Brockham Bonfire
7th November 2026
Brockham Bonfire
Welcome to the annual Brockham Bonfire celebrations which are always held on the nearest Saturday to the 5th November:
2026 - Saturday 7th November
2027 - Saturday 6th November
Creating Brockham Bonfire is a true community effort, involving hundreds of volunteers over many weekends. It is the largest community event in Brockham and one of the biggest bonfire celebrations in Surrey. Getting involved is a fantastic way to become part of village life, meet new people, and help keep this great tradition alive. If you would like to lend a hand, simply come along to any bonfire-building weekend and you will receive a very warm welcome.
We are increasing the use of cashless payment facilities across the event. However, with thousands of people arriving in the village over a short period, there can occasionally be delays or connectivity issues. To help ensure you can make the most of your evening, we recommend bringing some cash with you. In particular, please bring cash if you plan to use event parking (£10 per vehicle).
Thanks to the generosity of our visitors and supporters, Brockham Bonfire donates more than £20,000 each year to local organisations, charities, and good causes. This support makes a real difference within our community. If you are able to do so, please consider making a generous donation this year so that we can continue helping as many worthy causes as possible.
With many thousands of visitors enjoying our village on Bonfire Night, it is important that everyone takes a few moments to read and understand the guidance provided on our website. Following this advice helps us ensure a safe, enjoyable, and memorable evening for all.
IMPORTANT PARKING INFORMATION
Please do not park on roads or grass verges unless directed to do so by event stewards. Brockham becomes a traffic-free village from 5:30pm for everyone's safety so access restrictions will be in place.
Alternative travel options are strongly encouraged. You can park in Dorking and join the hundreds of visitors who enjoy the walk through Betchworth Golf Club to Brockham (remember to bring a torch), or take one of the additional bus services operating from Dorking, Redhill, and Reigate.
If you choose to park elsewhere and avoid the £10 event parking charge, please consider making an equivalent voluntary donation at the entrance. These contributions help cover the significant costs of staging the event, including the fireworks, insurance, safety measures, and infrastructure. Our costs remain substantial regardless of the weather, and your support is greatly appreciated. Thank you.
Organisers' Top Tips:
Arrive early (between 6:00pm and 7:00pm), take part in the Procession, enjoy Brockham's famous Bonfire catering, and make the most of everything our beautiful village has to offer.
TIMETABLE OF EVENTS
1200 Combined Charities Fair, Brockham Church Hall
1400 Children's Fancy Dress Competition - Brockham Village Hall
1630 Car Parks Open
1700 Catering Stalls Open
1730 All Road Closures in place and many remain closed until 23.00
The area around the Village Green becomes a traffic exclusion zone
1805 The Guy and its escort leaves the Village Green and heads to Brockham Lane. Please follow them to the Green
1835 The Procession and Torches leave the Village Green and head south
1930 The Guy and its escort climb the Bonfire
1945 Lighting of the Bonfire
2015 Fireworks Display
2040 Roast Pig Auction
2115 Raffle Draw
2300 (Approx.) Brockham Lane and the Village Green re-opens to traffic
The Guy and an escort with burning torches will leave Brockham Green at 1800 and head North to the Avenue, Brockham Lane. It will about turn and return to Brockham Green soon after 1830 where it will combine with The Marching Sea Cadet Band and the main Procession before heading South at 1835.
The Procession will return to the Bonfire for lighting at 1945.
Torches will be handed out on Brockham Green and on the Procession route to Members of the public who wish to join us.
Click or Scan the QR code to make your donation to Brockham Bonfire using Collctiv, our payment provider.
The Collctiv payment gateway has running costs, including the cost of securely holding and processing money. You may be asked if you would like to make a small optional contribution to help cover these costs, but you do not have to. Click on the Support Collctiv drop down to update your choice.
Sponsor a Firework!
We are delighted that you would like to sponsor a firework for this year's bonfire celebrations. We enjoy celebratory and upbeat messages.
All sponsors and messages will be included in our brochure (as long as we receive them before the publishing deadline) and on our website. We will also have a short display of hearts and smiley faces before the main firework display specifically for those people who have sponsored a firework. We will also print your name on a particular firework to make the sponsorship even more memorable.
The very best messages will be read out on the evening though these are unlikely to include in memoriam messages.
We ask for a minimum donation of £30.
Messages should be no longer than 50 words. We reserve the right to edit messages.
