What's on across Cirencester and the Cotswolds: Mon 28th Sep to Mon 12th Oct 2026
October turns up properly this fortnight. The summer trails in Cirencester Park finish, the pumpkins arrive, and the town gets two of its oldest traditions back to back: a wool fair and the Mop. Put a pint in the parish church in between and you have about as Cirencester a fortnight as you can get.
The first few days are quiet and worth using. There is a subtitled screening of The Misanthrope at the Barn on Mon 28th Sep, a walk round the town's old pubs and coaching inns on Tue 29th Sep, and a tour of the collection stores at the Old Prison in Northleach on Wed 30th Sep. That Wednesday is also the last day of the Woodland Ball Run and the Fairy Trail in Cirencester Park, so if you made a promise back in July, now is the time.
Thu 1st Oct brings an hour at the Corinium on the Roman villas of the Cotswolds, and the same day Ghosts of Roman Britain opens at Chedworth for the whole of October. Go to the talk first and the villa makes more sense.
The weekend of Fri 2nd to Sun 4th Oct is the first big one. The Cirencester Beer Festival fills St John Baptist Church from Friday evening into Saturday, St Peter's Parish Hall has a Mamma Mia sing along both nights, and on the Saturday the Arts and Craft Market is on the Market Place while the Wool Fair opens in the Corn Hall for two days. The Corinium has a day on prehistoric textiles to go with it. Sunday is the Bibury Antiques and Vintage Fair, and the last night of the Tetbury Music Festival.
Mon 5th Oct is the first Mop Fair, and Mon 12th Oct is the second. It is a proper old charter fair, and the town centre shuts to traffic for it from 16:00 on the Sunday before each one until midnight on the Monday. If you live or work in the middle of town, sort your deliveries and parking out now rather than finding out at half four on a Sunday.
The second week has a haunted town tour and a broom making workshop, of all things, on Thu 8th Oct, then the long Roman walk and The King's Speech opening at the Barn Theatre on Fri 9th Oct, with the comedy club at the Barn the same night.
Sat 10th Oct is the busiest day of the fortnight by a distance. Farmers' Market from nine, the Repair Cafe at the Baptist Church from ten, the Longfield craft fair at the RAU, the Crafty Boaters market over in Lechlade, the Pumpkin Patch opening in Cirencester Park and the VWH Fun Ride through the estate, with the Corinium Players' charity concert to finish the evening. Pick two. Three at the most. Then Sun 11th Oct is the Round Table car boot on Kingshill Field and the last day of the Salmonsbury exhibition at the Corinium.
If I have missed something you are running, send it over and it will go in the next one. And if the first autumn storm has found the weak spot in your fence or gutters, give me a ring before the clocks go back and the evenings disappear.
This fortnight's highlights
Charter Market
The old Monday and Friday market, still going the way it has for centuries. Note there is no Charter Market listed on the two Mop Fair Mondays, for fairly obvious reasons.
More info →National Theatre Live: The Misanthrope (subtitled)
Sandra Oh in Moliere's dark comedy, screened with subtitles. A late afternoon showing, which is a kindness for anyone who falls asleep in the evening ones. I have form.
More info →Cirencester Pub Town Walk
A walk round the older parts of town looking at the pubs and coaching inns, past and present. It is a history walk, not a pub crawl, and it finishes before lunch. Draw your own conclusions about what happens next.
More info →Tour of the Stores
The collections team showing you what is kept behind the scenes. I am a sucker for anywhere with proper shelving and labelled boxes, so this one was always going on the list.
More info →Last chance: Woodland Ball Run and Magical Fairy Trail
Both finish on the Wednesday. If you promised the children in July, this is the week to make good on it.
More info →Corinium Afternoon: Roman Villas in the Cotswolds
More than sixty Roman villas are known across the Cotswolds. An hour on who built them and why here, which is a good warm up for Chedworth later in the month.
More info →Ghosts of Roman Britain
A month of spooky activities about what the Romans believed happened after death, with a family trail added over half term. Runs all of October, so no rush, but it is a lovely drive out while the trees are turning.
More info →Cirencester Beer Festival
Beer, local cider, food and entertainment, inside the parish church. Drinking a pint under that roof feels faintly like you are getting away with something, which is half the appeal.
