Bonfire Night in Heaton & the Ouseburn 2026

Bonfire Night 2026 falls on Thursday 5 November, and the short answer for anyone searching from Heaton, Byker or the Ouseburn is that there is no display down the valley this year. The Ouseburn fireworks at the City Stadium, once billed as Newcastle's largest free firework display, have not run since 2019. Nothing has replaced them.

That is worth stating plainly, because the old event still has a long tail online. Aggregator sites continue to list a free Ouseburn fireworks show with a start time and everything, and it is a stale echo of an event that no longer exists. Turning up at Warwick Street on the night would mean standing in an empty park.

What happened to the Ouseburn fireworks

The display was held at the City Stadium off Warwick Street, and its last confirmed edition was Tuesday 5 November 2019, running from 6pm to 8.30pm. It did not survive the pandemic. In November 2022 the organiser, Ouseburn Community Centre, confirmed to ChronicleLive that the display would not be held that year: the event had been disrupted since Covid and, after discussions with the council, the centre was not able to proceed. There has been no return in 2023, 2024, 2025 or 2026.

It was a genuine loss. A free display, walkable from most of Heaton and Byker, is a hard thing to rebuild once the funding, licensing and stewarding arrangements have lapsed.

Elsewhere in the valley and around Heaton there is nothing to fill the gap either. Ouseburn Farm, the Ouseburn Trust, Heaton and Armstrong Parks, Heaton Stannington FC, Heaton RFC and Cochrane Park all run no bonfire or fireworks event this year. One thing to watch out for: articles about a cancelled "Heaton Park bonfire" refer to Manchester's Heaton Park, not ours.

Blue Flames, Benton — Thursday 5 November

If you want fireworks on Bonfire Night itself, this is the one. The display at Blue Flames Sporting Club at Whitley Park, Whitley Road, Benton NE12 9SF is held on Thursday 5 November, which almost nothing else in the region is. Gates open at 5.30pm and the display goes up at 7.30pm.

For Heaton readers it is also the easiest to reach. Benton is on the yellow line, and so are Chillingham Road, Byker and Walkergate, so it is a single train with no changes, and the venue is about five minutes' walk from Benton Metro. Tickets are £8.50 adult, £5.50 child and £25 for a family, and they are sold online only — there are no sales on the gate, so book before you travel.

Best for: The best option if you want to be watching fireworks on 5 November itself, and the simplest Metro trip from Heaton.

Newcastle Round Table, Gosforth — Saturday 7 November

The bigger ticketed night is the Newcastle Round Table Fireworks Extravaganza at Gosforth Sports Association, Broadway West NE3 2NH, on Saturday 7 November. Gates open at 5pm and the fireworks start around 7pm, so aim to be on site by 6.45pm.

Tickets are £8.50 adult, £6.50 for children aged 4 to 15, and £25 for a family of four or £28 for a family of five. As at Blue Flames, it is online only with no gate sales, and there is no parking at the ground, so the organisers ask people to travel by Metro. From Heaton that means the yellow line to Monument or South Gosforth and a change onto the green line for Regent Centre, which is the nearest stop to Broadway West.

Whitley Bay — Sunday 1 November, and free

For a night out that costs nothing, North Tyneside's borough fireworks display is on The Links at Whitley Bay NE26 1TQ on Sunday 1 November. The site opens at 6pm, the display starts at 7pm and lasts around fifteen minutes. There are no tickets and no booking — you just turn up.

The Metro makes this one genuinely easy from Heaton: Whitley Bay is on the same yellow line, direct from Chillingham Road or Byker around the coast, then a walk down towards the seafront. Wrap up, because the Links in November is not a sheltered spot.

Best for: The free option, and an easy direct Metro run from Heaton along the coast.

A few practical notes

Most organised displays ban sparklers and personal fireworks on site, so leave them at home rather than have them confiscated at the gate. Dogs are usually better off indoors with the radio on than at a display, and if anyone in the family finds bangs difficult, the earlier, quieter displays are worth seeking out — several across the region now start at 6pm or run low-noise fireworks choreographed to music rather than a traditional bonfire.

Nearer to home, Heaton and the Ouseburn are still a good place to end the evening even without a display of their own. The Cluny, the Cumberland Arms, the Free Trade Inn and the Tyne Bar are all within walking distance of Byker Metro, and The Corner House on Heaton Road is an easy stop on the way back up the hill.

For the full regional picture, including displays in Northumberland and County Durham, see our round-up of Bonfire Night in the North East.

Know of a Heaton or Ouseburn bonfire event we have missed, or hear that the City Stadium display is coming back? Get in touch via our contact page.