token system. The 2023 run was reported by Reading Today and the 2025 dates come from the Reading Rocks listing.

2026 has not been announced. That same listing now reads “Sorry, there are no future dates available”. Given the pattern, a mid to late October weekend is the thing to watch for, but no date has been published and this page will not invent one.

The nearest display with a confirmed 2026 date

Wokingham Fireworks, Saturday 7 November 2026 at Cantley Field, about seven miles from Reading town centre. This one is confirmed on the organiser’s own site.

The event programme is worth reading before you go, because it has three rules that catch people out. Tickets have been advance only in past years and not sold at the gate, which is how Reading Today reported it in 2023. Dogs are not allowed on the field at all. Alcohol is not allowed on the field. Parking around Cantley Field is very limited and the organisers ask you to use a Wokingham town centre car park and walk down with the procession. It is run by volunteers for the Wokingham Fireworks Charitable Trust, and the 2025 target was £25,000 for local causes.

Still waiting on 2026 dates

Three other displays within reach of Reading run most years and have not yet published this year’s. Their 2025 details are here so you know roughly what to expect and when to look.

• 1st Woodley Scouts, Rivermead Primary School, Loddon Bridge Road, Woodley. 2025 was Friday 7 November, gates 6pm, fireworks 7.30pm. Advance tickets were £10 adult, £6 child aged 3 to 16, £22 family, under 3s free, with higher prices on the gate and no family tickets sold there. The group publishes it here.
• Sparks in the Park, Swallowfield Showground, Farley Estate, RG7 1TH, about six miles south. 2025 was Saturday 25 October. Tickets go on sale at the start of September and it has a history of selling out, so check the site now rather than in late October.
• Royal Windsor Racecourse, about 20 miles east, has a fireworks night listed for Saturday 7 November 2026 with tickets on sale, but the racecourse has not published times or prices on the event page yet.

If you are going somewhere with fireworks

Two practical points. First, none of the displays above is in Reading town centre, so you are driving or getting a train, and the nearest ones sell out in advance rather than on the night. Second, if you are parking in Reading and travelling on from there, our parking page has the council tariffs and the roadworks and travel page covers what is closed.

This page will be updated when Beach’s confirms Palmer Park for 2026, which on past timing means late September.