More info →Film Night and Sing Along: Mamma Mia
The original and Here We Go Again, with singing encouraged. Following last month's Frozen night, St Peter's is clearly building a following.
More info →Arts and Craft Market
First Saturday of the month, local makers on the Market Place. A good place to start thinking about presents before anyone mentions Christmas.
More info →Cirencester Wool Fair
A weekend celebrating the fibre that paid for most of the town's best buildings, the parish church included. Pair it with the beer festival next door and you have covered the two things Cirencester was built on.
More info →An Introduction to Prehistoric Textiles
A hands-on day with experimental archaeologist Sally Pointer. Sits nicely alongside the Wool Fair if you want to make a weekend of it.
More info →Bibury Antiques and Vintage Fair
Antiques and vintage in the village hall. I go to these for old tools and come home with a lamp I do not need. Every time.
More info →Tetbury Music Festival: final weekend
The festival opened last weekend and wraps up on the Sunday. Still time to catch a concert or two if you have not been over yet.
More info →Mop Fair
The Nichols family have run the Mop for over a hundred years under a charter more than seven hundred years old. Practical bit: the town centre is shut to traffic from 16:00 on each Sunday until midnight on the Monday, including Dollar Street, Cricklade Street, Castle Street, Dyer Street, Black Jack Street and Coxwell Street. Plan deliveries and parking round it.
More info →Haunted Cirencester Town Tour
Ghost stories and urban legends attached to the town's old buildings, walked in the dark. I will be going, and I will be standing near the back.
More info →Workshop: The Art of Hand Brooms
A full day learning traditional broom making and weaving your own. A tool you make yourself and then actually use. I am tempted, and I own far too many brooms already.
More info →Walking Roman Cirencester
A longer guided walk run with Cotswold Heritage Walks, tracing Corinium under the modern streets. Wear proper shoes, it is three and a half hours.
More info →The King's Speech
Opens on the Friday and runs into November, taking over from Yes, Prime Minister, which finishes on Sat 3rd Oct.
More info →Cirencester Comedy Club by Funhouse
The monthly stand-up night. Sit near the front at your own risk.
More info →Autumn Terrarium Planting Workshop
The garden centre team showing you how to build an autumn terrarium to take home. A small garden that does not need weeding, which sounds ideal from where I am standing.
More info →Farmers' Market
Second and fourth Saturday of the month. Local beer, pies, game and whatever is in season, which by now means squash and apples by the crate.
More info →Cirencester Repair Cafe
Volunteers having a go at mending toys, clothes, small electricals, household bits and bikes. Last item in at noon. I am all for it. Plenty of what I get called out for could have been saved if someone had looked at it sooner.
More info →Longfield Autumn Craft Fair
The annual craft fair run by the Cirencester supporter group for Longfield. Good stalls and a good cause.
More info →Crafty Boaters Autumn Handmade Market
Up to 38 stalls of handmade art and craft, a lot of it from people who live on the river. Worth the trip to Lechlade, and you can walk it off along the Thames afterwards.
More info →Pumpkin Patch and Scarecrow Trail
Pick your own pumpkin and follow the scarecrows. Runs to the end of the month, but the best pumpkins go early.
More info →VWH Fun Ride
An autumn ride through the parkland with optional jumps, a photographer and refreshments. For those of you with a horse. I have a van, which does not jump.
More info →Corinium Players Charity Fundraiser
A fundraising concert from the Corinium Players in aid of The Brain Tumour Charity. A good way to end a busy Saturday.
More info →Round Table Charity Car Boot
Five pounds a car to sell, a donation to buy. Clear out the garage on Sunday, fill it back up at the craft fairs on Saturday. That is roughly how it works in my house.
More info →Still running: Salmonsbury exhibition and the Animal Chronology Trail
The art and archaeology exhibition made with the Gloucestershire Wildlife Trust closes on the Sunday, so this is the last fortnight to see it. The children's timeline trail runs a few days longer.
More info →Get the autumn jobs done before the clocks go back
The clocks go back on Sun 25th Oct, and after that every outside job gets done in the half dark or not at all. Gutters, a fence panel that gave up in the last blow, a shed door that no longer shuts, the outside light you keep meaning to sort. Give me a shout while there is still some daylight left in the evenings.
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