Lewisham decides the Blackheath Fireworks licence on 8 September: 17 residents objected, the police did not. The 7 November date, the hours and the conditions.

A premises licence application for Blackheath Fireworks proposes a one-day display on Saturday 7 November 2026 for up to 39,999 people, and it is the first public record of a date for this year’s show.

The application sits on Lewisham Council’s current licensing applications register under the premises name “Blackheath Fireworks, Blackheath Common, SE3 0TY”. The last date for representations is today, 18 August 2026.

It is not a licence for a single night. The register records an application for a new premises licence covering:

  • a two-day weekend event, held annually
  • between the last week of October and the second week of November each year
  • on either the Friday and Saturday, or the Saturday and Sunday
  • with a capacity applied for of 39,999

The register then adds the line that matters most to anyone planning their November: “For 2026 we propose a one day show on Saturday 7 November.”

Blackheath Common sits in Lewisham borough, in Blackheath ward, which is why the application is with Lewisham rather than Greenwich. The SE3 0TY postcode returns Lewisham as the local authority on the Ordnance Survey-backed postcode lookup.

Update, 31 August 2026: the application has come off the register

We re-checked Lewisham Council’s current licensing applications register on 31 August 2026, thirteen days after the representation deadline. Blackheath Fireworks is no longer on it. The register now runs to four other premises, Fields Café in Ladywell Fields, Morleys on Lewisham High Street, Doma on Dartmouth Road and Zulu Mart on Deptford High Street.

Two of those carry a committee date in the register itself: Fields Café is down for 26 August and the Morleys review for 8 September. Blackheath Fireworks never had one added before it dropped off.

That matters because of how the law works. Under section 18 of the Licensing Act 2003, where relevant representations are made the authority must hold a hearing before deciding. Where none are made, it must grant the licence subject to the conditions applied for. An application that leaves the register without ever being listed for a hearing is the pattern you would expect from the second route.

We are not calling it granted. The council has not published a decision notice we can point to, and the register records applications rather than outcomes. What we can say is that the consultation has closed, no hearing was ever listed, and the application is no longer pending on the public register.

A 2026 ticket site is live, without a date on it

There is now an official ticketing site at blackheathfireworks.com, titled “Blackheath Fireworks 2026” and running on the Easol booking platform. When we checked it on 31 August 2026 it had no date, no times and no prices published on it, only the shop framework. So the commercial side of a 2026 event is being built, but the organiser has still not announced anything.

For scale, last year’s prices were £16 for ages 16 and over, £10 for 11 to 15, £5 for under-10s and family packages from £40. Treat those as a guide to the order of magnitude, not as this year’s prices.

The council’s own page is now more than six months out of date

Lewisham’s Blackheath Fireworks event page, which we flagged on 18 August, still says “The event will take place on Saturday 1 November 2025, 5-10.30pm”, and is still stamped as published on 24 February 2026. Anyone landing on the council’s own page today is being given last year’s date.

Where that leaves 7 November. It remains the only date anywhere on the public record for a 2026 display, and it comes from the licence application rather than from the organiser. Until Slammin Events or the council says so directly, treat it as the proposed date, not a confirmed one, and do not book travel or time off around it.

What the licence would allow

The application covers regulated entertainment and alcohol, with different finishing times for each.

Activity Friday Saturday Sunday
Live and recorded music, dance 17:00 to 22:30 16:00 to 22:30 16:00 to 22:00
Alcohol, on the premises 17:00 to 22:15 16:00 to 22:15 16:00 to 21:45

The entertainment sought is listed as “Live & Recorded Music, Performance of Dance; Anything of a similar description to that falling within e, f or g”, which are the categories in Schedule 1 of the Licensing Act 2003. Alcohol is for consumption on the premises only, so the bar would be inside the event site.

The Saturday hours are the ones to read, because Saturday is the day proposed for 2026. Music could run from 4pm to 10.30pm, with the bar closing 15 minutes earlier.

Chart of the hours applied for at Blackheath Common: live and recorded music and dance from 5pm to 10.30pm Friday, 4pm to 10.30pm Saturday and 4pm to 10pm Sunday, with alcohol ending 15 minutes earlier on Friday and Saturday and 15 minutes earlier again on Sunday
The hours the application asks for, by day. Source: Lewisham Council current applications register.

The council’s own pages still show last year

Lewisham Council’s Blackheath Fireworks event page has not caught up. Published on 24 February 2026, it still describes the 2025 display: “The event will take place on Saturday 1 November 2025, 5-10.30pm.”

That page is also the council’s own confirmation of how the event is run. It says tickets were sold “via the event organiser, Slammin Events, website”, and describes a display set to music at around 8pm alongside DJs, live music, comedy, a mass singalong, a funfair and food stalls.

One thing the register does not record is who has applied this time. The current applications list gives the premises name and the details of the application, but no applicant name, so we are not naming one.

When the display returned last year, Cllr Sakina Sheikh, Cabinet Member for Culture, Communities and Sports, was quoted in the council’s announcement of 23 July 2025 saying: “It has been a delight to bring this good news to the Borough!” That article said ticket prices were being kept low through reduced site hire fees.

What it means for you

If you want to comment, today is the last day. Representations must be in writing. Email licensing@lewisham.gov.uk, or post to the Licensing Authority, 4th Floor, Laurence House, 1 Catford Road, SE6 4RU.

The register is blunt about what makes a comment count. It must contain your full name and full postal address. Without both, it says, a representation “will be deemed invalid and cannot be taken into consideration”.

Anyone can make one, not just neighbours. The register states that responsible authorities “or any other person” may make representations.

What happens next depends on whether any are received. Under section 18 of the Licensing Act 2003, if relevant representations are made the council must hold a hearing before deciding, unless everyone agrees a hearing is unnecessary. If none are made, the licence is granted. Two other applications on the same register already carry committee dates, so a hearing is how contested applications in the borough are being handled.

A licence is not the same as a confirmed event. It sets the outer limits of what could take place. Timings, ticketing and prices are for the organiser to announce, and none of those had been published when this was written.

If the 7 November date holds, it is a Saturday, and Blackheath is served by Blackheath station and by buses along the A2. Our guides to trains and travel and parking in Lewisham cover the practicalities, and any road closures for the event would appear on our roadworks and travel page.

Sources