Rugby Round Table has published no 2026 date for the Whinfield Park display and no tickets are on sale. What ran in 2025, and the date the rule points to.

Bonfire night 2026 falls on Thursday 5 November. Rugby’s own big display, the Rugby Round Table show at Whinfield Park, has always been a Saturday event, so the weekend either side is what matters.

Checked 5 September 2026. As of today, no fireworks display in Rugby borough has published a 2026 date. The Rugby Fireworks Show website still carries last year’s event, the box office lists the 2025 show as a past event with nothing on sale, and none of the village clubs that ran displays last autumn has posted a 2026 listing. That is normal for early September in this town: the 2025 show was not written up in the local press until 22 October. This page sets out exactly where each display stands and will be updated as dates land.

The Rugby Fireworks Show, Whinfield Park

This is the one people mean by “Rugby fireworks”. It is run by Rugby Round Table, and the organisers date the first display to 5 November 1951, billing the 2025 event as the 72nd.

No 2026 date is published. On 5 September 2026, therugbyfireworks.co.uk still headlines “Saturday 1st November 2025”, and the Round Table’s TicketSource page lists “The Rugby Fireworks Show 2025” under Recent Events and marks it Past Event. Nothing is on sale. The show’s Facebook page has no 2026 announcement either.

What the organisers’ own rule points to. Their website says the display “is held each year on the Saturday closest to Guy Fawkes night”. In 2026 that is unambiguous: 5 November is a Thursday, Saturday 31 October is five days before it and Saturday 7 November is two days after, so 7 November is the closer Saturday.

Treat that as an inference, not a date. The rule was not applied literally in 2025, when the display ran on Saturday 1 November even though Saturday 8 November sat closer to the Wednesday. Nothing is confirmed until the organisers say so.

What the 2025 show cost and how it ran

Prices and timings change, but the 2025 pattern is the best guide to what to expect and to when tickets are worth buying. From the organisers’ own site:

  • Venue: Whinfield Park, Clifton Road / Butlin Road, Rugby CV21 3SD
  • Gates: 4.30pm, entry from Clifton Road only, with every other entrance to the park fenced off and staffed
  • Quiet display for young children: 6pm, described as a full-colour show with reduced noise levels
  • Main display: 6.30pm
  • Tickets: £5 in advance up to two weeks before, £7.50 in the last two weeks, £10 on the gate, under-3s free

The advance-price cliff is the practical point. Buying more than a fortnight ahead halved the gate price in 2025, so it is worth watching for tickets going on sale rather than turning up and paying at the gate.

Warwickshire World reported on 22 October 2025 that the supported charities that year were Back and Forth Men’s Mental Health, Harry’s Pals Charity and Rugby Autism Network.

Getting to Whinfield Park, and where to leave the car

The park has no visitor car park, and this is the single thing most people get wrong. In 2025 the organisers ran a shuttle instead:

  • John Barford car park was free from 4pm until 8pm
  • A free shuttle bus ran every eight minutes, starting on North Street outside Brews and Bites Bistro and also picking up on Clifton Road outside Alma Supermarket
  • The drop-off point was the corner of Clifton Road and Eastlands Road
  • Returning after the event, until 8pm, buses set down on Clifton Road outside Lawrence Sheriff School or on North Street outside Greek Zante
  • The walk from the town centre along Clifton Road takes 20 to 25 minutes

If you are driving in, our parking in Rugby page has the current tariffs and the Sunday rules for every council car park, and roadworks and travel carries anything closed on the approach roads.

The organisers also bar sparklers and fireworks from the park entirely, and bar alcohol and drugs, with eviction and no refund for either. The first aid point and the lost children point are both in the middle of the park by event control.

The other displays in the borough

Rugby borough usually has four or five smaller displays alongside the Round Table show, spread across the week rather than bunched on the fifth. None has announced a 2026 date. Warwickshire World’s round-up of 22 October 2025 recorded these, which is the fullest recent picture:

  • Newbold on Avon RFC, Parkfield Road: Sunday 2 November 2025, gates 4pm, bonfire lit 5.30pm, professional display, funfair. £5 adults, £5 children aged 5 to 16, under-5s free.
  • Old Laurentian RFC, Lime Tree Avenue: Wednesday 5 November 2025, gates 5.30pm. £7 adults, £3 under-16s, parking £2.
  • The Lounge Kitchen and Bar, Clifton: Friday 31 October 2025, gates 5.30pm, fireworks 7.45pm. £5 adults, £2.50 children, cash only.
  • Biker Triker Charity Group at the St Thomas Cross pub, Newton: Saturday 1 November 2025 from 6pm.

We checked both clubs directly this week. Old Laurentian RFC’s bonfire night event page now returns a 404, and Newbold on Avon RFC’s events page says “There are currently no events to show”. Neither absence means the display is cancelled; club sites of this kind are usually rebuilt each autumn.

One thing that is confirmed for the same weekend

Rugby’s Diwali celebration has a 2026 date. Rugby Borough Council’s visitor site gives it as Sunday 1 November 2026, 2pm to 7pm, free entry, across Market Place and the Asda car park in front of the Swan Centre. If the Round Table show does land on Saturday 7 November, the two will not clash, but the town centre will be busy the weekend before.

What to watch, and when

Based on the last four years, expect the 2026 picture to firm up in this order:

  • Early to mid October: tickets appear on the Round Table’s TicketSource page, which is where a date shows up first
  • Around the third week of October: the local press round-up of every display in the borough
  • Late October: village club listings and any road closures

We will update this page as each of those lands.

Sources

  • The Rugby Fireworks Show, therugbyfireworks.co.uk, checked 5 September 2026 (2025 date, times, prices, venue, shuttle and park rules)
  • Rugby Round Table box office, ticketsource.co.uk/rugbyfireworks, checked 5 September 2026 (2025 show listed as a past event, nothing on sale)
  • Warwickshire World, “Where can you enjoy explosive firework action and family fun in Rugby this Bonfire Night”, 22 October 2025 (borough round-up and charities)
  • Old Laurentian RFC and Newbold on Avon RFC club sites, checked 5 September 2026
  • The Rugby Town (Rugby Borough Council), Diwali Celebration event listing, checked 5 September 2026