Weymouth: stalls on the Promenade from 5pm on Thursday 5 November, beach bonfire 7.40pm, fireworks from a boat in the bay at 8pm, plus a pilot drone show.

Weymouth’s bonfire night display is on Thursday 5 November 2026 on Weymouth Beach, and it is the one fixture in the county with every detail already published. Weymouth Town Council’s listing has the bonfire lit at 7.40pm and the fireworks from 8pm, and the council says this year’s display “will also feature a pilot drone display”. Sherborne’s schools’ display follows on Saturday 7 November.

The rest of the county’s displays are run by rugby clubs, Rotary branches and school associations, and most had not published 2026 dates by 3 October. This page carries what the organisers themselves have confirmed, what they did last year, and where the gaps are.

The quick answer

  • Weymouth: Thursday 5 November, Weymouth Beach. Traders on the Promenade from 5pm, bonfire lit 7.40pm, fireworks 8pm, fired from a vessel in Weymouth Bay, plus a pilot drone display with timings still to be confirmed. Organised by Weymouth Town Council; no ticket is mentioned.
  • Melbury House: Friday 6 November, DT2 0LW. Gates 6pm, fireworks 7pm, bonfire, BBQ and refreshments. Booked tickets.
  • Lyme Regis: Saturday 7 November, 6.30pm, Marine Parade, fireworks over the harbour. Free, with cash donations collected on the night.
  • Sherborne: Saturday 7 November, 7pm to 8.30pm, at Sherborne Girls on Bradford Road, the Joint Schools’ annual display. Booking opens on 31 October.
  • Bridport Rugby Club’s display was on Saturday 1 November 2025, free, at Brewery Fields, gates 6pm and fireworks 8pm. Neither Bridport nor Dorchester rugby club had published 2026 details when we checked.

Updated 4 October: a new display has been listed at Melbury House on Friday 6 November, gates 6pm and fireworks 7pm.

Weymouth: the town council’s display

Weymouth Town Council’s event listing reads: “Join us for our annual bonfire and firework display on Weymouth Beach on Thursday 5th November.” The event runs from 7.30pm to 8.30pm with the bonfire lit at 7.40pm and the fireworks beginning at 8pm. The address given is Weymouth Beach, The Esplanade, DT4 7AN, and the contact is the council office on 01305 239839.

The council’s fireworks page sets the display in a longer programme. The council has committed to five summer displays on Monday nights each year up to 2030, and to “the traditional firework display on Thursday 5th November which this year will also feature a pilot drone display”. That page says “more details will be released on timings soon”, so the drone segment’s slot in the evening is not yet fixed.

On 30 September the council invited traders to book stalls on the Promenade and set out the format for the night:

  • 5pm: traders on the Promenade
  • 7.40pm: the beach bonfire is lit
  • 8pm: “Fireworks are ignited from a vessel in Weymouth Bay”
  • the pilot drone display, “more details including timings to be confirmed”

So the Promenade will be busy well before the bonfire, and the best views of the fireworks are along the seafront facing the bay. Pitches are 4m by 3m: £110 plus VAT for hot food, £80 plus VAT for other food and drink, and £60 plus VAT for other traders, with applications closing at 12pm on Monday 12 October.

Last year’s display, on Wednesday 5 November 2025, used the same times: bonfire 7.40pm, fireworks 8pm, on the beach below the Esplanade. Our parking in Dorset page has the Weymouth car parks; the roadworks and travel page will carry any closure the council announces for the evening.

Lyme Regis: fireworks over the harbour

Lyme Regis’s display is on Saturday 7 November 2026 at 6.30pm, on Marine Parade, according to the Love Lyme Regis listing. The fireworks go up over the harbour with the Cobb behind them, and the listing names Lister and Langmoor Gardens as “a wonderful vantage point”. It is organised by the Lyme Regis Regatta and Carnival team and is free to attend, with “cash donations encouraged via official collectors on the night”; profits go to local good causes.

Melbury House: Friday 6 November

A bonfire and fireworks evening in the grounds of Melbury House, DT2 0LW, is on Friday 6 November 2026, listed on the Abbotsbury Subtropical Gardens events page. Gates open at 6pm and the fireworks start at 7pm, with a BBQ and refreshments. Tickets are sold through the gardens’ online booking system; the listing does not print a price, so check it when you book.

With fireworks at 7pm, it finishes well before Weymouth’s display would have started, which suits families with younger children.

Sherborne: the Joint Schools’ display

The annual Joint Schools’ Fireworks Display is on Saturday 7 November 2026, 7pm to 8.30pm, at Sherborne Girls, Bradford Road, Sherborne DT9 3QN, according to its TryBooking page. The page says “staff and their families are warmly invited” and that sweet treats and drinks will be sold from a horsebox, with no sparklers allowed on site. Booking opens at 11am on 31 October. Because the invitation is worded for the schools’ staff and families, check with the organiser before travelling if you are not connected to the schools.

Bridport: the rugby club at Brewery Fields

Bridport Rugby Club’s Grand Fireworks Display was on Saturday 1 November 2025 at Bridport Leisure Centre, Brewery Fields, Skilling Hill Road, DT6 5LN, with gates from 6pm, fireworks at 8pm, hot food and drinks, and free entry, according to the listing then on the town’s Bridport and West Bay events site. That listing had been taken down by 3 October and no 2026 listing has replaced it.

Dorchester: the rugby club

Dorchester Rugby Club’s display is listed in Dorset Council’s family information directory in previous years, but that listing would not load on 25 September and on 3 October the club’s website carried no 2026 fireworks details. We will add the date, times and prices when the club publishes them.

Everywhere else

We found no organiser listing for a November 2026 display in Swanage, Blandford, Wimborne, Shaftesbury, Gillingham or Sturminster Newton by 3 October. That does not mean there is none; it means the round tables and Rotary clubs that run them had not posted. This page will be updated in the second half of October, when most publish.

The weekend after

Remembrance Sunday is 8 November, three days after Weymouth’s display. Dorchester’s service at the war memorial starts at 10.55am; the details town by town are on our Remembrance Sunday page. The Christmas lights go on in Lyme Regis on 21 November and in Dorchester, Weymouth and Swanage on 28 November: see Christmas lights switch-ons.

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