Please fill in the form below with your details and your firework sponsorship message. Once completed, please press the submit button at the bottom of the page. This will redirect you to Collctiv, our payment gateway, where you can make your donation.
Please note that your message will only be added to the list once we have received your donation.
Thank you for supporting Brockham Bonfire!
Car parking and How to get here
Brockham is just south of the A25 between Dorking and Reigate.
We have arranged with local landowners to provide plenty of car parking in fields around the village. Each car park is numbered. Please remember your car park number to make it easy to find your car on your way home.
The car parks will be well signposted. Please do not park on the highway, pavements or verge. It is critical that emergency service vehicles always have clear access into the village.
Car parking is £10 per vehicle, and we want to make your arrival as easy as possible. Please note that our parking areas are located in open fields where Wi‑Fi may not be available and mobile networks can become very busy during events. Because of this, our card machines don’t always work reliably.
To avoid delays, we recommend bringing cash for parking. It’s the quickest way to get you parked and on your way to enjoying your visit
Prepare for a walk to Brockham Green on unlit country roads of up to twenty minutes. The ground could be muddy or soft underfoot. Please allow plenty of time to park and walk into the village.
Special buses are also being provided.
Resident Car Passes
If you are planning a house party on Bonfire night it is essential that you ask your friends, guests and relatives to arrive at your home no later than 1730. If you are having guests please start advising them of this now, they can of course use one of the car parks after this time.
Brockham Lane, Kiln Lane, the Borough Bridge, Old School Lane, Middle Street and Wheelers Lane will all close to all traffic at 1730. This will mean that all the official road closures will come into force at the same time. This year, for safety reasons the road across the Green may remain closed until at least 2300.
Passes will only issued to RESIDENTS of Brockham who genuinely cannot get home from work before the Road Closures come into effect at 1730 on Bonfire Night. They are not issued for any other reason. These are STRICTLY for Residents, your guests are asked to arrive before this time or to use one of the many car parks.
To request a pass, please send an e-mail to
brockhambonfirecarpass@gmail.com
with BONFIRE PASS in the subject line, stating the following:
Name of Resident
Make of Car
Vehicle Registration number
Entry point, i.e. Brockham Lane, Strood Green, Old School Lane, Kiln Lane
Approximate time and Destination in Brockham
You will be sent a pass via e-mail which you must sign. The pass will contain a unique QR code. If you print more than one copy we will know from our records and you will be refused entry and will not be eligible for a pass in the future. You MUST have your pass with you on Bonfire Night. Passes are strictly non-transferable.
Residents can apply for passes up until 30th October 2026. Passes will be issued until 3rd November 2026.
PLEASE NOTE - there is strictly no access across the Village Green or Borough Bridge. The Opening time of the road Closures is subject to Police approval and may well be after 2300.
Disabled Car Parking Passes (only 20 available for local people)
A limited number of disabled parking spaces are available at North Downs School, Wheelers Lane, for visitors who hold a valid Blue Badge. Due to high demand, priority will be given to local residents who require accessible parking.
To apply for a disabled parking pass, please email
brockhambonfirecarpass@gmail.com. Your application must include:
- The driver's name
- Vehicle make and registration number
- Photographs of both sides of the Blue Badge
- Your location of departure, so that appropriate access directions can be provided
A maximum of 20 disabled parking passes will be issued. Applications will be reviewed at the end of October, with passes allocated primarily to local Blue Badge holders. Successful applicants will receive their pass and access instructions by email.
Please note that, due to the increasing number of requests, these passes will be allocated as fairly as possible and no new applications can be accepted after
3rd
November 2026.
Accessible toilet facilities are available near the church. Visitors using wheelchairs are strongly encouraged to view the event from the Churchyard, which provides a good vantage point for the main proceedings.
Please note: There is strictly no vehicle access across the Village Green or over Borough Bridge between
1730 and 2300.
Bus timetables (2026 timetable coming soon)
Customers are strongly advised to purchase tickets in advance by downloading the First Bus App (on Google Play and Apple App store), select 'Tickets' & 'Buy', select 'Essex' and then 'Thurrock' as the area and then buy the appropriately marked tickets. If purchasing on the day, contactless payments are preferred.
The history of Brockham Bonfire
The earliest record we have of Bonfire Night Celebrations in Brockham is a photograph of a ‘Bonfire Boy’, L. Gilliam, dated 1888. The picture, taken at a photographic studio in Dorking demonstrates time, effort and cost and indicates that the traditions of Bonfire Night in Brockham was well established at this time.
