UK's 'biggest fireworks display' takes place in Oxfordshire

Crowds swarmed to Abingdon Airfield on Saturday night to watch the “UK’s biggest firework display” with poppers and whizzers being sourced from all over Europe.

Delighted guests lapped up the activities on offer at the huge site with families riding on the enormous Slingshot monster truck, spinning wildly on the waltzers and even taking on virtual reality.

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Amelia Potter, social media marketing manager for Xplosive Events - the organisers of the festival - said: “We’re so happy with the turnout this year, we believe there’s more than 12,000 people here.

“This whole event is about a great day out with the family, it’s meant for both young and old with rides for all sorts of age groups.

Guests about to ride on the Slingshot truck (Image: Matthew Norman (with help from Joanna Golubowska))

“We also have some amazing local traders selling lovely food and drink.”

She also said that due to the weather, the hot air balloons would not be flying.

Rooting for a rocket, Amelia said her favourite part of the festival is the fireworks.

She added: “We have coloured smokes, glitter and bangs, with a special European demonstration.

Guests take a ride on the monster truck (Image: Matthew Norman (with help from Joanna Golubowska))

“There’s a huge variety, and we’re trying to get people interested in them too, rather than just enjoying watching them.

“There’s a lot more to fireworks than people think, it’s all a chemical reaction, and having rare colours means the reactions have to be different.

“It’s all in the art of designing a display.”

The charity partner for the event was Tough enough To Care, a grass roots organisation that aims to put an end to the rising number of male suicides in the UK.

Founder Stuart Bratt said: “It’s been a taboo subject for so long, and it’s not just men who are affected. That’s why we’re tackling male-dominated environments.

“We don’t talk medicine, or give advice, we just share our stories with each other. It really helps our members and volunteers.”

Payments taken for the bungee jump at the festival, which was composed of a large crane holding a platform up high, went towards Tough Enough To Care’s outreach programme.

Xplosive Events began holding smaller events during lockdown.

Staff member Amelia, from Newbury, said: “We started during the pandemic, and it’s all grown from that. People loved getting out and it became bigger and bigger.

“We started up because people were sitting at home bored, and we had a bank of people who wanted to do fireworks.

“The director of Explosive Events, Karl Mitchell-Shead, wanted to do fireworks, and putting an event on meant he could do fireworks.”

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This story was written by Matthew Norman, he joined the team in 2022 as a Facebook community reporter.

Matthew covers Bicester and focuses on finding stories from diverse communities.

Get in touch with him by emailing: Matthew.norman@newsquest.co.uk

Follow him on Twitter: @OxMailMattN1