Bournemouth Fireworks At Littledown Centre Review

DISCLOSURE – THIS EXPERIENCE WAS GIFTED TO THE REVIEWER AND GUEST/S FOR THE PURPOSES OF WRITING THE REVIEW.

Reviewed by Lisa

We have never taken our family to a firework show before as we were worried about our children being too young and it being too loud. So we were excited to attend the Littledown Fireworks evening this year now our youngest is 4 years old, and we are so glad we did! We had a brilliant time and have made fun family memories.

We arrived at 4.50pm ready for the event to open at 5pm. We wanted to be early to be able to park, which was definitely the right choice as the car park was filling up quickly and I think it would have been full not long after 5pm. We already had our tickets (although you could buy them on the door but for slightly more money) and the queue moved quickly for our tickets to be scanned and bags checked. Once through there were several things for our children to enjoy before the 7pm show!

A fairly large funfair was situated on one side, where there were smaller rides like cars moving around in a circle for younger kids, to ghost trains, funhouses and larger spinning rides. My children all wanted to go on a large spinning ride, which they loved, but it did cost £5 per person. Most of the rides were £4-£5 each and only lasted a few minutes so be prepared to spend money if you go in to this area! There were also many stalls like ‘hook a duck’ to win prizes on. We then journeyed to the sports pitches, where there was football, American football, and cricket, all free of charge for children to try. The trainers were very friendly and my kids had a great time trying out new sports – especially enjoying trying to run, turn and catch an American football! The RNLI was also there and we got to try CPR and to throw a buoyancy ring to people who were ‘drowning’. Inside the main hall there was a large bouncy castle (at an extra charge) and some cheerleading, and the café was also open. We used the toilets in this building and beat the huge queues for the ones outside!

It was nearly time for the main event, so we grabbed a couple of portions of chips (costing £4 each) before heading to the large field. There were lots of food vans selling different produce from burgers to German hotdogs to Burritos and more. Everything was on the pricier side, so again be aware of this before you go. We found a spot on the field and it was nice to not feel too crammed in together. There were 4 podiums where fire dancers were performing, and they were so fun to watch! It was great that they had thought to do this and entertain the crowds before the fireworks started. The fireworks started on time at 7pm and lasted for 10 minutes. My children were thrilled to see them and they were all set to music and looked amazing. It was mainly families at this showing as they also had 8pm and 9pm showings, and the commentator said they would get bigger and better each time, with the first show being more family friendly. I thought it was great to have different showings so that it didn’t feel overcrowded and so that more people could enjoy it, but it would have been nice for it to have been a 20 minute show rather than only 10.

We left fairly swiftly after the fireworks ended, and many more cars were entering the car park at 7.30pm taking the place of those leaving – so if you’re planning to drive, it’s good to time it well! Overall, we had a great family evening out and we will definitely be returning next year and will recommend it to our friends.

Rating: 4/5

Cost: £6.86 – £12
Where: Littledown Centre, Chaseside, Bournemouth. BH7 7DX
You can buy tickets here.