Oktoberfest on Sworder's Field on 24 October, half-term films from £5, Fairport down to 21 seats, then free fireworks on 1 November and rugby's on the 7th.

October in Bishop’s Stortford runs from a rock tribute night and Andy Parsons this week to Oktoberfest on Sworder’s Field on Saturday 24 October and Fairport Convention at South Mill Arts on Friday 30 October. Half term, 26 to 30 October in Hertfordshire, brings a free Halloween trail and the BID’s first pumpkin patch in Jackson Square. November brings free fireworks at Parsonage Lane on the 1st, the rugby club’s display on Saturday the 7th, Remembrance Sunday on the 8th and The Addams Family, the town’s musical theatre company, at South Mill Arts from 10 to 14 November.

Every entry comes from the organiser’s own listing and links back to it. South Mill Arts’ programme, prices and seats left were rechecked on its box office on 6 October 2026, and the football and rugby fixtures from the clubs’ own pages the same day. Dates and prices can change, so check the link before you set off. For places open whatever the month, see things to do in Bishop’s Stortford.

South Mill Arts is at 1-3 South Road, CM23 3JG, and adds no online booking fee. Bishop’s Stortford FC plays at Woodside Park, Dunmow Road, CM23 5RG, which the club now calls the Grundon Community Stadium. The rugby club is at Silver Leys, Hadham Road, CM23 2QE.

This week

  • Bishop’s Stortford FC v Sawbridgeworth Town, Tuesday 6 October, 7.45pm, Woodside Park. Herts Senior Cup. (Bishop’s Stortford FC)
  • Andy Parsons: Please #@!$ off to Mars, Thursday 8 October, 7.30pm, South Mill Arts. £21, concessions £19; 75 of 246 seats were left on 6 October. (South Mill Arts)
  • Relaxed museum tour, Friday 9 October, drop in 11am to 1pm, South Mill Arts. Free. For visitors with additional needs, including dementia, autism and hearing or sight loss. (South Mill Arts)
  • Quiz evening with Mark Labbett, Friday 9 October, 7.30pm, South Mill Arts. £22. The Chase’s Beast on his career, then a quiz. (South Mill Arts)
  • Garg’s Animal Encounters, Saturday 10 October, shows at 10.30am and 11.45am, Cammas Hall Farm, Needham Green, Hatfield Broad Oak. Hands-on animal sessions recommended for children aged four and over. The other autumn date is Thursday 22 October, same times. (Cammas Hall Farm)
  • The Stadium Rock Experience, Saturday 10 October, 7.30pm, South Mill Arts. £25. Classic arena rock anthems in a show the venue bills as “an audio and visual sensation”; 153 of 287 seats were left on 6 October. (South Mill Arts)
  • Bishop’s Stortford RFC v Tonbridge Juddians, Saturday 10 October, gates 2.30pm, kick-off 3pm, Silver Leys, Hadham Road. Pre-ordered standing £16.26, members £8.23. National League One. (Bishop’s Stortford RFC)
  • Live Wire Rock Academy autumn concert, Sunday 11 October, 2pm, South Mill Arts. £12. Students from the rock school’s Bishop’s Stortford, Saffron Walden, Great Dunmow and Epping branches play a charity concert. (South Mill Arts)

