Stafford's big display is Sunday 1 November at the County Showground. Gates 4pm, fireworks 7pm prompt, £12 adults and £3 children, advance tickets only.
Bonfire Night 2026 falls on Thursday 5 November. Stafford’s own display is four days before it. The Staffordshire Fireworks Extravaganza runs on Sunday 1 November 2026 at Staffordshire County Showground, Weston Road, Stafford ST18 0BD, with gates at 4pm, the display at 7pm and gates closing at 9pm.
It is put on by the Rotary Club of Stafford Castle, and the one thing to know before anything else is that you cannot pay on the gate. The club’s own ticket listing says it in capitals: “PLEASE NOTE THERE WILL BE NO TICKETS AVAILABLE ON THE GATE. ALL TICKET SALES ARE STRICTLY ONLINE IN ADVANCE ONLY.”
Tickets and prices
| Ticket | Price |
|---|---|
| Adult (16 and over) | £12 |
| Child (up to 16) | £3 |
The organisers describe this as “Online tickets only - 2025 prices held”, so the same £12 and £3 as last year. Refunds are not given “unless specifically agreed prior to booking”.
What is confirmed
Confirmed by the organisers for 2026:
- Date: Sunday 1 November 2026
- Times: gates 4pm, fireworks “7pm PROMPT”, gates close 9pm
- Venue: Staffordshire County Showground, Weston Road, Stafford ST18 0BD
- Display: fired by Pyro2000
- Funfair: Stanworth Fun Fairs, with dodgems, waltzers, Freak Out, Super Bowl and Miami for adults, and a runaway train, balloon ride, mini jets, a toy ride, bungee trampolines and an inflatable slide for children
- Music: Castle Rotary Radio
- Food and drink: several food vans and an on-site bar
- Parking: free, including disabled parking
Two rules matter at the gate. Alcohol and sparklers are both banned, in the organisers’ words “BRINGING ALCOHOL OR SPARKLERS IS STRICTLY PROHIBITED.” Bring your own drink and you will be turned away with it.
The borough council does not run a display
This catches people out every year. Stafford Borough Council has a fireworks page, but it is safety advice, not a listing. The council’s line is that the safest option is to “go to a professionally organised event”, and it offers advice to anyone planning a private display through Environmental Health on 01785 619000. There is no council-run bonfire or display anywhere in the borough.
Stone has nothing on its own calendar
Stone Town Council publishes a full-year events calendar, and for November 2026 it lists the farmers’ market on Saturday 7 November, Remembrance Sunday on 8 November, Armistice Day on 11 November, the Christmas lights switch-on on 19 November, the craft and collectables market on 21 November and the Christmas market on 28 November. No bonfire or fireworks event appears anywhere in it. Westbridge Park has hosted a Stone display in past years, but nothing is published for 2026 and the town council’s own calendar does not carry one.
The nearest alternative, on the Sunday after
If 1 November does not work, the closest sizeable display is over the Shropshire border. Weston Park runs its Bonfire and Fireworks Night on Sunday 8 November 2026 at Weston-under-Lizard, Shifnal TF11 8LE, west of Stafford on the A5. From the estate’s own event page: gates 3pm, bonfire lit 5pm, a first display at 6pm and a second at 7.30pm.
| Weston Park ticket | Early bird | Standard |
|---|---|---|
| Adult | £14 | £17 |
| Child (4 to 14) | £7 | £10 |
| Under 4 | Free | Free |
Weston Park members pay £12 a head. Admission there “is by advanced ticket only” too, so again there is nothing to buy at the gate.
Visit Staffordshire’s bonfire night round-up lists the same two as the closest to Stafford, alongside Alton Towers, Drayton Manor, Betley and Statfold Country Park, all of which are a longer drive.
Getting there and parking
The showground is on Weston Road, the A518 out of Stafford towards Uttoxeter, a couple of miles from the town centre. Parking on site is free and included, which is the main reason to drive rather than park in town. If you are coming in by car and stopping in Stafford first, our guide to parking in Stafford has the current council tariffs and the Sunday rules, and the roadworks and travel page tracks the live closures on the routes in.
Weston Road carries the traffic for every showground event, so leave more time than the distance suggests. A 7pm display with 4pm gates means the queue builds through the late afternoon.
What is still unknown
Two things are not published yet. The showground’s own forthcoming events list currently runs only to the Classic Motorcycle Mechanics Show on 10 and 11 October and does not yet carry the November date, and the organisers have not named which charities this year’s proceeds go to. We will update this page when either appears.
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