The complete bonfire night and fireworks display kit list
A bonfire and a fireworks display is a crowd standing in a dark field next to a fire. The kit list is almost entirely about managing that safely, not decorating it.
An 800-spectator community bonfire night typically needs: Heras fencing marking the fire and firework exclusion zone plus stalls compound, 8 stewards or SIA staff (1 per 100), 16 toilets plus 2 accessible (1 per 50 with a bar open), a 100kVA silenced generator for the PA, lighting and stalls, tower or festoon lighting on approach routes and exits, a PA system for safety announcements, gazebos for food and mulled wine stalls, a bar or drinks stall, 16 bin pairs and 3 skips. Hire budget: £4,000 to £9,000, excluding the fireworks display itself.
The kit list, line by line
Worked at 800 spectators. Every line links to the full category guide with prices.
| Item | Quantity logic | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Fencing (exclusion zone + compounds) | Perimeter metres ÷ 3.5 = Heras panels; fire and firework exclusion distance set by the display operator | Category F2 fireworks need 8m minimum, F3 need 25m minimum spectator distance |
| Stewards / SIA security | 1 per 100 spectators baseline, risk-assessed → 8 at 800 | SIA badges on any bar; stewards on the fire line and car park |
| Toilets | 1 per 50 with a bar open → 16 + 2 accessible at 800 | Site near the crowd, well away from the generator and fire |
| Generator | From the load list: PA, stall lighting, food trailers → typically 100kVA at 800 | Fenced compound, sited well back from the crowd |
| Site & safety lighting | Tower lights or festoon on approach paths, car park, toilets and exits | A dark field with a crowd is the licensing team's first question |
| PA system | Announcements + countdown to lighting: powered speakers and a handheld mic | The steward's most useful tool if something needs everyone's attention |
| Stalls (gazebos) | 1 per stallholder: hot food, mulled wine, hot dogs, glow sticks | Keep the stalls compound outside the firework fall-out zone |
| Bar / drinks stall | 1m of frontage per 35 guests → roughly 23m split across stalls at 800 | A TEN is needed the moment anything is sold |
| Bins | 1 pair per 50 guests → 16 pairs at 800 | Cluster at stalls and exits, with a staffed emptying rota |
| Skips | 1 × 8-yard per 300 guests per day → 3 at 800 | Positioned for a lorry, well clear of the bonfire ash pile |
The safety plan is the brief
Unless a professional display company is running category F4 fireworks under the industry Blue Guide, community organisers are limited to category F2 and F3 fireworks, which carry their own minimum spectator distances: at least 8m for F2, at least 25m for F3. The display operator sets the real exclusion zone from the actual fireworks being used and the site's wind and fallout, and that distance is what the fencing has to hold, not a number picked in advance.
The fire itself needs the same discipline: a cleared base, a safe distance from marquees, stalls and parked vehicles, and a fire service access route kept clear all evening. Contact the local fire and rescue service and the council before the event, not after the invitations go out.
Book in this order
Fencing and stewarding come first because they define the site: where the crowd stands, where the fire and fireworks exclusion zone sits, where vehicles and the fire brigade can reach. Everything else is placed relative to that boundary.
Second wave: toilets, power and lighting, sited outside the exclusion zone but close enough that nobody crosses a dark field to reach them. The generator compound gets its own fencing, well back from both the crowd and the fire.
Third wave: stalls, the bar and the PA, confirmed once the layout is fixed. A single site services supplier covering fencing, toilets, power and lighting is the natural consolidation here, the same as any other outdoor event.
What it costs, honestly
For 800 spectators, the site hire budget (fencing, stewarding, toilets, generator, lighting, PA, stalls infrastructure, bar unit, bins and skips) typically runs £4,000 to £9,000, before the fireworks display itself, which is priced separately by the pyrotechnics company on its own scale.
Community bonfire nights usually recover some of this through stall pitch fees and a collection or paid entry, but the safety line items (fencing, stewarding, toilets, lighting) are not the place to economise: they are what a council or fire service will ask about first if anything goes wrong.
Bonfire night & fireworks display: the questions that follow
How far back should spectators stand from a bonfire and fireworks?
For the fireworks, the display operator sets the exclusion zone from the categories in use: at least 8m for category F2, at least 25m for category F3, professional F4 displays set their own larger zones under the industry Blue Guide. The bonfire itself needs its own clear, fenced radius agreed with the fire service, kept separate from the firework fallout zone.
How many toilets does a bonfire night event need?
With a bar or drinks stall open: 1 per 50 spectators, so 16 units plus 2 accessible for 800 people. Without alcohol, the ratio relaxes to 1 per 75. Either way, site them close to the crowd and well clear of the generator and the fire.
How much stewarding does a community bonfire night need?
A risk-assessed baseline of 1 steward or SIA officer per 100 spectators, so 8 for an 800-person event, with SIA badges specifically on any licensed bar. Stewards belong on the fire line, the fireworks exclusion boundary, gates and the car park.
What does it cost to put on a community bonfire night?
Site hire, fencing, welfare, power, lighting and stalls infrastructure typically runs £4,000 to £9,000 for an 800-spectator event. The fireworks display is a separate cost, quoted by the pyrotechnics company against the categories and duration chosen.
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