Witney Feast runs Sunday 13 to Tuesday 15 September 2026 on the Leys. Entry is free, the Golden Gallopers service opens it, and no road is being closed.

Witney Feast returns to the Leys on Sunday 13 September 2026 and runs to Tuesday 15 September. Those dates come from Witney Town Council’s own what’s on page, which lists the Feast as an external third-party event on council land.

Entry to the fair itself has always been free. You pay for rides.

The dates, and how firm they are

Day Date
Sunday 13 September 2026
Monday 14 September 2026
Tuesday 15 September 2026

The council first published these dates in a third-party events report to its Stronger Communities Committee on 23 March 2026, where they were still marked “dates TBC”. They now appear without that caveat on the council’s what’s on page, so treat them as settled.

Opening times are not officially published

This is the honest position, and it is worth saying plainly: no organiser or council page gives 2026 opening times for the Feast. Witney Town Council lists the dates and nothing else. Its next Stronger Communities Committee, which is where the events report goes, does not meet until Monday 21 September, after the fair has packed up.

What is on the record is the 2025 pattern, set out by the council’s own Venue and Events Officer in the September 2025 events report:

  • The Sunday was an additional day, added “on top of their regular Monday and Tuesday openings”.
  • The Golden Gallopers service ran at 1pm on the Sunday, blessing the fair, which the report notes “celebrates the rededication of St Mary’s Church”.
  • After the service the fair opened for a family afternoon, with street entertainers including jugglers, music, food, drink, rides and games.

For 2026, The Oxford Magazine’s listing repeats the 1pm Golden Gallopers service on the Sunday and puts the Monday and Tuesday openings at lunchtime through to 10pm. That is a listings site rather than the organiser, and the same entry still carries recycled 2025 copy about the rides, so use it as a guide and not a timetable.

One time is first-party and firm. Witney Town Band is booked to play on the Leys from 6pm to 7pm on Sunday 13 September, according to its own events page.

Is it on this year? Yes, and here is the evidence

Three separate council documents point the same way. The March 2026 events report lists the Feast among upcoming events. The council’s what’s on page carries the dates. And the March report adds a detail that only makes sense if the Feast is going ahead: because the 11-a-side football pitch is being reinstated on the events field at the Leys, the Feast will be the last event of the year on that field, which has already cost one regular circus hirer its usual October date.

Road closures: there is no order

There is no special event traffic order for Witney Feast. Oxfordshire County Council’s register of large public events lists twelve orders for autumn 2026, including the Chipping Norton Mop Fair, Abingdon Michaelmas Fair, Woodstock Street Fair and St Giles Fair in Oxford. Witney Feast is not among them, and a check of the Public Notice Portal for Witney postcodes on 5 September 2026 returned nothing either.

That is the expected result. The Feast sits entirely on the Leys, which is council-owned open space, so unlike Chipping Norton’s fair it does not need the highway closed. Station Lane and the roads around the recreation ground stay open.

Parking is the real problem

Every West Oxfordshire District Council car park is free, and the council has committed to keeping them that way. The catch is the maximum stay, which is what generates the penalty notices. Our parking in Witney page has the stay limits car park by car park.

Two things make Feast week harder than usual:

  • Station Lane is closed from Thursday 24 September for microsurfacing, but that is after the Feast. Feast week itself is clear of the town’s September resurfacing cluster.
  • The High Street remains northbound only while phase 2 of the town centre works runs to November. Full detail on our Witney roadworks and travel page.

The streets immediately around the Leys are residential and fill early on the Monday and Tuesday evenings, when the fair is busiest.

What the Feast actually is

The fair marks the rededication of St Mary’s Church, and the blessing at the Golden Gallopers carousel keeps that link alive: the council’s own report calls it a service that blesses the fair. It is a green fair rather than a street fair, which is why it can take the big rides that will not fit into a market place.

What we will update, and when

This page is updated as organisers publish. Three things are still outstanding:

  • 2026 opening times, expected only from the showmen themselves or from the council’s post-event report on 21 September.
  • Confirmation of the Sunday church service time, which the parish’s own benefice site does not currently list.
  • Ride prices, which no source has ever published in advance.

Frequently asked questions

When is Witney Feast 2026? Sunday 13 to Tuesday 15 September 2026, on the Leys. The dates are on Witney Town Council’s what’s on page.

How much does it cost to get in? Nothing. Entry to the Feast has always been free, and you pay only for rides, stalls and food.

What time does it open? No 2026 opening times have been published by the organisers or the council. In 2025 the Sunday started with the Golden Gallopers service at 1pm, and the Monday and Tuesday were the fair’s regular full days.

Are any roads closed for the Feast? No. There is no special event traffic order for Witney Feast, because the fair sits entirely on council-owned open space at the Leys rather than on the highway.

Where do I park? West Oxfordshire’s car parks are free but time-limited, and the streets around the Leys fill early on the Monday and Tuesday evenings.

Sources