Cambridge Fireworks Night is Thursday 5 November on Midsummer Common: free, gates from 6pm, Pains Fireworks display at 7pm. There is no bonfire.

Cambridge Fireworks Night 2026 is on Thursday 5 November on Midsummer Common. Cambridge City Council has now confirmed the details on its City Events site: it is free and un-ticketed, food, a DJ and walkabout acts start at 6pm, and the display begins at 7pm.

The quick answer

  • When: Thursday 5 November 2026. Entertainment from 6pm, fireworks at 7pm.
  • Where: Midsummer Common, Cambridge CB5 8DJ.
  • Cost: free, no ticket needed. There is no bonfire.

What the council has confirmed for 2026

The council’s event page, checked on 25 September 2026, gives this year’s programme:

  • The display is by Pains Fireworks and starts at 7pm.
  • From 6pm there are food vendors, a live DJ and walkabout acts.
  • The walkabout acts are Ghost Caribou by Thingumajig Theatre, two giant illuminated caribou puppets that parade across the common before a folk dance and shadow puppet performance, and Sashimi by The Vortexes, two stilt-walking jellyfish.
  • The Fireworks Raffle returns, with details still to come on the council’s website and social media.
  • The finish time is listed as “TBC”.

Fireworks Night has run in Cambridge for more than 20 years, and the council’s sponsorship page describes it as the largest free pyrotechnic display in the East of England, drawing more than 25,000 people to Midsummer Common.

Why Thursday, when last year was a Saturday

In 2025 the council did not hold it on 5 November. It held it on Saturday 1 November, and gave its reason in the announcement: “The event will take place at the weekend to ensure as many as possible are able to attend and people don’t miss out.”

This year it is back on the night itself, a school and work night. When our page first went up on 5 September the council’s listing was an empty shell with a placeholder start time, and a third-party events site was advertising Saturday 7 November. The confirmed date is the Thursday, so ignore any listing that says the 7th. Visit Cambridge’s page for the event also still carries the 2024 date.

How 2026 compares with 2025

The timings are the same as last year; only the day of the week has changed.

2025 2026
Date Saturday 1 November Thursday 5 November
Site open 6pm to 9pm From 6pm, finish TBC
First rockets 7pm 7pm
Music and walkabout acts 6pm to 8.30pm From 6pm
Cost Free Free, un-ticketed
Display by Pains Fireworks Pains Fireworks

Two things are worth knowing before you plan around the evening.

There is no bonfire. The council stated it plainly last year: “There will be no bonfire.” It is a fireworks display, not a bonfire night in the traditional sense, so if you are looking for a fire to stand around you will not find one on Midsummer Common.

It is free, and the council keeps saying it may not stay that way. Last year’s release asked for donations and ran a £1 raffle, and said “the future of the event depends on it”. The 2025 sponsors were Illumina, AstraZeneca, RBC Brewin Dolphin, Redgate, Qualcomm, Cambridge BID, Jesus College, Trinity College and Peasgood & Skeates, with Cambridge Radio as media partner. The council has been asking for 2026 sponsors, and the raffle is back this year for the same reason.

Getting there, and where not to drive

Midsummer Common has no car park, and the roads around it are residential and narrow. The council’s advice for 2025 was to allow plenty of time, arrive early and walk, cycle or use public transport wherever possible, and it laid on additional Park and Ride services for the evening. The 2026 event page does not yet mention extra Park and Ride, so check before you rely on it: the extra services are confirmed each year rather than standing.

If you are driving in anyway, the city centre car parks and the Park and Ride sites are covered on our parking in Cambridge page, including which car parks are free in the evening. Anything that might be dug up on your route is on our Cambridge roadworks and travel page.

No road closure order for Fireworks Night 2026 has been published. Closures around Midsummer Common are handled on the night rather than through an advertised traffic order, so there is nothing to check in advance.

What is still to be confirmed

  • The finish time, listed as TBC.
  • Whether extra Park and Ride services run, and until when.
  • The raffle prizes and how to enter.

Last year the council published its full press release on 1 October, so expect the travel detail in early October. This page will be updated then.

Sources