Later in October

  • Stortford Jazz Lounge: Zak Barrett, Tuesday 13 October, 7.30pm, the Theatre Lounge at South Mill Arts. £14. With the Essex Jazz Collective. (South Mill Arts)
  • Bishop’s Stortford FC v Real Bedford, Tuesday 13 October, 7.45pm, Woodside Park. (Bishop’s Stortford FC)
  • Acoustic Club: Dave Sutherland, Thursday 15 October, 8pm, South Mill Arts. £7. Two 40-minute sets of Americana. (South Mill Arts)
  • Blithe Spirit, Friday 16 October at 7.30pm, Saturday 17 October at 2.30pm and 7.30pm, South Mill Arts. £22, concessions £20, restricted view £17. Act 3 Theatre Company’s Noël Coward. (South Mill Arts)
  • Bishop’s Stortford FC v Racing Club Warwick, Saturday 17 October, 3pm, Woodside Park. (Bishop’s Stortford FC)
  • Natalie Cassidy: LIVE with Nat, Sunday 18 October, 2pm, South Mill Arts. £17. Her Life With Nat podcast, recorded live; ages 14 and over, likely strong language. Only 19 seats were left on 6 October. (South Mill Arts)
  • Hadestown: The Musical, Sunday 18 October, 7pm, thescreen Stortford at South Mill Arts. £18.50, concessions £14.50. The Tony-winning musical, screened. (South Mill Arts)
  • Talk: Zeppelins, airships and connections with Stortford, Tuesday 20 October, 12.30pm, South Mill Arts. £5. A museum talk. (South Mill Arts)
  • People’s Emergency Briefing, Wednesday 21 October, 6.45pm, the Cedar Room at South Mill Arts. Free, but booking is essential. A screening hosted by Bishop’s Stortford Climate Group, with a discussion afterwards; ages 16 and over. (South Mill Arts)
  • Simon Yates: Pleasure and Pain, Thursday 22 October, 7.30pm, South Mill Arts. £23, restricted view £18. The Touching the Void climber’s new talk. (South Mill Arts)
  • Kerry Ellis: Queen of Rock, Friday 23 October, 7.30pm, South Mill Arts. From £32. Queen, Meat Loaf and rock anthems. (South Mill Arts)
  • Oktoberfest, Saturday 24 October, 1pm to 10pm, Castle Park, Sworder’s Field. First-tier tickets have sold out; the second tier is £17.50, with a final release to follow. Oompah bands, DJs, bratwurst and steins; the town council lists it as 1pm to 10pm. (The Bier Co)
  • Uncle Funk’s Decades of Dance, Saturday 24 October, doors 7.30pm, starts 8pm, South Mill Arts. £27. A run through dance music from 70s disco to 90s house. (South Mill Arts)
  • Halloween trail, Saturday 24 to Saturday 31 October, town centre shop windows. Collect the letters from posters in shop windows; the finished sheet gets a child a pumpkin at the pop-up patch. (Discover Stortford)
  • The Lord of the Rings trilogy, Sunday 25 October, at 10am, 2pm and 6pm, South Mill Arts cinema. £10 a film, or £20 for all three. The 25th anniversary screenings. (South Mill Arts)
  • Half-term films: Minions & Monsters and Toy Story 5, Monday 26 October (Minions 11am, Toy Story 2pm) and Thursday 29 October (Toy Story 11am, Minions 2pm), thescreen Stortford. Adults £10, children £5. (South Mill Arts)
  • Fallen Angels, Monday 26 October, 7pm, thescreen Stortford. £18.50, concessions £14.50. A screening of Noël Coward’s comedy. (South Mill Arts)
  • Kids’ crafts: make a Saxon boat, Tuesday 27 to Thursday 29 October, drop in 10am to 2pm, Bishop’s Stortford Museum. £2 suggested donation. Beowulf, then a boat to take home. (South Mill Arts)
  • Top Secret: The Magic of Science, Tuesday 27 October, 2pm, South Mill Arts. £16.50, family ticket £62. (South Mill Arts)
  • Bishop’s Stortford FC v Stamford, Tuesday 27 October, 7.45pm, Woodside Park. (Bishop’s Stortford FC)
  • The Royal Ballet: Manon, Tuesday 27 October, 7.15pm, thescreen Stortford. £18.50, concessions £14.50. (South Mill Arts)
  • Ghost Stories of M.R. James, Wednesday 28 October, 7.30pm, South Mill Arts. £17. The audience picks which tales are told. (South Mill Arts)
  • Acoustic Club: The Archduke, Thursday 29 October, 8pm, South Mill Arts Theatre Lounge. £7. A headline set from songwriter Tom Dulieu. (South Mill Arts)
  • Fairport Convention, Friday 30 October, 7.30pm, South Mill Arts. £36. Only 21 of 289 seats were left on 6 October. (South Mill Arts)
  • Pop-up pumpkin patch, Friday 30 and Saturday 31 October, 11am to 3pm, Jackson Square community space. Free with a completed Halloween trail sheet; one pumpkin per child while stocks last. (Discover Stortford)
  • Halloween horror film day, Saturday 31 October, South Mill Arts cinema. £10 a film: The Nightmare Before Christmas 11am, Friday the 13th 1pm, Paranormal Activity 3.15pm, Carrie 5.30pm, A Nightmare on Elm Street 7.45pm, Scream 9.45pm. (South Mill Arts)
  • Bishop’s Stortford RFC v Plymouth Albion, Saturday 31 October, gates 2.30pm, kick-off 3pm, Silver Leys. Pre-ordered standing £16.26. (Bishop’s Stortford RFC)

The rest of half term is on our October half term page, and the car parks at Hatfield Forest close on Mondays and Tuesdays from 26 October (winter opening times). There are two fireworks displays: the Round Table’s free one at Parsonage Lane on Sunday 1 November and the rugby club’s on Saturday 7 November; see November below and our fireworks page.

