New Year's Eve 2026 in Cheltenham: Dunkertons' party from 6pm to 12.30am, £12, and Clavell & Hind's taproom night, £15. No public fireworks are announced.

New Year’s Eve 2026 falls on a Thursday, and Cheltenham’s own organisers have so far published two public parties for the night, at Dunkertons in Charlton Kings and at the Clavell & Hind taproom at Elmstone Hardwicke. No public fireworks display has been announced by the council, The Cheltenham Trust or the racecourse. The day itself is busy with pantomime matinees and steam trains, and the racecourse opens the year with New Year’s Day Racing on Friday 1 January.

Overview

  • Parties: New Year’s Eve at Dunkertons, Dowdeswell Park, London Road, 6pm to 12.30am, £12, adults only after 6pm; Clavell & Hind, Tewkesbury Road, £15, with live covers band Kickback
  • Fireworks: none announced in Cheltenham as at 5 November
  • Daytime: Cinderella at the Everyman at 11am and 3pm, The Wind in the Willows in the Everyman Studio, and the steam railway’s Festive Steam Specials
  • New Year’s Day: racing at Cheltenham Racecourse, from £13.50; Peter Pan at the Playhouse at 3pm (relaxed) and 7pm
  • Getting home: no GWR trains to or from London Paddington from 27 December to 3 January

Updated 5 November: Clavell & Hind’s events page now lists 31 December at £15, and Dunkertons’ listing now gives a 12.30am finish.

Every detail below was read from the organiser’s own page on 22 October 2026 and checked again on 5 November. We will update this page as more of the town’s New Year plans are published.

The parties

Dunkertons, 6pm to 12.30am

Dunkertons calls it “the biggest party of the year”: live music and “non-stop feel good anthems, party classics and huge beats” from 6pm, with a dance floor that it says will not stop “until the early hours”. There is no dress code (Dunkertons).

  • Tickets: general admission £12, on sale now
  • Tickets are required after 6pm; the listing does not say what happens before then
  • 18 and over only after 6pm, and no pets after 6pm
  • Where: Dunkertons, Dowdeswell Park, London Road, GL52 6UT, on the A40 in Charlton Kings

The listing now runs from 6pm on 31 December to 12.30am on 1 January. It does not name the acts. On Dunkertons’ other adults-only nights this autumn, ID is checked against the booking name, tickets are non-refundable and parking is limited to the overflow car park, so arrange a lift or a taxi home before you go.

Clavell & Hind taproom

Clavell & Hind’s events page lists 31 December at £15 a person. Its Visit Cheltenham listing describes a party in the Cheltenham taproom with live music from Kickback, a Gloucestershire covers band (Visit Cheltenham). The taproom is at Unit 2, Elmstone Business Park, Tewkesbury Road, Elmstone Hardwicke, GL51 9SY. No start or finish time was printed on 5 November. The brewery’s site asks visitors to confirm they are over 18.

Fireworks: none announced

As at 5 November, no public New Year’s Eve fireworks display had been announced in Cheltenham. Cheltenham Borough Council’s Christmas announcement in September lists the lights, the Christmas market, a film projection on the Municipal Offices from 3 to 16 December, free parking and late-night shopping, but no New Year event. The Cheltenham Trust’s festive programme ends with the Regency Roller Rink at the Town Hall on 28 to 30 December, the day before. If anyone announces a display, we will add it here.

The nearest public display in the run-up is Ellenborough Park’s Christmas fireworks on 18 December: see Cheltenham fireworks.

In the daytime: panto, puppets and steam

  • Cinderella, Everyman Theatre, Regent Street, 11am and 3pm on New Year’s Eve. Both had good availability on 5 November. There is no performance on New Year’s Day (Everyman Theatre).
  • The Wind in the Willows, Everyman Studio, 10am, 11.45am and 2.30pm on New Year’s Eve. Box Tale Soup’s puppet version for families (Everyman Theatre).
  • Peter Pan: The Pantomime Adventure, Cheltenham Playhouse, Bath Road, has no performance on New Year’s Eve, but plays 30 December at noon, 3pm and 7pm and New Year’s Day at 3pm (a relaxed performance) and 7pm, with seats from £15 on 1 January. Every date and price for both pantos is on our panto page.
  • Festive Steam Specials, Gloucestershire Warwickshire Railway, every day from Sunday 27 December to Sunday 3 January, including New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day, from Cheltenham Racecourse station. The railway has not printed the fares (GWSR, booking).
  • Regency Roller Rink, Cheltenham Town Hall, 28 to 30 December, £10 a skater: the nearest thing to a skating rink in town this winter. Details on our ice rink page.

New Year’s Day racing

Friday 1 January 2027 at Cheltenham Racecourse, Evesham Road: seven races including the Grade 2 Relkeel Hurdle, with free family entertainment, tickets from £13.50, and under-18s free. The Jockey Club’s page still shows the 2026 timings (gates 10.30am, first race 12.15pm, last race 3.45pm) and says the 2027 times will “follow shortly”. The Family Fun zone is only for Club and Tatts ticket holders (The Jockey Club). The whole winter fixture list is on our racecourse page.

Getting there and home

Trains: there are no GWR trains to or from London Paddington from Sunday 27 December to Sunday 3 January while the Dolphin Junction work at Slough is carried out. National Rail says to change at Swindon or Bristol Parkway for Cheltenham Spa (National Rail). Buses, last trains and the council car parks over Christmas and New Year are on our Christmas trains and buses page, as operators publish them.

Parking: council car park tariffs and the free bays near the station are on our parking in Cheltenham page, and any closures that week will be on Cheltenham roadworks and travel. If you are going to Dunkertons by car, plan who is driving before you go: it is on the A40 London Road out of town.

Still to come

  • Whether any pub, hotel or venue in the town centre publishes a ticketed New Year’s Eve event on its own site
  • The acts for the Dunkertons party, and start and finish times at Clavell & Hind
  • The 2027 New Year’s Day racecard and timings
  • Stagecoach’s New Year bus times for 2026/27

Sources