Xplosive Events Reviews 

Events at a military base ought to be organised with military precision - this one was a farce.

I do not deny that the fireworks were enjoyable, when they eventually happened, but the lead up was ridiculous. Why advertise 6pm quiet fireworks for children then tell families not to leave afterwards because the in-coming traffic would make that impossible? Why build the biggest bonfire then claim shock when it is too hot to allow the Monster Trucks to perform, so events would be delayed - who wants to see them anyway? We received multiple emails urging us to arrive at 3pm, to avoid the traffic, for a firework display that did not happen until 8:40pm - it was too late, we were bored, cold, fed up and ended up leaving before the end, because we knew that the ridiculous number of tickets sold meant we'd be stuck in the car park all night. Even then, no identifers on the rows and no lighting meant we struggled to locate our car. Then came the 12-lane departure queue of cars, for which you had to hold your nerve to inch forward. If you left a gap, someone created another lane - no marshalling at all.

We had already decided that the event was so badly run, we just wouldn't bother again, but this review was prompted by an offer of 50% off next year. No way, it was a chaotic entrapment, designed for maxmimum profit. We're not falling for that again!

A special shout out to the paramedics who, with shameful diregard for the bad example they were setting, were having great fun playing sword fights with very large and powerful sparklers!

We went to Abingdon fireworks run by Xplosive events and all I can say is this was the most incredible display I have ever been to! The whole event was amazing! The music, the DJ, the atmosphere, the fireworks made the experience just fantastic!
The whole event was really well organised, the delay getting in and out wasn’t the organisers fault, it was due to an accident on the A34 and people pushing to the front! I can’t even be mad at for the delay because the display was just unreal and we were buzzing still!!
Absolutely cannot wait to go again next year and many years to come!!
Thank you to everyone that made it so special! Loved loved loved it!!!

An amazing fireworks display never seen anything on this scale .
Had an amazing time at the Abingdon airfield

Fantastic evening with some epic fireworks- great event, we will be back!

Yet again a wonderful time had at your event!!! The fireworks were amazing!! Well done to all the Xplosive events team for all your amazing work!! Will definitely be back again next year!!

Fireworks were INCREDIBLE 😲would highly recommend this company and its fabulous staff!

The fireworks were breathtaking and the whole evening was a blast! Hat’s off to the team for organising such a brilliant event. A little patience was needed when leaving but it was all worth it. We’re counting down to next year already- whatever they plan, it’s sure to be amazing!
Thanks so much again!!
Michelle Whitcomb

Just the best fireworks I have ever seen, and the thing I like is you'll never go hungry at an Xplosive event, so many food vendors. My family had a wonderful time and we'll defiantly be looking out for more events by them.

Why am I reading so many negative reviews, this is my third time at Abingdon bonfire night, come with my family and absolutely love it! The fair is amazing fireworks are out of the world! That’s why we keep coming back!! Getting out didn’t take to long, but can totally understand with so many people attending! If people think they can get straight out they need there head checking, i shall see you next year!! 🎆🎆

Dreadful organisation.. rubbish everywhere wine bottles to fall over ..very few bins ..toilets not enough of them.
The Chaos of the parking No marshals just a free for all with one road in and one out 3hours to exit car park for some we took over 2 hours.. it was like squeezing toothpaste out of a tube with at one point 14 separate queues trying to squeeze into two lanes. It was a free for all….once out of the car park there was no traffic on the road.
I will not go again for this reason
Two people in the queue had asked the only security person we saw where the emergency exit was as one need medical assistance. They were told there is no emergency exit !!!!!! Disgraceful

Abingdon bonfire and fireworks 2024. The event itself was great - it would have gotten 4 stars had it not been for the complete lack of traffic management / staff / general regard for safety on leaving the airfield. Complete free for all and took us 3 hours to leave the site. Got in the car at 9:30pm with a 4 year old in tow. Got home at 1am and we live 20 mins away. As soon as we got off site the roads were empty, the congestion and chaos was purely on site. Took all the shine away from what was a very expensive afternoon / evening.

Every year the traffic is a farce and they post saying they’ll sort it out for next time but they never do, all they care about is cramming as many people as possible in. My husband works on one of the small roads nearby and after a 13 hour shift he was stuck trying to get out onto a gridlocked road to get home. I posted this on their Facebook page and they blocked me. Stop being so greedy and do something about it. Advance tickets only, reduce number of people and/or pay for proper traffic management.

