Burgess Hill on 26 September, East Grinstead 17 October, Ardingly 24 October, Lindfield 5 November, Cuckfield 7 November. Times, prices and parking.

Mid Sussex has no single bonfire night. It has a season, and in 2026 it runs for six weeks, from Burgess Hill on the last Saturday in September to Cuckfield two days after the fifth of November.

Five dates are confirmed by the organisers themselves. Two of the five are ticketed and sell in advance. Below is each one, what has actually been published, and what has not.

The season at a glance

Date Event Where Tickets
Sat 26 Sep Burgess Hill Bonfire Society Burgess Hill Not published
Sat 17 Oct East Grinstead Community Bonfire High Street and East Court Not published
Sat 24 Oct Ardingly Fireworks Spectacular South of England Showground £12.50 to £15
Thu 5 Nov Lindfield Bonfire Society Lindfield Common Free, street collection
Sat 7 Nov Cuckfield Charitable Bonfire Cuckfield Park £5 to £12

Timeline of the 2026 Mid Sussex bonfire season: Burgess Hill 26 September, East Grinstead 17 October, Ardingly 24 October, Lindfield 5 November, Cuckfield 7 November

Saturday 26 September: Burgess Hill Bonfire Society

Burgess Hill opens the local season, as it does most years, on the last Saturday in September. The date is listed as 26 September in the Confederation of Sussex bonfire societies’ 2026 outmeetings schedule published by Cliffe Bonfire Society, which is the document Sussex societies use to plan visits to one another’s nights. (Cliffe Bonfire Society, Outmeetings 2026)

Nothing else about the 2026 night is published anywhere we can check. The society’s old web address, burgesshillbonfiresociety.co.uk, now serves a parked holding page rather than a website, so it announces through Facebook and Instagram only. That means no published start time, no procession route, and no confirmed road closure times as of 5 September.

The society is certainly active. Burgess Hill Town Council records that it provided the marshals for the road closures at the town’s 2025 Remembrance Sunday parade. (Burgess Hill Town Council)

If you are driving in, note that district pay and display charges stop at 6pm Monday to Saturday, so the town centre car parks are free for the evening. (Mid Sussex District Council)

Saturday 17 October: East Grinstead Community Bonfire

This one is confirmed twice over. The society’s own 2026 events calendar lists “TORCHLIT PROCESSION, BONFIRE & FIREWORKS! Saturday 17th October, 7pm East Grinstead High Street”. (East Grinstead Community Bonfire)

East Grinstead Town Council’s printed 2026 events listing gives the same date and adds where it ends: “A torchlit procession through the town, followed by fireworks and a bonfire at East Court.” (East Grinstead Town Council, Town Events 2026)

So the procession forms on the High Street for 7pm and the fire site is East Court, the council-owned estate on College Lane. No admission price, collection arrangement or road closure schedule has been published. East Grinstead Community Bonfire is a community interest company, formed in 2022 to bring the Sussex bonfire tradition to the town, and it fundraises through pub events and a GoFundMe rather than a gate.

Saturday 24 October: Ardingly Fireworks Spectacular

The biggest ticketed display in the district, and the only one with a full published schedule this far out.

  • Venue: South of England Showground, Selsfield Road, Ardingly, RH17 6TL
  • 4pm: car parks, site and fairground open
  • 4pm to 5pm: fairground rides reduced to £2 each
  • 5pm: music and entertainment start
  • 6.30pm: lower noise fireworks display for younger children
  • 7.30pm: audience light up
  • 7.40pm: main pyromusical display by Illusion Fireworks
  • 9pm: fairground and event close

Tickets on general release are £15 for adults, £12.50 for children aged 3 to 15 and free for under threes, with a family pass for two adults and two children at £50, all plus a booking fee. The organiser says final release rises to £20, £15 and £65. On-site parking is free and included with the ticket. (Ardingly Fireworks Spectacular)

Two things worth knowing before you book. The organiser advises arriving by 5.30pm at the latest, because arriving in time for the main display alone risks missing it in queueing traffic. And dogs are banned outright: the FAQ says animals are “strictly prohibited anywhere on the showground”, and that this “regrettably includes assistance dogs due to extreme pyrotechnic sound levels.”

