Xplosive Events Reviews 

As seen as my review from google has magically disappeared, I shall write it on here too …..

Absolute shambles.
Says to make sure you arrive by 5, chance would be a fine thing if you could even get near there!
Sat in traffic for well over 3 hours and still nowhere near the front. As a family of 4, we can safely say NEVER GO HERE. Sitting in standstill traffic with screaming children is not what we had planned for our day out. Won’t even make it in time for the fireworks! Cant wait to watch them from the car as we try and get out the traffic to turn around and go home. Will be demanding a refund!
“UKs largest firework show” more like the UKs largest traffic jam! Very very disappointed.

Update…. We finally decided to leave the “queue” at 8.15pm. Fireworks hadn’t even started. Traveled 1.5 hours to get home, best part of the night.

This was my first visit to the Abingdon fireworks event. The journey, which should have taken approximately 45 minutes, instead took two hours due to a severe tailback on the A34 caused by the volume of attendees. Fortunately, I had left very early and managed to arrive just before 6 p.m.—I dread to imagine what conditions were like later in the evening.

The fairground itself offered a good selection of rides, although the £5 charge per ride felt extortionate. The food stalls were similarly disappointing: overpriced and of poor quality. I purchased a bag of candy floss for my son, only to find it rock hard. The DJ also played several songs containing profanities, despite the event clearly being family-oriented, and then attempted to dismiss the language by claiming the words were French, which only made the situation more inappropriate.

The bonfire produced such an overwhelming amount of smoke that it noticeably obscured the fireworks. Nevertheless, I still felt the display itself was impressive once visible.

We left the site as soon as the fireworks finished , and this is when the true chaos unfolded. Prior to attending, I had read the organisers’ assurances on Facebook that a new ANPR one-way system, supported by 120 stewards, had been implemented to improve parking. This system required a £5 fee, which implied a level of organisation and efficiency. In reality, the parking arrangements were absolutely dreadful. Leaving the car park was complete carnage: no organisation, no visible stewardship, and cars forming their own lanes in a wholly uncontrolled and unsafe manner. It took two full hours to exit the car park.

I have attended many large-scale events, some with far higher capacity, and I have never experienced parking management as catastrophically inefficient as this. Of the few stewards I did see—no more than five—none were actively directing traffic; instead, they stood at the end of the road chatting and contributing nothing to the situation. Under these circumstances, all parking fees should unquestionably be refunded. Charging attendees £5 for such an appalling experience is indefensible.

Despite all of this, my five-year-old son remained blissfully unaware of the surrounding chaos and thoroughly enjoyed his evening, which was the one redeeming aspect of the event.

I strongly don’t recommend this event!
Me and my partner were really looking forward to going to see the fireworks. We aimed to arrive for 6:30ish as we weren’t bothered about seeing anything before the fireworks.
We live less than an hour away from this event and it took us 3 whole hours to get in. 2 WHOLE HOURS OF VERY SLOW MOVING/STAND STILL TRAFFIC!!!
By the time we had got into the car park it was already 8pm and we actually thought there was no point in going in because we will get caught in a long queue to get out so we stood at our car waiting for the fireworks to start. However the fireworks didn’t start till 9pm so they were an hour late!!!!
Once the fireworks had finally started you couldn’t even see them due to all the smoke from the bonfire filling the sky. After 10 minutes we got in the car at 9:10 and drove home so we didn’t get caught in queues🙄
Overall a big waste of time and money!!
No wonder you can’t get a refund because everyone would want one!

Abingdon fireworks 2025.The worst fireworks I have ever seen covered by a massive smoke from the bonfire. Extremely loud music everywhere, rides and food overpriced, parking was a nightmare. Not worth the money. I’ve been three times, this one was the worst and sadly the last one.Google removes bad reviews.Save money and avoid this place.

Unfortunately getting into they event & exiting was an absolute shambles, gridlocked. Thousands of people going to one location just doesn’t work, definitely need to limit tickets. So much smoke & fog you could hardly see the fireworks. Let’s not talking about the pricing of fair rides & food 😐

So much smoke from the bonfire you couldn’t see the fireworks. Disappointing.

