Bonfire Night in Hexham

Bonfire Night 2026 falls on Thursday 5 November, but Hexham's display does not. The town's fireworks move to the Saturday, as they have for years, so the date for the diary is Saturday 7 November on The Sele, the park below the abbey in the middle of town.

It is free, it is central, and it is over in time to get small children home. But there is one thing worth knowing before you set off, because it catches people out every single year.

There is no bonfire

Hexham's Fireworks Night has not had a bonfire since 2023. It was dropped over permits and the practicalities of organising it, and the event has been fireworks-only ever since. The name of the night has changed accordingly: Hexham Town Council bills it as Fireworks Night, not Bonfire Night.

That is worth saying plainly, because people still turn up on The Sele expecting a bonfire and are disappointed to find a dark field with a firing zone at one end. If a proper bonfire is the point of the evening for your family, Hexham is not the display for you, and you would be better off at Morpeth.

What actually happens on the night

Hexham Fireworks Night proper is at 7pm, and in recent years a samba band has played from around 6.30pm to warm the crowd up while people gather. Entry is free, with a bucket collection on the night, which is what keeps the whole thing going.

The Sele sits between Beaumont Street and the Abbey Grounds, so it is walkable from more or less anywhere in the town centre and from the bus and rail stations. If you are driving in, the Wentworth car park beside Wentworth Leisure Centre is the obvious option, and it fills early on display night. One caution on satnavs: the NE46 3NB postcode that circulates for the park comes from secondary listings rather than the council's own page, so it is safer to aim for Beaumont Street in the town centre and walk the last minute or two.

Best for: Free, central and short. Get there for 6.30pm if you want the samba band and a decent spot.

The upside nobody mentions

Losing the bonfire is a real loss, and it is not worth pretending otherwise. But the display that replaced it is genuinely different in character, and better for some people.

Without a bonfire to work around, the fireworks are choreographed to music, and the result is noticeably quieter than the old format. That makes Hexham one of the better low-sensory options anywhere in the region. If you have a toddler who hates the bangs, an autistic child, a relative with dementia, or a dog-owning household that has always given Bonfire Night a wide berth, a free, short, music-led display in a central park is about as gentle an introduction as the North East offers. It is not a formally advertised "silent" display, so do bring ear defenders if you normally would, but the difference in the noise floor is real.

Seventy years of Round Table

The display has a longer history than the current arrangement suggests. Hexham Round Table ran the town's bonfire and fireworks for around seventy years, a remarkable run for a volunteer group, and it wound down its involvement as membership fell away. Hexham Town Council picked the event up in 2023 and has run it since.

It is a familiar pattern across the region, and it is the reason so many long-standing displays have quietly vanished elsewhere. Hexham's survived because somebody took it on.

Making an evening of it

Beaumont Street is the natural place to start or finish. The Beaumont Hotel looks straight out over the Abbey Grounds towards the park, and Queen's Hall Arts Centre is a few doors along if there is something on. Up in the Market Place, The Forum is the reliable option for a big group who all want something different. Hexham Abbey itself, floodlit above the park, is a fair part of why the display looks as good as it does.

Elsewhere in the week

If the 7th does not work, or you want that bonfire after all, there is plenty within reach.

• Morpeth RFC on Sunday 1 November still lights a proper bonfire at 6pm, gates from 5pm. This is the one to choose if the bonfire matters.
• Alnwick Community Fireworks on Saturday 7 November, gates 6pm, first launch 7.30pm, £6 adults and £4 for children aged 4 to 16.
• On Bonfire Night itself, Thursday 5 November, Ponteland's PCPS display starts at 6pm and Blue Flames at Benton fires at 7.30pm. Blue Flames is online booking only, with no tickets on the gate.

For everything happening across the region, see our Bonfire Night in the North East round-up.

A few practical notes

Sparklers and your own fireworks are not welcome at organised displays, Hexham included, and stewards will ask you to put them away. Dogs are better left at home with the curtains shut and the radio on, even at a quieter display. Wrap up properly, because standing still in a park in November is colder than the forecast suggests, and go for the earlier end of the arrival window if you want to be near the front with a pushchair.

Know something about this year's display we have missed? Get in touch via our contact page.