Bonfire Night in London: The best firework displays

The Alexandra Palace Fireworks Festival is easily one of the biggest, baddest displays in town. And this year, it's also the spookiest, as it falls right on Halloween weekend. So that means that its cutting-edge drone show will fill the night sky with glowing ghosts, vampires, demons and witches. But it’s not just what’s going on in the sky that’s the attraction here (although, with Ally Pally’s panoramic view of London, it is a fairly big pull).

Music will come from garage legends DJ Luck and MC Neat. There’s tons more to do, from ice skating and an ice disco, to Halloween ghost tours of Alexandra Palace itself, to StrEATLIFE, where you can fill up on yummy street food, cocktails and craft beer.

There's also the UK's largest German beer festival in the Great Hall, where you’ll also find oompah bands and entertainment in the form of Taylor Swift tribute act, Fearlessly Taylor (Oct 31) and Dolly Parton tribute act The Dolly Show(Nov 1).

Hip hip hooray, Blackheath's annual fireworks display is back for the first time since 2019! Funding woes meant that Lewisham Council's big free Guy Fawkes bonanza hit the dust. But now, it's teamed up with Slammin Events (the company behind Ally Pally's massive annual display) to bring a new, ticketed fireworks events to southeast London. 

As well as a full fireworks display, there's an array of bells and whistles included in the £16 ticket price. These include live music by DJ Spoony and Heavy Beat Brass Band, interactive shows in a Big Top arena like gameshow Famous First Words and singalong spectacular Massaoke, and even standup performances from Big Belly Comedy Club.

Joining the festival atmosphere, 30 independent food and drink stalls will serve up refreshments – including hot potato legends Spud Bros and local craft beer at Craftworx. And there's a fairground with dodgems, hooplas and other exhilarating ways to fritter away your cash.

If you want to head down to Dulwich Sports Club’s fireworks festa, you’ve got to be organised – tickets won’t be available on the night the event regularly sells out. Once you’ve snapped up your ticket, you’re in for a treat – expect live music to accompany the main event, plus a host of food and drinks, including mulled wine, BBQ, Indian food and much more. The night goes on rain or shine, so come prepared for all weather.

Harrow’s annual fireworks display might be timed in early November, but the feel here is definitely more Diwali than Guy Fawkes. During the day, expect Bollywood dancers, Indian food, a funfair, a Fizz Kids show, Diwali art, Mehndi and henna hand art stands. The first three hours of the event are free and you’ll be able to partake in servings of street food, a marquee bar, craft stalls and a full-sized funfair. After 3pm you’ll get the true experience, with pre-show entertainment including a magic show for kids, followed by the fireworks display from around 7.45pm.

Wandsworth Council’s annual display is back for 2025, and will once again take place over two nights this year. Saturday November 1 is the regular fireworks and bonfire event, while Sunday November 2 is more family-friendly, with activities for kids and fewer nerve-jangling explosions. There’ll also be mulled winter warmers and autumnal comfort food. It always sells out, so book early.

North Londoners are well served by Totteridge Millhillans Cricket Club's annual fireworks display, which serves up spectacle and fun until late into the night. After the doors open at 5.30pm, there's a chance to enjoy kids' fairground rides and food stalls. The bonfire is lit at 6.30pm, followed by a fireworks display at 7.45pm. Then you can stay out enjoying the bar, live band, and bonfire until 1am. Parking is available in nearby streets; ring to book tickets or to arrange disabled parking.

Morden Park’s firework display is so good it happens twice – in one night! Organised by Merton Council, the first display kicks off nice and early at about 6:45pm and is more suitable for young kids, while the second begins at 8:30pm and is more adult-friendly. The event also boasts a funfair to keep little and big kids occupied when the night sky isn’t being lit up in multiple hues and patterns. Both are likely to sell out well in advance, so grab your tickets asap.

What better place than to mark the anniversary of the Gunpowder Plot than at the Royal Gunpowder Mills? The Waltham Abbey venue’s annual bonfire night boasts further credentials in the form of a firework display created by Future Effects Explosives FX, who have worked on everything from the Sydney Harbour Fireworks to a host of TV and film projects including ‘The Gunpowder Plot: The Countdown To Treason’. Further entertainment includes fire performers, battle reenactors from Rawdens Musketeers, the Chingford Morris dancers and a live DJ. There’ll even be a gunpowder plot-themed exhibition trail with an opportunity to meet the dastardly Guy Fawkes himself. Bonfire Night doesn’t come more steeped in tradition than this.

This small, family-focused fireworks event in Camden’s Coram Fields proves its kid-friendly credentials by taking place a lot earlier than your average display, starting at 3.30pm with performances from local youth groups alongside fun fair rides and food stalls, with around 20 minutes of banks and sparks lifting off at 6pm. As always, adults need to be accompanying a child for access to the venue, and as one of the few free entry fireworks displays in the city it gets busy from early on, so visitors are advised to get down early. Donations are very much encouraged if you can spare the cash for a good cause. 

Like Morden Park’s fireworks event, Wimbledon Park’s weekend firework bonanza boasts two displays – an earlier kid-friendly showing and a later affair. Also run by Merton council, the ‘musical fireworks’ event sets the illuminations to tunes – last year’s theme was one-hit wonders. Once you’re done oohing and ahhing, get yourself to the funfair to make the most of the rides.

As they’ve been doing since 1946, the Beckenham Scouts are once again taking over the park in Croydon Road Recreation Ground for the south London neighbourhood’s annual firework display. The fundraising bash begins at 6pm with a ‘quiet display’ that’s perfect for kids or those who might get jumpy by bigger, louder bangs, with a main display at 7.15pm offering noisier fun. Before and after a fairground will be in operation, with plenty of warming food and drink on hand to make a proper evening of it.

The heat isn’t just up in the air at the Stow Firework Spectacular – it’s also coming out of people’s mouths. Expanding to three nights in 2025 due to overwhelming demand in previous years, the Walthamstow event has four rounds of fire performers for you to marvel at on each evening. In between, you’ll get what you came for, too, with two fireworks displays – one designed for kids and those with sensory needs, and another ‘full effect’ display. Elsewhere, there’s a funfair, games, street food and a licensed bar.

More than 7000 locals head to Southgate’s Walker Ground each November for the sports facilities’ fireworks display which is one of the larger events in north London. Alongside a traditional display of rockets and mines, this year’s display will feature a brand new drone show, while audiences will also get to chow down on traditional fairground snacks including toffee apples and candyfloss, burgers and hotdogs. 

Ealing Cricket Club has opted for a ‘Supernova’ theme for the 2025 edition of its annual firework display featuring musical accompaniment (some Oasis, perhaps?) A variety of refreshments will be on offer, including mulled wine, barbecue food, pizza and candy-floss, while family-friendly entertainment, rides and glow sticks will keep visitors of all ages busy. Gates open at 6pm and the display kicks off at 7.45pm, with a DJ set following the flashes and bangs. 

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