West Dean's bonfire is back on Friday 6 November at £6, under-16s free. Petworth's is free on Saturday 7 November, and Fontwell fires on 31 October.

Bonfire night 2026 falls on Thursday 5 November. The organised displays near Chichester sit around it: Fontwell on Saturday 31 October, West Dean on Friday 6 November and Petworth on Saturday 7 November.

Updated 3 October: West Dean has put its bonfire night back on sale for Friday 6 November, £6 an adult, after it had disappeared from its box office in September. Fontwell has published its date, times and prices.

There is no fireworks display in Chichester city itself, and there has not been one for years. What the district has is a handful of village and estate displays, and the nearest big ticketed one is just over the border at Fontwell.

West Dean: Friday 6 November, £6

West Dean Bonfire Night 2026 is on. West Dean’s own box office listing has it on Friday 6 November 2026, 6pm to 9pm, at West Dean Gardens, PO18 0RX.

West Dean Detail
Gates open 6pm
Fireworks 7.15pm
Ends 9pm
Price £6 an adult, children under 16 free

Hot food and drinks are on sale through the evening. Entry is through the Gardens Gatehouse entrance. West Dean asks people to lift share where they can, to bring a torch because some areas are poorly lit, and to wear sensible footwear. Tickets are non-refundable, and West Dean says it cannot take financial responsibility for bad weather or travel disruption.

This is a change from early September. When we checked on 4 September, West Dean’s old bonfire page returned “Sorry, the event you are trying to view cannot be found” and the event was not among the seven listings in its box office. The new 2026 listing has since gone up, on a Friday rather than the weekend.

Confirmed: Petworth, Saturday 7 November, free

Hampers Green Bonfire and Fireworks is on. The Petworth Community Association has the date up as Saturday 7 November 2026 at Hampers Green, Petworth, with a full running order.

Time What happens
5pm Event opens, torches on sale
5.30pm Congregate for the procession
6pm Torchlit procession
6.15pm Bonfire lit
6.30pm Fire act
7pm Firework display
8pm Finish

The association says times are subject to change and weather dependent.

Entry is free. So are the marshmallow toasting, sparklers, mulled wine, glow sticks, the fire act and the bonfire and fireworks themselves, although donations are asked for. You pay for the funfair rides, soft drinks, food and the procession torches.

Parking is the part people get wrong. The association says parking is in the public car park at Petworth House only, with disabled parking at the Hampers Green Industrial Estate. It states in capitals that there is strictly no parking at the Hampers Green Community Centre.

One wrinkle: the page’s heading says “Saturday 7th November 2026”, but the sentence directly underneath still says “Tuesday 7th November”. 7 November 2026 is a Saturday. The weekday in the body text is left over from an earlier year.

Fontwell: Saturday 31 October, ticketed

Fontwell Park Racecourse, near Arundel, is in Arun district, not Chichester, but it is the biggest ticketed display within easy reach and it draws heavily from here. Its fireworks night page now gives the date: Saturday 31 October 2026, Halloween night and the end of half term.

Fontwell Detail
Gates open 4.15pm
Display starts 7.30pm
Ends 8.15pm
Adult (13 and over) £12, second release
Child (4 to 12) £10, second release
Family of four £38, second release

A “Sizzle and Savour” ticket adds a hot dog and a hot drink: £17 an adult, £15 a child, £49 for the family bundle. Places in the Premier Lounge restaurant, with a two-course buffet and a covered balcony view, are £39 an adult. There is a fire display artist before the fireworks, and the funfair is charged separately on the night. Fontwell says tickets are limited and sell quickly, and the prices it shows are already second release. For infants aged 0 to 3 it asks you to reply to your booking confirmation email.

Fishbourne is running a Halloween party instead

The Fishbourne Centre held a bonfire and fireworks night on Friday 7 November 2025. For 2026 its what’s on listing still has only two special events in the autumn and winter: a children’s Halloween party on Saturday 31 October and a children’s Christmas disco on Friday 18 December, both £2.50 to £7.50. Its events feed for October to December, read again on 3 October, lists no fireworks.

Heyshott and Midhurst: nothing published yet

Heyshott Bonfire, near Midhurst, was cancelled at short notice in 2025. On 3 October its website still carried the notice dated 28 October 2025 saying that year’s event was off. No 2026 date has been posted.

Midhurst Rother College ran a fireworks night on Friday 7 November 2025, doors 6.30pm, display 7pm. The PTA’s TicketSource page lists that 2025 night as a past event and has nothing on sale for 2026. Both are the kind of event that goes on sale in mid October, so we will check them again then.

What this adds up to

  • Free, on the bonfire weekend: Petworth, Saturday 7 November.
  • Cheapest ticketed display: West Dean, Friday 6 November, £6 and free for under-16s.
  • Biggest show with a funfair: Fontwell, Saturday 31 October, from £10 a child.

Chichester city centre has no display of its own. The city’s big set piece is the Christmas lights switch-on on Saturday 21 November, and we cover that on our Christmas lights page. For getting to and from a display, the roadworks and travel page covers what is closed, and the parking page covers the city car parks.

Still to be confirmed

  • Midhurst Rother College fireworks night. Nothing on sale yet; expected in October if it runs.
  • Heyshott Bonfire. No 2026 date; the site still shows the 2025 cancellation.

This page will be updated as each of those lands.

Sources