Diwali Light It Up on 23 October, three free half term days in town from 28 October, Hatch Warren fireworks on 7 November, and 30 more dated events.

The Anvil’s autumn season is the backbone of the next six weeks: two international orchestras, Ricky Gervais for two nights, Lenny Henry, Katherine Jenkins and Michael Portillo. Around it the town has its own dates. Diwali Light It Up fills the town centre on Friday 23 October, half term brings three free days of Halloween activities to the Top of the Town from Wednesday 28 October, and the borough’s only confirmed fireworks display is at Hatch Warren on Saturday 7 November, the same weekend as the Milestones Beer Festival.

Everything below comes from the organisers’ own listings and was read on 28 September 2026. Every entry links to its source, so check before you set off. For places that are open whatever the month, see our guide to things to do in Basingstoke.

Running now

  • I Grew Up 90s, to Sunday 1 November, at the Willis Museum and Sainsbury Gallery, Market Place, RG21 7QD. Free. More than 200 objects and artworks from the decade of Britpop, Pokémon and dial-up, plus a retro arcade machine with Tetris, Tekken, Street Fighter and Sonic (Hampshire Cultural Trust).
  • Taste, Design and the Georgian Gentleman, to Sunday 1 November, 11am to 3pm, at The Vyne, Sherborne St John, RG24 9HL. A house-wide exhibition on John Chute, the Georgian owner who reshaped the house, with an hour-long tour on Wednesdays and Saturdays at 3pm (National Trust).

This week

  • Basingstoke Market, Wednesday 30 September, 9am to 4pm, Market Place and Wote Street. The regular Wednesday market; see Regular events.
  • Philharmonia Orchestra, Wednesday 30 September, 7.30pm, The Anvil, Churchill Way, RG21 7QR. Part of the Anvil’s International Concert Series. Tickets £21 to £48.50, under 25s and full-time students £14 (Anvil Arts).
  • Francis Rossi: Songbook: Quo, Past, Present, Future, Thursday 1 October, 7.30pm, The Anvil. The Status Quo frontman’s songbook show. Tickets £44, £54 and £64, VIP £104 (Anvil Arts).
  • Basingstoke parkrun, Saturday 3 October, 9am, War Memorial Park. Free; see Regular events.
  • Basingstoke Bison home game, Saturday 3 October, 6.30pm, Planet Ice Basingstoke, Leisure Park, RG22 6PG. A NIHL National Cup game. Early bird online prices are £19 for an adult seat, £16 adult standing and £10 for children 15 and under (Basingstoke Bison fixtures, ticket prices).
  • Alasdair Beckett-King: King of Crumbs, Saturday 3 October, 8pm, The Haymarket, Wote Street, RG21 7NW. Stand-up. Tickets £24 (Anvil Arts).
  • Who’s in Your Book?, Saturday 3 October to Sunday 8 November, 10am to 4pm, The Vyne. An autumn family activity: Monster and his friends have escaped from their books, and children help get them home (National Trust).
  • Stranger Folk Digital Adventure, Saturday 3 October to Sunday 8 November, 10am to 4pm, The Vyne. A new adventure played on a mobile app, for ages 7 to 12 (National Trust). The Trust’s summary listing does not give prices for either Vyne activity, so check its page before you go.

Next week

  • Ricky Gervais: Legend, Monday 5 and Tuesday 6 October, 7.30pm, The Anvil. Tickets £46.50 (Anvil Arts).
  • Phil Wang: UH OH, Thursday 8 October, 7.30pm, The Anvil. Stand-up. Tickets £27 to £39 (Anvil Arts).
  • Steve Hackett: Best of Genesis and Solo Gems, Friday 9 October, 7.45pm, The Anvil. Tickets £53.50, £59 and £69 (Anvil Arts).
  • Basingstoke Bison home game, Friday 9 October, 7.30pm, Planet Ice Basingstoke. A NIHL National Division game (Basingstoke Bison).
  • Edge of the Wild, Saturday 10 October to Sunday 15 November, Willis Museum and Sainsbury Gallery. Free. Basingstoke Art Club’s exhibition of creatures in their natural environment, from the ocean depths to the skies (Hampshire Cultural Trust).

