Chiddingfold Bonfire is Saturday 7 November 2026, free entry. No parking in the village: park at Witley station and take the bus. Roads shut 5.30pm to 10pm.

Yes, it is on. Chiddingfold Bonfire is on Saturday 7 November 2026, on the village green, and it is free: the committee says plainly that “there are no tickets to Chiddingfold Bonfire, attendance is free”. The two things to plan around are that you cannot park in the village, and that the committee has not yet published this year’s times.

The date is on every page of the bonfire’s own website, and Waverley Borough Council signed the road closure order for the evening on 12 October (details below).

Last checked 14 October 2026.

The quick answer

  • When: Saturday 7 November 2026. The 2026 timetable is not published yet; the roads close from 5.30pm to 10pm.
  • Where: the village green, Chiddingfold, on the A283 south of Godalming.
  • Cost: free. Donations are asked for online instead of a ticket.
  • Parking: none in the village, “under any circumstances”. Park at Witley station and take the bonfire bus to the Catholic Church, paying on the bus.
  • Blue Badge: a permit for parking on the green, applied for in advance by 10pm on Friday 30 October. It is usually full a week before that.

What happens on the night

The evening is a torchlit procession and the bonfire. The committee’s procession page says the procession is “led by a mobile p.a. system along the road system and onto the village green”, and once the torch carriers have gathered round the fire, “the fire is lit with the torches” (Chiddingfold Bonfire: procession).

  • Torches are wax candle torches, sold unlit by committee members at the village school, first come, first served, and only to adults over 18. The committee has not published a price. Its history page puts the number used on the night at “400 or so”.
  • Food: the committee’s barbecue chefs cook homemade burgers and sausages, with vegan sausages too.
  • Drink: a drinks tent serves beer, wine and mulled wine, plus soft drinks, all night.

The committee’s 2026 pages give no times for the procession, the lighting or any fireworks, and the site points people to its contact page for anything else. We will add the timetable to this page when it is published. Until then, the road closure order is the best guide to the shape of the evening: 5.30pm to 10pm.

Parking: Witley station and the bonfire bus

This is the part people get wrong. The committee’s parking page is blunt: “There will be no parking in the village under any circumstances. THERE WILL BE NO EXCEPTIONS.” Volunteers on the road blocks will not let cars through, and the committee asks drivers not to argue with them (Chiddingfold Bonfire: parking).

  • Park at Witley station and take the bus, which drops you at the Catholic Church, at the junction of the A283 and Woodside Road.
  • Pay on the bus. There are adult, child and family fares, and the price is the same however you reached the stop. The committee has not published the 2026 fares.
  • The buses nominally run from 5pm to 9.30pm, about every 20 minutes, though the committee says the schedule changes a little each year.
  • Witley station car park is run by an independent operator, so check the pay and display signs there for any charge.
  • Coming by train is simplest of all: Witley is on the Portsmouth line through Guildford and Godalming, and the bus leaves from the station.

If you are only passing through, avoid the A283 through Chiddingfold that evening. The committee warns that it gets very busy and you will not be allowed to stop.

Blue Badge parking on the green

Disabled parking is on the green itself, by permit only. Applications opened on 1 October and the last is taken at 10pm on Friday 30 October 2026, but the committee says it is usually full about a week before. With a permit, you must approach from the east, on Pickhurst Road or Pockford Road; the parking page links a map of the approach.

Road closures, 5.30pm to 10pm

Waverley’s temporary order, decided on 12 October and published on 13 October, closes these roads to all vehicles from 5.30pm to 10pm on Saturday 7 November “to accommodate Chiddingfold Bonfire Night” (Waverley decision 6562):

  • Petworth Road (A283), from the junction with Woodside Road to the junction with Coxcombe Lane and The Green.
  • The Green, from Petworth Road to the junction with Pickhurst Road and Pockford Road.

Access stays open for emergency and permitted vehicles, and for people on foot. The A283 is the main road between Milford and Petworth, so anyone driving south from Godalming that evening needs another route. Our Farnham roadworks and travel page carries other closures across Waverley.

A very old bonfire

The committee’s history page says the village’s bonfire tradition was described in 1929 as “going back 70 years or more”, when “a crowd of over 2,000 people” gathered on the green. The procession was added from 1930, and the bonfire moved from 5 November itself to the nearest Saturday in 1961. It is run by a volunteer Bonfire Committee, which since the war has drawn its helpers mainly from the village school’s parent teacher association. Local business sponsors are listed across its website, and it asks visitors for donations (Chiddingfold Bonfire: history).

Other bonfire nights the same weekend

Saturday 7 November is the busiest bonfire night of the year in Waverley:

For driving into Farnham instead, our Farnham parking page has every car park and tariff, and the rest of the season is on What’s on in Farnham.

Sources