The Ultimate Firework Spectacular is always a great way to see off the UK theme park season, with hours of theme park fun, night riding and of course the amazing firework display itself. Check out the TowersStreet guide to the most explosive Alton Towers event of the year.
Event Park Guide
Event Park Guide
The season may be almost over but the Alton Towers Fireworks offer one last chance to get your roller coaster fix before the theme park season ends and those long winter nights close in.
Park Hours and Ride opening times:
The park is open 10am – 9pm Friday, Saturday and Sunday. There’s no Early Ride Time (ERT) available, so you get an extra bit of time to plan in the morning. The late opening means you get to ride in the dark, a rare occurrence at Alton Towers and can make for quite a varied ride experience.
Most rides are open till 9pm, with the exception of The Gardens, Battle Galleons and likely CBeebies Land, which will all close earlier.
Several areas of the park are within the fallout zone for the debris from the fireworks and therefore close shortly before the display to allow for guest safety. They do reopen after the area has been checked for firework debris, allowing for additional rides in the dark. These areas include The World of David Walliams, Dark Forest, X Sector and The Towers which normally close from 6:30pm. Don’t forget to check the queue time boards for information on closing times for the queue-lines in these areas.
As mentioned earlier the dark is a great time to experience some of the rides, we highly recommend Th13teen, The Smiler and Nemesis Reborn in the dark for their enhanced experience. Th13teen offers an almost pitch black ride into the forest, while Nemesis is bathed in red light and feels even faster than normal.
Weather:
There is no denying that in general November sees true winter weather hit the UK, and although temperatures can be mild during the day, this is unlikely and cold weather is the norm. It is also worth remembering that even mild days turn into cold nights. Make sure you wrap everyone up warm.
Also note that although it has never happened in recent times, extreme weather may result in the show being delayed or cancelled.
Getting around:
The park is big, so plan to spend your time in certain areas beforehand and maybe factor in where you would like to eat and drink to prevent racing around the park all day. Try and avoid peak times around lunchtime and dinnertime for eating. There are additional food outlets brought in to serve guests, however, both these and the permanent outlets around Towers Street often get extremely busy in the 30-60 minutes before the show starts – so plan accordingly. Be aware the Skyride and Gardens will close as dusk approaches for safety reasons, which means you need to be more aware of travelling around after this time.
Firework Display Guide
Fireworks Display Guide
Show Start: 7pm
Show Duration: 25min
Location: Lawns (at the bottom of Towers Street)
The firework show takes place beyond the lake around the Towers ruins, with the viewing area being the Lawns and Towers Street. Crowds start to gather from around 6pm so it’s best not to leave it too late to take your spot. It’s not really necessary to get to the front of the lawns as the fireworks are high altitude, and in particular this year a large stage will hamper your view. As well as for viewing comfort, being further back gives you more direct access to facilities such as toilets.
About 30 minutes before the display starts the resort kicks the music volume up a gear and gets the crowd pumping, there is often some sort of entertainment as well. The show itself is loud and may be a little overwhelming for the very young but the music selection is intended to entertain a wide age range and the show is very much family orientated. Once the show has ended there is often a rush for the exit and car parks.
Please also be aware that sparklers and other hand-held pyrotechnics are not allowed and security will confiscate them if seen.
Travel Information
Travel Information
Unless you have a pressing need to leave, we recommend you take advantage of the late opening. As the park is so busy, be aware you may have a long wait to leave the Resort as the car parks are a 15 minute walk from the park entrance, and the Monorail will be busy. In addition, the local roads are small so leaving the car parks can take a while. We strongly recommend factoring in at least an hour from walking out of the park to leaving the Resort grounds in your car when planning your route home. The Saturday is always much busier than the Sunday, so bear this in mind when planning your visit, and allowing time to leave the resort.
When you are exiting the park you may be directed into a small lane that spans the perimeter of the resort (called Wootton Lane), don’t worry this lane will be well signposted to get you back on track once you reach the main roads. Follow all the Resort staff guidance when you are leaving in order to allow the flow of traffic to be maintained.
Event Galleries
Event History
Event History
Firework displays have been held on the estate of Alton Towers since 1896 when the grand summer fete, a two day event where the gardens were open to the public, featured a display. The fete was famous for a 45 minute fireworks display with a themed programme of spectacular rocket combinations.
As a theme park, Alton Towers has put on spectacular displays for many years, though these temporarily ended in 2006 with “Electric Towers”. This was primarily due to a noise abatement order placed on the park that limited them to 3 shows a year. Because of this, the park replaced the Fireworks event (which always used to run during the half-term week in October), with Scarefest.
In 2010 Alton Towers announced that the Fireworks display would return to the park with an Ultimate Firework spectacular. This coincided with an extension of the season to allow for the fireworks event to run the weekend after Scarefest finished.
The Fireworks went on hiatus in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, but roared back into life in 2021.