Later in October

  • Lenny Henry: Still at Large, Wednesday 14 October, 7.30pm, The Anvil. Part stand-up, part storytelling, for ages 16 and over. Tickets £33 to £48 (Anvil Arts).
  • NDR Radio Philharmonic Hannover, Friday 16 October, 7.30pm, The Anvil. Tickets £21 to £48.50, under 25s and full-time students £14 (Anvil Arts).
  • Basingstoke Bison home game, Saturday 17 October, 6.30pm, Planet Ice Basingstoke. NIHL National Cup (Basingstoke Bison).
  • Diwali Light It Up, Friday 23 October, Basingstoke town centre. Free. Kala The Arts has confirmed the date and the theme, Being Human, but not yet the start time or route (Kala The Arts). The council’s sealed order closes Cross Street, Wote Street, Winchester Street and part of Church Street from 4pm to 7pm (Basingstoke and Deane). Our Diwali parade page has the closures street by street and last year’s timings.
  • Katherine Jenkins: 25 Year Anniversary Tour, Friday 23 October, 7pm, The Anvil. Tickets £36.50, £46.50 and £59, VIP £104 and £154 (Anvil Arts).
  • Only Murders in the Library, Friday 23 and Saturday 24 October, Basingstoke Discovery Centre. The library service’s annual crime writing weekend, twelve sessions at £2 or £5 each. Friday runs from 12.30pm, with Vaseem Khan on James Bond and Q, TM Logan in conversation with Vaseem Khan at 5pm and Ben Aaronovitch at 6.30pm. Saturday runs from 11am, with panels through the day and Louise Candlish at 6.30pm (Hampshire Libraries).
  • The Strange Science of Jekyll and Hyde, Saturday 24 October to Sunday 1 November, from 10am, Milestones Museum, Leisure Park, RG22 6PG. A Halloween Victorian science fair in which visitors judge four competing scientists. Adults £19.50, children £13.50, concessions £18.50, family £64.50; the code STRANGE20 takes 20% off advance bookings until 23 October (Milestones Museum).
  • Basingstoke Bison home game, Saturday 24 October, 6.30pm, Planet Ice Basingstoke. NIHL National Cup (Basingstoke Bison).
  • Sunday Tea and Talk: Pottage and Peacocks, Sunday 25 October, 2pm, Willis Museum. Former museum manager Jenny Stevens on what people really ate in medieval and Tudor times. £7. The talk is in the top-floor Archaeology Gallery, reached by stairs only (Hampshire Cultural Trust).
  • Grimethorpe Colliery Band, Sunday 25 October, 3pm, The Anvil. Tickets £28, under 25s £15 (Anvil Arts).
  • 90s Remix Craft Workshop, Monday 26 October, Willis Museum. A drop-in to make a friendship bracelet, a coaster or a CD dreamcatcher, £5 per participant, children with an adult (Hampshire Cultural Trust).
  • An Evening with Michael Portillo: A Life of Two Halves, Tuesday 27 October, 7.30pm, The Anvil. Tickets £38 to £63 (Anvil Arts).
  • Spooktacular Half-Term, Wednesday 28 to Friday 30 October, 11am to 3pm, Top of the Town. Free, for ages 3 to 13: lightsaber skills, a play village and a slime bar in Cross Street on the Wednesday; wand and puppet crafts in Market Place on the Thursday, with a pumpkin trail in War Memorial Park (maps from The Orchard, last collection 2pm); science shows at 11am, 12.30pm and 2pm and screen-printed trick or treat bags in Market Place on the Friday (Love Basingstoke). The council will close the Top of the Town streets from 9am to 4pm on all three days (Basingstoke and Deane). Our October half term page has the rest of the week.
  • The Dinosaur That Pooped: A Rock Show!, Wednesday 28 October, 1pm and 3.30pm, The Haymarket. Tickets £21, under 16s £20 (Anvil Arts).
  • Willis Museum by Torchlight, Thursday 29 October, entry at 5.30pm, 6pm or 6.30pm. Carnival-themed trails and games round the museum, for ages 5 and up; bring a torch. £6 per child, goody bag included, and only children need a ticket (Hampshire Cultural Trust).
  • Brainiac Live, Friday 30 October, 2pm, The Anvil. Tickets £22.50, under 16s £21.50 (Anvil Arts).
  • Basingstoke Bison home game, Saturday 31 October, 6.30pm, Planet Ice Basingstoke. NIHL National Division (Basingstoke Bison).

November

  • Professor Alice Roberts: From Cell to Civilisation, Tuesday 3 November, 7.30pm, The Anvil. Tickets £40, £60 and £70 (Anvil Arts).
  • Hatch Warren Fireworks Spectacular, Saturday 7 November, from 5.30pm, Hatch Warren Community Centre, Long Cross Lane, RG22 4XF. £14 per person. Food stalls, glow accessories and music from DJ Mark Halliday before the display. There is no parking on site (Hatch Warren and Beggarwood Community Association). Basingstoke town has had no display of its own since 2019; our fireworks page explains.
  • Milestones Beer Festival, Saturday 7 and Sunday 8 November, Milestones Museum. Three sessions: Saturday 12pm to 4pm, Saturday 6pm to 10pm and Sunday 12pm to 4pm. Entry £12.50 with glass and guide, eight half-pint tokens £20, over 18s only (Milestones Museum). More on our beer festival page.
  • Basingstoke Business Week, Monday 9 to Friday 13 November, venues across town. Destination Basingstoke’s week of events on the theme Skills for the Future, with the Basingstoke Skills Summit, opened and closed by Luke Murphy MP, on Thursday 12 November (Destination Basingstoke).

Remembrance Sunday is 8 November. The council has not yet published Basingstoke’s service details; our Remembrance Sunday page has what is known.

Regular events

  • Basingstoke Market, every Wednesday and Saturday, 9am to 4pm, Market Place at the Top of the Town and down Wote Street towards Festival Place. Fruit, vegetables, meat, eggs and street food (Basingstoke and Deane).
  • Basingstoke parkrun, every Saturday, 9am, War Memorial Park, RG21 4AG. A free, timed 5k on grass, woodland and tarmac paths. Parking at the park is very limited, and Eastlands car park, RG21 4AW, is the closest (parkrun).

Getting there

The Anvil, the Haymarket, the Willis Museum and the Top of the Town are all within a short walk of each other and of the station. Milestones and Planet Ice share the Leisure Park on the western edge of town, and The Vyne is north of town at Sherborne St John. Car parks and tariffs are on our parking in Basingstoke page, and road closures, including the event closures above, are on roadworks and travel. Coming by rail, see train times to London.

This page is rewritten as organisers confirm new dates. All listings were read from the organisers’ own pages on 28 September 2026. Dates and prices can change, so use the links before you travel. More in our What’s On section.

Send us your event

Running something in Basingstoke or the villages around it? Email hello@basingstokeonline.co.uk with the date, time, venue, price and a photo. Listings are free of charge, and your event goes on this page and in the diary on our What’s On section.

Sources