No public fireworks or free event in Reading this New Year's Eve. What is on: 80s rock at Face Bar (£20), comedy at SUB89, and two Wokefield parties from £139.

New Year’s Eve 2026 is a Thursday. If you are looking for fireworks in Reading at midnight, there are none to find: no public display and no free event has been announced, and none appears on the council’s own New Year’s Eve listings page. What Reading does have is four ticketed nights out, two in the town centre and two at a country hotel south of the town.

The quick answer

  • No public fireworks in Reading. The council’s New Year’s Eve in Reading page, run by Reading Arts and Venues, lists four events on 2 November, all ticketed, and none of them a display.
  • Cheapest night out: King Awesome’s 80s rock night at Face Bar, from 7.30pm, £20 plus a £2 booking fee.
  • Comedy: Just the Tonic at SUB89, show 7.30pm, with entry to Popworld afterwards.
  • Hotel parties: De Vere Wokefield Estate near Mortimer has an adults’ gala (from £139) and a family party with an overnight stay (adults £159).

In the town centre

King Awesome: New Year’s Rocking Eve, Thursday 31 December, 7.30pm, Face Bar, Ambrose Place, Chatham Street, RG1 7JE. Tickets are £22: £20 plus a £2 booking fee. The band plays 80s stadium rock, from Bon Jovi and Guns N’ Roses to Whitesnake and Def Leppard, and the venue promises it will build “all night to one massive midnight moment” (Face Bar listing).

Just the Tonic NYE Comedy Special, Thursday 31 December, Popworld at SUB89, Friar Street, RG1 1EP. Doors open at 6.15pm and the show starts at 7.30pm, with four acts: a guest headliner and middle act still to be named, plus Jessie Nixon and Jamie D’Souza. It is an early show, and the ticket includes entry to Popworld after it, so it works as the first half of a night out. No ticket price is shown on the listing; it is on the booking page (Just the Tonic listing).

Out of town: the hotel parties

Both are at De Vere Wokefield Estate, Goodboys Lane, Mortimer, RG7 3AE, in the countryside south of Reading. Both are sold as packages with a room, and the gala and family party can also be booked without one.

New Year’s Eve Gala. Check in from 3pm, light afternoon tea and live music from 3pm to 5pm, a drinks and canapes reception at 7pm, then a five-course dinner from 7.30pm, a party band and a DJ. Carriages are at 2am, and New Year’s Day brunch is served from 8am to 12pm. Packages with a Mansion House room start at £239 a person, two sharing; the gala alone is £139 an adult. It is over 18s only, the dress code is formal, and tickets are pre-paid, non-refundable and non-transferable (Wokefield gala listing).

New Year’s Eve Family Party. Check in from 3pm, the party starts at 6.30pm and food is served at 7pm, from themed food stalls. Children get entertainers, a movie room and arts and crafts, and a family DJ takes everyone to midnight. Carriages are at 1am. The package includes a room in Wokefield Place and brunch on New Year’s Day: £159 an adult, £70 a child aged 3 to 12, £20 an infant. Tickets for the party without a room are also sold. The dress code is smart casual (Wokefield family party listing).

Earlier in the day

New Year’s Eve is a normal day for some of Reading’s seasonal attractions. Our ice rink page has the Hills Meadow skating sessions over the holiday, and our panto page has Aladdin’s matinees at the Hexagon. Everything else running this winter is on our What’s On in Reading page.

Getting home, or into London

Plan the journey before you book. There are no trains between Reading and London Paddington from 27 December to 3 January, because of the Dolphin Junction works near Slough, after the usual Christmas shutdown on 25 and 26 December (Network Rail). That rules out an easy GWR trip to London for midnight. Our Christmas trains and travel page has the diversions and will carry the New Year’s Eve last trains once they are published.

If you are driving into town, our parking in Reading page has the car parks and tariffs, and Reading roadworks and travel has anything closed over the holiday.

Still to confirm

  • More events. Pubs, clubs and restaurants usually list New Year’s Eve plans in December. The council’s page says it will carry “all the great NYE parties, gigs and shows”; we will add them here as they are published.
  • The Just the Tonic ticket price and its two remaining acts.
  • Last trains on New Year’s Eve, once National Rail publishes them.

Earlier in the season: the Christmas lights switch-on on 14 November and the Christmas market on Broad Street until 3 January.

Sources