The Dorking Advertiser began to report in some detail on the Bonfire Celebrations during the early years of the 20th Century. We know that the festivities ceased during both world wars. Detailed records are available from ‘Minute Books’ and various records from 1930 to date. Bonfires were built to celebrate both VE and VJ Day in 1945. A small bonfire was built to celebrate VE Day +50 in 1995.
The celebrations have centred around the building of a bonfire, firework display, torchlight procession and pig roast to this day.
When cricket was played on the Village Green work could not begin on bonfire building until the cricket season ended. The bonfire then was built in a few weekends and consisted largely of ‘hedge trimmings’ from farmers’ fields. Today, the Brockham Bonfire Celebrations are a model of event safety and organisation with highly experienced Stewards and Event Safety Coordinators.
Firework Display
The Blanch family moved to Brockham in the late 1920’s. Jack Blanch, who went to school with a member of the Brocks Firework family let off a few rockets and roman candles on the Village Green. Every year he would purchase a few more. Michael Smith, Jack's son-in law became involved and his sons, Martin and Thomas Smith as young lads joined the family in arranging the display.
As the display and fireworks continued to get bigger and the numbers attending the bonfire celebration grew, it was decided in 1982 to move the firework display off the village green. This enabled the display to be entirely ‘aerial’ and gave us safer distances between the crowd and the fireworks.
The Smith family now have a fourth generation of family members with Jack Blanch’s great grandchildren, Jacob, Lily and Merlyn being part of the display team.
The firework display is organised and arranged by a large team many of whom have been involved for many years. From humble beginnings, the firework display is now one of the largest with four tonnes of fireworks. The display takes 50-man days to assemble and clear away but takes only 12 minutes to fill the sky with pyrotechnic brilliance.
The Guy
The Brockham effigy of Guy Fawkes has always played a very important role in the celebrations. He has changed from an almost life-like figure to sometimes a twelve-foot giant. To ensure young people are not frightened at the thought of burning a life-like figure whilst dressed beautifully our effigy is purely a caricature.
It is a great honour to be part of the team escorting the Guy to the top of the Bonfire. An honour most Bonfire Boys and Girls only ever experience once and the team are selected from those whose contribution to the success of the celebrations is enormous.
The Procession
The celebrations have included a torchlight procession around the village for at least eighty years. The Procession is led by the ‘Red Devil’ a long-time tradition and once again this is a special honour given to either a Bonfire Boy or Girl. Many Bonfire Boys and Girls in Fancy Dress escort the Guy on its journey around the village followed by several hundred torch bearers and many hundreds of people who simply enjoy the walk around our beautiful village.
The Guy, a marching band and the Guy's escorts at the front of the procession arrive first on Brockham Green and fix the Guy to the top of the Bonfire. Once complete the torch-bearers encircle the bonfire and under close supervision are asked to place their torches at the base of the fire. Once lit, the fencing around the fire is securely fixed to keep the crowds safe.
The Roast Pig Auction
One of the oldest traditions of Brockham Bonfire is the roasting of a ‘two tailed pig’. This began in the 1930’s and has fascinated thousands of people over the years and provides a very memorable and enjoyable end to the evening.
The ‘Roasting’ begins early on Bonfire day and culminates in an auction of ‘Prime Roast Pork’ immediately after the firework display. The Pig Roasters work all day to ensure a perfectly cooked pig. Our auctioneer then sells joints prepared by our local butcher. The auction is the site of much fun and bonfire banter, is a reunion site for many and has been opportunities in the past for much fun, merriment and even proposals! It is also a major fund-raising part of the evening contributing to the cost of running the event. Pork rolls are sold adjacent to the Pig Fire site.
Donations
Over the past 20 years, your generosity has enabled us to donate close to £450,000 to local societies, charities and worthy causes.
Many of these donations go to organisations that help out on the night or in the build up to the bonfire, including those who help us on the catering stalls, the car parks, and by shaking collection buckets. Their support year after year is critical to the on-going success of the bonfire.
We also support specific projects which are connected to Brockham or are sponsored by some of our bonfire boys and girls. These included Dorking BESOM which provides household items for people in need, Brockham’s Wednesday Club and Dorking Minds which supports local mental health initiatives.
Every donation made at Brockham Bonfire has a lasting impact. Thanks to your generosity, we are able to support a wide range of local charities and community groups each year. We, and they, are extremely grateful for your support.
Please give generously.