November

  • Parsonage Lane Fireworks, Sunday 1 November, gates 5.30pm, fire show 6pm, fireworks 6.30pm, Parsonage Lane Park. Free and non-ticketed, with a bucket collection; the Round Table suggests £15 for a family of four. (Bishop’s Stortford Round Table)
  • Moon Jammers, Sunday 1 November, 7.30pm to 10pm, South Mill Arts. Free, register online. A blues, soul and funk jam night with a seven-piece house band. (South Mill Arts)
  • Storytime at the museum, Tuesday 3 November, 10.30am, South Mill Arts. Free. Story, colouring and craft; the book is still to be announced. (South Mill Arts)
  • An Evening of Mediumship with Tony Stockwell, Tuesday 3 November, 7.30pm, South Mill Arts. £29. The Street Psychic presenter, billed by the venue “for entertainment purposes”. (South Mill Arts)
  • Serial Killers Unmasked, Friday 6 November, 7.30pm, South Mill Arts. £24.50, restricted view £19.50. Former Scotland Yard detective chief inspector Steve Gaskin on cases he has worked. (South Mill Arts)
  • National Theatre Live: Golden Boy, Thursday 5 November, 7pm, thescreen Stortford. £18.50, concessions £14.50. Josh O’Connor in Clifford Odets’ boxing drama. (South Mill Arts)
  • Guided tour of the museum, Saturday 7 November, 11am, Bishop’s Stortford Museum. Free, booking essential, ten places. There is no tour in December. (South Mill Arts)
  • Bishop’s Stortford FC v Stratford Town, Saturday 7 November, 3pm, Woodside Park. (Bishop’s Stortford FC)
  • Bishop’s Stortford RFC fireworks display, Saturday 7 November, gates 5pm, fireworks 7pm, until 10.30pm, Silver Leys, Hadham Road, CM23 2QE. Family £25, over-16s £10, under-16s £5, under-3s free; advance e-tickets only and no parking on site. Our fireworks page has the details. (Bishop’s Stortford RFC)
  • Remembrance Sunday service, Sunday 8 November, 10.50am, war memorial in Castle Gardens. The parade assembles at 10am at Link Road car park and leaves at 10.40am; Link Road and The Causeway close 10.30am to 12.30pm under the 2026 traffic order, and three car parks are shut in. Our Remembrance Sunday page has the closures. (Bishop’s Stortford Town Council)
  • The Addams Family, Tuesday 10 to Saturday 14 November, 7.30pm nightly plus a 2.30pm Saturday matinee, South Mill Arts. £23; £20 concessions for over-60s and under-16s at some performances. Bishop’s Stortford Musical Theatre Company’s production; under-16s must come with an adult. (South Mill Arts)
  • Relaxed museum tour, Friday 13 November, drop in 11am to 1pm, South Mill Arts. Free. (South Mill Arts)
  • Bishop’s Stortford FC v Stourbridge, Saturday 14 November, 3pm, Woodside Park. (Bishop’s Stortford FC)
  • Bishop’s Stortford RFC v Sheffield, Saturday 14 November, gates 2.30pm, kick-off 3pm, Silver Leys. Pre-ordered standing £16.26. (Bishop’s Stortford RFC)
  • Talk: Slavery and the Sawbridgeworth connection, Tuesday 17 November, 12.30pm, South Mill Arts. £5. A museum talk on the small town’s links to the slave trade. (South Mill Arts)
  • Stortford Jazz Lounge: Zak Barrett, Tuesday 17 November, 7.30pm, the Theatre Lounge at South Mill Arts. £14. (South Mill Arts)

After that come the Christmas lights at Festive Fun Day on Sunday 15 November, the panto from 26 November and the Christmas Fayre on Saturday 5 December: see Christmas markets near Bishop’s Stortford, Christmas lights and the Fayre and the South Mill Arts panto.

Regular events

  • Castle Park parkrun, every Saturday at 9am, next on 10 October, Castle Park, The Causeway, CM23 2DL. Free 5k; register once before your first run. (parkrun)
  • Bishop’s Stortford Market, every Thursday and Saturday, 8.30am to 4.30pm, next on Thursday 8 October, across South Street, Potter Street, Market Square and North Street. (Bishop’s Stortford Town Council)
  • Farmers and Craft Market, first Saturday of the month, 9.30am to 1.30pm, North Street, CM23 2LD: next on Saturday 7 November. Local produce and crafts. (Bishop’s Stortford Town Council)

Send us your event

Running something in Bishop’s Stortford? Email hello@bishopsstortfordnews.co.uk with the date, time, venue, price and a photo. Listings are free of charge, and each one goes on this page and in the diary on our What’s On hub.