Bournemouth Fireworks: 7 November, at 7pm, 8pm and 9pm

Bournemouth’s bonfire night display is at the Littledown Centre on Saturday 7 November 2026, and there are three of them in one evening: 7pm, 8pm and 9pm. One ticket covers all three. That is the whole point of the event, and it is worth knowing before you plan the night, because the three shows are deliberately different.

Two things catch people out every year. The gate takes cash only, with no card facilities at all, and sparklers are banned on site. Both are stated on the organiser’s own FAQ page.

If you want a free alternative, BCP’s tourism service has Poole Quay on Thursday 5 November, free entry, display at 8pm. Details are further down.

The three displays, and how they differ

The organiser, Bournemouth Fireworks, describes each show on its displays page:

• 7pm. “This is our first display of the night and is very popular with families. Very colourful and although it can be very loud at times, it is the quieter of the three displays.”
• 8pm. “The middle display is the most popular and busiest.” The organiser adds that it is “currently discussing something very special” for this one, so the 8pm show is the least settled part of the programme.
• 9pm, billed as White Knuckle. “The last and the noisiest of the three displays! We save back some of the biggest shells for our final show. It’s a little bit shorter but full of colour and noise!”

If you are bringing young children or anyone noise-sensitive, the 7pm show is the one the organiser itself recommends, and leaving before 9pm avoids the loudest set.

What else is on, and what your ticket does not cover

The headline act in the live music arena is Born Jovi. The fire performers are included in the ticket and run before the fireworks start.

The funfair is not included. The organiser is explicit: “the fun fair is not included in the price of your ticket and that rides are pay as you go.” Food stalls are the same, pay as you go.

Inside, the indoor family zone timings published on the organiser’s what’s on page are:

• Bouncy Castle Zone, 5.15pm to 9pm, in the main hall, extra charges apply
• Revolution Cheerleading Academy at 6.10pm and again at 7.30pm
• Lookout Bar live music, 6.15pm to 6.45pm, 7.15pm to 7.45pm and 8.15pm to 8.45pm
• Astro pitches, BH Live multi-sports dodgeball and penalty shootout, 5.25pm to 5.55pm, 6.25pm and 7.25pm to 7.55pm, for ages five and over

The have-a-go sports on the astro pitches are free for children under 12, no booking, and this year’s line-up includes Winton Cricket Club, RNLI life skills and American football, which the organiser lists as new for 2026.

One inconsistency to note: the organiser’s home page credits the Lookout Bar music to Gemma Leanne Music, while its what’s on page names Carley Varley for the same slot. Both pages were live on 3 September. Treat the act as unconfirmed and the timings as the reliable part.

Nothing on the programme mentions a bonfire. This is a fireworks and funfair event, not a bonfire-and-fireworks one.

Tickets and prices

Prices for 2026 have not been published on the organiser’s site. There is a booking link, but no price list on any of its pages, and the ticketing platform it points to could not be read on 3 September.

What is on the record is last year’s pricing. BH Live Active, which runs the Littledown Centre, listed the November 2025 event in its autumn programme as running “Saturday 8 November 5pm-10:30pm”, with tickets from free for under-3s up to £12, and “Family tickets available”. That page is still last year’s listing, so use it as a guide to the likely range, not as this year’s price.

The rules around buying are clear enough:

• You can buy in advance online, or over the counter at the Littledown, or on the gate on the night
• Advance tickets give you the fast-track entry queue
• “PLEASE NOTE we can only accept cash on the gate - we do not have credit card facilities.” Bring notes
• Carers go free, but you must apply first: email proof such as a PIP letter or Access Card to info@bournemouthfireworks.co.uk no later than two weeks before the event, so by roughly 24 October
• Children cannot be dropped off. Every child must be with a responsible adult

You may bring your own food. You may not bring alcohol, and there is a licensed bar on site.

Parking, and why walking is better

The organiser’s advice on this is blunt, and the geography backs it up. The Littledown Centre is at Chaseside, Bournemouth BH7 7DX, tucked behind the Cooper Dean roundabout.

• The site car park has limited spaces and closes once they are gone
• Residents’ streets around Chaseside are narrow, and the organiser asks people not to park there
• There is road parking on the Castlepoint side of the Cooper Dean roundabout
• If you walk in from Castle Lane, use the additional gate just off the roundabout rather than walking round to the main entrance
• Buses run along Castle Lane

The council’s own car parks in the town centre are no use here, but if you are driving in from further out and parking up before travelling on, our Bournemouth parking prices page has every central tariff. Check roadworks and travel before you set off, because the A338 and the A31 have both been closed at short notice this autumn.

Access

The site is mostly on the playing fields. For wheelchair users the organiser directs people to “follow the path to the kids play area on the Littledown site”, where “there is a good area for people in wheelchairs to watch the event”. There is no separate accessible viewing platform advertised.

If it rains

The organiser’s answer, verbatim: “The firework has never been cancelled in the last 20 years.” It points to the indoor facilities if the weather turns. That is the organiser’s own claim rather than a guarantee, and note that BCP Council did cancel two of its summer seafront displays in August 2026 over wildfire risk before reinstating the season. Those are a different event, run by the council on the beach, and they finish in early September.

Poole Quay, 5 November, free

The free option in the conurbation is on the actual fifth. BCP’s tourism service lists November 5th Fireworks at Poole Quay, Poole BH15 1BW, with start 5 November 2026 at 5pm and end at 8.15pm.

The listing says the display itself starts at 8pm, with live music, family entertainment and activities from 5pm. Its parking advice: “We highly recommend parking at either the Dolphin Shopping Centre or Harbourside Park as the car parks at the seafront and Quay can get really busy,” and expect delays leaving the main Quay visitors car park straight after the fireworks.

No road closure order for this year’s Poole Quay event had been published on the Public Notice Portal when we checked on 3 September.

One warning about what you will find online

Bournemouth’s official visitor site, bournemouth.co.uk, still shows 2025 dates on both its Poole Quay fireworks page and parts of its November events page. Its Poole Quay entry reads “05 November 2025”. BH Live’s Littledown programme is also still last year’s. The organiser’s own site is the only one carrying the 2026 date, so check bournemouthfireworks.co.uk rather than the aggregators.

What is still to come

• Ticket prices for 2026. Expected on the organiser’s site through September and October. We will add them here when they appear.
• The 8pm display’s “something very special”, which the organiser has trailed but not described.
• Gate opening time. The organiser publishes activity timings from 5.15pm but no gate time for 2026. Last year’s BH Live listing had the event running 5pm to 10.30pm.

Sources

• Bournemouth Fireworks, the organiser’s own site, for the 7 November 2026 date, the Littledown Centre BH7 7DX venue, Born Jovi, the funfair exclusion and the fire performers.
• Bournemouth Fireworks, displays and what’s on for the 7pm, 8pm and 9pm display descriptions and every indoor and astro-pitch timing.
• Bournemouth Fireworks, FAQs for the cash-only gate, the sparkler ban, the no-pets and no-drop-off rules, the carers ticket deadline, the parking and Castle Lane gate advice, the wheelchair viewing area and the never-cancelled claim.
• BH Live Active, seasonal events at Littledown for the 2025 pricing of £0 to £12, family tickets and the 5pm to 10.30pm running time. This page is last year’s programme.
• Poole Tourism, November 5th Fireworks for the 5 November 2026 date, the 5pm to 8.15pm window, the 8pm display, free entry and the parking advice.