NOT SAFE. TORTURE GETTING IN AND OUT. My friends and I booked this event and got multiple emails saying to arrive before 6pm so we set off early to try and avoid traffic. It took 2.5 hours to drive along a 20 minute route. The fireworks were lovely, the fairground rides fun but the food underwhelming/overpriced. We tried to wait 2 hours after fireworks finished and they were packing up to leave to avoid traffic. When we got to our car we saw a row of red lights around the entire airfield, there was ZERO organisation getting people out of this event, it took cars 3 hours of queuing to leave the venue, thank GOD we didn’t have kids in the car. This event should NOT be allowed to run until there is a system to get people in and out of the event in reasonable time. The 5 hours to get in and out completely overshadows the fireworks, not worth it at all, not safe, do not recommend.

Abingdon bonfire night, what a complete disaster. The event had been way oversold and very poorly planned out.
With a lack of stewards throughout the event the whole evening seemed somewhat chaotic. We witnessed several lost children with no one on hand to help or even a muster point that we could take the child to!
The lack of toilets was one thing, but with the toilets being that heavily used & no one there to check/clean them was madness.
Again with a lack of rubbish bins the amount of litter scattered though out the site was appalling.
The firework display was over 30mins late starting and then when it did start it stoped half way though with very little info from the announcer as to what was happening.
As always at these events the fireworks were fantastic and I can not praise the display enough. Unfortunately that is the only good part. When the fireworks finished we then started on the 30minuet walk back to the car, most of which in the pitch black. Cars racing everywhere in between parked cars desperately trying to beat the queues made this part of the night SEVERALLY DANGEROUS. With family’s and children all over I will be surprised if no one was hurt. Once we made it to the car we then had to endure the nearly TWO HOUR free fall to try and get off site. With literally NO stewards any where to be seen it was complete and utter chaos. Horns blasting, people shouting and tempers rising with two scared young children in the car was the worst part of our evening. Never again!!

What a disgrace. The fireworks were late, there was a technical glitch during the last display that meant we had to wait 5 minutes for the last minute of the final song. The display was good despite this but then there was chaos getting out. No stewards or traffic management. People fighting and arguing to get out and it took 3 hours to get out of the car park. This overshadowed the whole night and ruined it completely. Will never go to an event at this venue ever again.

DO NOT COME..... Can't believe how badly this was organised. Hardly any toilets, not enough food and drinks vendors for the number of people, queues over 30mins to get a drink. The fireworks started over 40 minutes late... Fireworks were quite good.... but it took over 3 hours to get out of the car park. Total carnage. No stewards or traffic management. We got in the 'queue' that ended up being over 15 (might have been more but could count 15) lines of traffic all heading into 2 lanes of traffic. I get its a big event and might take time, but there was no organisation whatsoever. They just want to take your money and forget about safety and organisation. Awful!!!! It could have been great as the fireworks were quite good but was totally ruined by poor organisation.

If I could give a zero star rating, I would.
Well organised on arrival, swiftly parked.
Very expensive, poor quality food - whoever heard of a hotdog without onions?
There were insufficient toilets or bins.
Very late starting the firework display, although truly amazing display.
So some minor irritations until we tried to leave.
Even as the fireworks finished at 9pm, huge queues had already formed, wide rivers of red tail lights as far as the eye could see.
The car park turned into an absolute free for all, with no sign of any stewards to keep order. After a couple of hours, drivers were giving up on trying to queue, driving randomly across the grass creating yet more chaos towards the exit.
Along the side of the "road", barriers of some description were removed and "fast lane" created for those who were brave enough to drive in rougher areas.
Tempers became very fraught and several times we thought that a physical fight was imminent.
It is obvious that the event was organised to get people in and spending money and once that was accomplished, the organisers of the event lost complete interest making sure that the exit was as swift as possible.
I consider that this event was very poorly organised and possibly dangerous.
I would also like to see published the risk assessment for this event. Had there been any kind of medical emergency, I would like to know how an ambulance would have got out of the venue - or indeed in, as there was no signage to suggest emergency medical support was available on site.
Never again will we attend any event organised by this company.

Abingdon fireworks were fantastic, but queued for 3 hours to get out of there this evening. Will not be returning

Currently still sitting in the queue trying to leave abingdon display 3 hours so far! Completely disorganised shambles will not be ever attending again. Event people on site simply don't care.

Went to the abingdon fireworks and the end when leaving was just a pure free for all no organisation what so ever car just going were they want over fleid pushing in no one to usher cars or mange traffic plus foreworks was over 30 mins late being set off and all they say in emails is arrive early so you there ages beofore fireworks to line there pockets how hard is it to manage traffic at end of a event