Thursday 5 November: Lindfield Bonfire Society

Lindfield does not move its night to a Saturday. The society’s own strapline is “Remembering the 5th of November in the heart of Sussex”, and in 2026 the fifth falls on a Thursday.

The 2026 programme has not been published. As of 5 September the society’s website still counts down to Bonfire Night 2025, its most recent news post is the September 2025 programme launch, and its most recent newsletter is August 2025. Nothing about this year’s timings, route or road closures has appeared, and no temporary traffic order for Lindfield on 5 November has yet been advertised on the Public Notice Portal.

What the society has published tells you the night is not in doubt. Its logistics secretary wrote in the August 2025 newsletter that Lindfield Common is booked for the event “up to 2029”, that road closure applications and liaison with Mid Sussex District Council and Sussex Police are part of the annual cycle, and that around 600 torches are made by hand each year for the procession. The fireworks are supplied by Wizard Fireworks. (Lindfield Bonfire Society newsletter, August 2025)

In 2025 the programme was launched on 16 September, at a minimum donation of £2, sold in village outlets and online. (Lindfield Bonfire Society) Expect the 2026 timings around the same point in September. We will update this page when they appear.

Saturday 7 November: Cuckfield Charitable Bonfire and Fireworks to Music

Confirmed, priced and on sale.

  • Date and times: Saturday 7 November 2026, gates 5.30pm, bonfire lit 6.45pm, fireworks to music 7.30pm, close 9pm
  • Venue: Cuckfield Park, Cuckfield, RH17 5AB
  • Tickets: adult £12, child £5, family £30, under fives free
  • Parking: not included in the ticket

(Cuckfield Bonfire Society and its Humanitix ticket page)

Parking is the part people get wrong. Spaces at Cuckfield Park itself are sold at the gate on the night, first come first served. The society also sells 250 advance spaces at Warden Park School, a walk of 10 to 15 minutes, about 0.6 miles, down Broad Street into the High Street. Its own driving advice is to approach from Whitemans Green if you are coming from the north or west, and from Tylers Green if you are coming from the south or east, avoiding the Ansty approach because that is the route to Cuckfield Park and it gets very busy.

The bonfire is lit by the newly elected Mayor of Cuckfield. There is no alcohol on site. Profits go to Holy Trinity School in Cuckfield, Woodlands Meed School in Burgess Hill, Kangaroos, Cuckfield Museum, Cuckfield Playgroup and the Dame Vera Lynn Children’s Charity.

Hurstpierpoint: still to be confirmed

The Danny Family Bonfire and Fireworks at Danny Park, New Way Lane, is run by Hurstpierpoint Gymnastics Club with the Oldland Mill Trust and Friends of Hassocks Infant School. Nothing has been published for 2026, and the gymnastics club’s website carries no event page.

For reference, Hurst Life listed the 2025 event as Sunday 2 November, gates 4.30pm, best guy competition 5.10pm, fireworks about 5.30pm and the bonfire about 5.50pm, at £7 general admission and £18 for a family of two adults and three children, with under threes free. (Hurst Life) Treat those as last year’s, not this year’s.

Haywards Heath has no display of its own

The district’s largest town does not run a bonfire night. Haywards Heath Town Council’s 2026 events calendar lists nothing for the season, and no organiser advertises a display in the town. The two nearest are Lindfield, a mile and a half away on 5 November, and Cuckfield, about two miles away on 7 November. Both are walkable from parts of the town, which matters because both have constrained parking.

What we will update, and when

  • Burgess Hill: start time, route and road closures, expected in September
  • East Grinstead: timings beyond the 7pm procession, and any admission or collection
  • Lindfield: the full programme, expected mid to late September
  • Hurstpierpoint: whether the Danny bonfire runs in 2026 at all

Live closures on the night usually appear on our roadworks and travel page, and the district’s car park charges and hours are on our parking page. More of what is on across the district is on our things to do page.

Sources