Every year we give you the benefit of the doubt that you've "fixed the traffic management". Every year we say never again. Tonight, after 2 hours to do 13 miles from Oxford to Abingdon, we eventually gave up and missed it. This is the last time. It's a shame, because the fireworks are normally great.

Really poorly managed event at Ducklington on 9th November. They delays the fireworks for when it started raining, it was late for kids even before they delayed it.

They didn’t advertise the updated time change even though they had ticket holder details. They must have known they were late when we arrived at 5.45, the gate staff told no one.

Would give minus points for dangerous events and bad customer service. Should be shut down as a company!!

Difficult to comment as we never made it into the event. The traffic management was, being kind, shambolic. We sat in queues for over two hours and eventually gave up and went home.
I contacted the organisers and asked for a refund. They admitted to the shocking traffic management but said that as the show went ahead no refunds would be made but as a goodwill gesture, they offered us free entry to their show at Abingdon.
We do not live in the area (we were on holiday) and Abingdon is around three hours for us so not really an option. I’ve asked them to reconsider their reply so let’s see if they do the right thing.

South Cerney Fireworks display.
Over 2 hours queuing to in traffic to park. Many people gave up and turned around. No parking management at all. Carpark was a free for all with no markings at all and pitch black so loads of people couldn’t find their cars. Absolutely no traffic management at all on exit - it was like wacky races as every car tried to get through one gate. They delete all negative comments of their fb site which is incredibly dishonest. Fireworks were late and ok but nothing spectacular

WOW! WHAT A LOAD OF CRAP!!!!! Firstly, getting in and out the parking was the worst most stupidly unorganised event ever!!!! 1 hour and 10 minutes trying to drive out after the event!!!!!! The display was pathetic to say the least! Christian Malford, a little village, was honestly three times more spectacular! Terrible! South cerney, Terrible! And even though I can accept that there was a delay, the stupid guy on the microphone could have atleast been honest about it and kept the people informed on what was going on! First and last time! FALSE ADVERTISING!!!!!

Went to the south Cerney firework festival it was my first time going to an event like this and it was amazing.

The rides food and drink and the monster truck ride with a dj too they really put on a great event. Although the parking was bad trying to get in and leave in which it was a free for all trying to get out the show makes up for it and I would definitely go again.

As a carer I was travelling to see people who are vulnerable, and due to the appalling traffic I could not get through, infrastructure needs reviewing

We went to the South Cerney fireworks and it was by far the best display we have seen. We had our 2 year old with us and it was his first ever big event. He throughly enjoyed the whole experience and we as a family also enjoyed it. The entertainment was great even with the little mishap of the delay for the main event. They ensured to keep everyone entertained whilst waiting , the Chacha slide was a great touch ! Yes there was traffic but it’s to be expected and this is why we made sure to leave at a sensible time to ensure we didn’t miss the main event . The only downside was the departure. I just feel moving forward the car park could be clearly marked so you knew roughly where your car was and better traffic management in leaving but other than that we left feeling very happy and even our toddler was all smiley, We will definitely be going again ! 🎆

Money hungry company! They scrimp on parking and safety!

Ive been to separate locations now and both times getting in and out a completely nightmare. Not the right traffic infrastructure in place to cope with the amount of vehicles. Both times as well the fireworks started very late and the same excuse of the bonfire was given. Show was not as long as the one last year in Abingdon. Will not go again

We booked this for my son as he is mad about KPop. The roads around South Cerney were gridlocked with absolutely no traffic management at all. After sitting on the 419 for an hour, we saw one van with two men in on their phones - brilliant. In the end, at 7.40 after sitting in traffic for 90 minutes, we went home with a screaming and very upset 7 year old. Greedy company who just want to sell as many tickets as possible without thinking of the infrastructure. This is the second badly run event we have bought tickets for, never again

Booked and paid £30 for south Cerney this evening. Traffic was backed up and never made it. If you do not have the infrastructure to get all paid tickets into the event before it starts stop taking peoples money!!!!!!!

Cancelled the Newbury event, was promised refund within 30 days, this has long gone, with first excuse saying they are short on funds and offered tickets to a different event which we couldnt attend.

Now they just ignore any emails, willing to bet this company closes down owing everyone at the end of the season