Bonfire Night 2015: where to find cheap last-minute fireworks

Here's what Aldi, Asda, Homebase, Lidl, Morrisons, Sainsbury's, Tesco and Waitrose have to offer if you're still looking for some firework thrills.

If you're still on the lookout for last-minute cheap fireworks to celebrate Bonfire Night 2015, here's what the big retailers are offering.

A quick introduction to fireworks

Fireworks are great fun, but all these different names can be confusing. Here's a quick rundown of the most popular types of firework.

Cake: A cake is a multi-shot firework which has its effects in tubes so they are aligned horizontally, so you’d have tubes side-by-side rather than stacked on top of each other.

(Roman) Candle: A firework with its effects packed in a cardboard tube, as opposed to the cake’s horizontal make-up.

Finale: Fireworks which are kept for the end and are noisier than the others.

Fountain: A static firework that creates a fountain effect a crackly sound when ignited.

Mine: All of the elements of the firework are lit at the same time and shoot upward from a card tube.

Rocket: A firework that takes off and displays its effects in the air.

Wheel: Also, known as Catherine Wheel, these fireworks spin quickly to create a wheel of sparks.

Aldi

Sparklers

A three-pack of 21 sparklers (10-inch) costs £1.39 while a 10-pack of 18-inch giant sparklers (10 per pack) will set you back £1.69.

Bargain box

An Astro box costs £4.99 and includes a Catherine wheel, three roman candles, 10 fountains and finale mine. It promises about 12-14 minutes of firework action and no bangs. Great for people with pets.

The best of the rest

Rockets will give your firework display a bit more oomph. Aldi’s cheapest set is the Star Striker (£4.99) which has eight rockets in a mix or bursting colours.

Among the cheapest of the fireworks is the Screeching Serpent box which contains 100 ‘loud whistling screeching silvery crackles’. Make sure the person lighting it gets back into position quickly; it only lasts 35-45 seconds.

Asda

Sparklers

Get five gold sparklers for 50p or five giant sparklers for £1.

Bargain Box

A Pumpkin fountain costs £5 and emits bright multi-coloured sparks.

A family-friendly Sparkling Treasure fountain firework is only £7. It’s a great starter firework with pretty colours and crackles.

For a top finale firework, a 13-shot Air Bonanza firework costs £15.  

Get Deep Space for a fiver. It contains four shot tubes with multi-coloured sparks and high noise level for maximum impact.

Two for…

There’s two for a tenner on Sky Diamonds rockets (five-pack) as well as a Garden Delights selection box (16-pack) containing 12 fountains, one wheel, two Roman candles and one mine.

Pick up two for £20 on an 18-piece Mega Party box which has 10 fountains, one wheel and seven Roman candles. The offer also covers the Sky Wonder box which includes 10 rockets and one shot tube.

They are £7 each if you buy them separately.

For bigger parties with older children, you could go for louder fireworks which make more of an impact.

A Master Blaster box is available under the two for £40 deal. It includes nine fountains, one wheel, nine Roman candles and one mine.

The Aerial Power box is also on two for £40 and has one mine and six Roman candles. They’re £30 each if you buy them separately.

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Homebase

Homebase has a buy one, get one free offer on selected fireworks and you’ll pick up Nectar points on whatever you spend.

Sparklers

A five-pack of Giant Legacy Sparklers will cost you just 99p.

Bargain Box

A Hyper Sonic 15-piece selection box has eight fountains, four shot tubes, two Roman candle cakes and a wheel. It’s perfect for garden displays, only costs £15 and is part of the buy one get one free offer.

Selection boxes

The Power Flux box is a bit more expensive at £25, but you get five fountains, five shot tubes, two mine cakes, two roman candles and a wheel. The best part is that it’s also in the buy one get one free deal.

Lidl

Lidl is offering a mega three for £20 mix and match multi-buy at the moment.

The cheapest fireworks available are sparklers at £1.99. Plasmic Lights are also available for £3.99.

For something a little more adventurous, there’s a Battlestar box, Galileo rockets and a Meteor Shower multipack for £7.99 each.

Morrisons

Sparklers

The cheapest deal you can get is three for £1 on 10-inch mega sparklers, but you can also pick up 18-inch sparklers for £1 each.

Bargain Box

As a nod to Halloween, you can get a pumpkin fountain firework for a fiver. Or for something with a bit more bang there’s a Star Attack set of rockets (seven per pack).

Selection boxes

The cheapest selection box available is the Cruiser Deal. It contains a selection of roman candles, candle effects and fountain combinations for just £20.

Add a tenner and you’ve got the Polaris Deal which is full of multi-coloured fountains, wheels, roman candles, crackers and whistles. Add another tenner and you have the Olympic Deal which has the same fountains, wheels and roman candles of the Polaris but with thunderous sound effects.

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Sainsbury’s

Sparklers

There are a fair few sparklers available through Sainsbury’s. The cheapest are Starlight sparklers at 50p for a pack of five, but you can get a bumper pack of giant moonlight sparklers (15 per pack). 

For something a bit fancier, novelty star sparklers (three-pack) are £2.

Bargain Box

Get your hands on some fountains and rockets for under a tenner. Try Frankenstein fountain (£6) and Sky Roar and Sky Dancer rockets (£5 each).

If you’d prefer to get a cake firework, you can get a 12-shot Fantasia cake for £15 or two for £20.

The best of the rest

The 15-piece Lucky Star set is £6 and contains 10 fountains, four Roman candles and a wheel.

The Utopia box is on offer at two for £20 and contains 16 pieces including seven fountains, three Roman candles, two rockets, two shot tubes, a wheel and a multi-shot cake.

Tesco

Tesco has a buy one, get one free offer on selected fireworks in the run-up to Bonfire Night.

Sparklers

A pack of five easy-light chrome sparklers costs 50p, while a five-pack of platinum sparklers with golden sparkler effects costs £1.  

Bargain box

A Cauldron fountain which emits green, blue and red stars costs £4. A Jack in the Box with purple stars, red comets, lemon and crackle mines costs a fiver and a multi-coloured Clown fountain costs £6.

There's also three for £15 on smaller fireworks including Astro Rockets (£6), a Carnival 100-shot missile cake (£6) and a 15-piece Eclipse selection box (12 fountains and two Roman candles) which costs £6.

Party packs

A 17-piece Vintage box costs £20 and contains two shot tubes, one cake, three Roman candles, two rockets, six fountains, one mine, one wheel and a single shot. The Bonfire selection box (17-piece) costs £35 and hasthree cakes, three shot tubes, two rockets, one single shot, two Roman candles, one mine and five fountains.

Alternatively, you could go for a Solar 16-shot cake with loads of glitter (£20) or a Wildfire 28-shot cake which costs £35 and is multi-coloured and crackly. These are all buy one, get one free.

You’ll need to pay a bit more for more powerful fireworks.

The cheapest is Mayhem at £60. It’s a 45-shot firework with multi-coloured tails on silver fire flies, golden spiders, red and green palms, golden glitter bombettes, champagne glitter, multi-coloured stars and platinum brocades.

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Waitrose

Sparklers

A pack of 10 mega sparklers is £3.

Bargain box

A Monsoon Rocket Pack (six) is £10. It bursts with silver glitter, yellow crackles, gold, red and green pearl and green glitter.

Or you could go for a 16-shot Woof cake for just £15.

Party pack

There’s a 14-piece volcano pack available for £30. It has 19 fountains, four Roman candles, three rockets and a four-pack of sparklers.

Home insurance

Finally, don't get hit by horrible surprise costs after the event. Make sure you have comprehensive buildings and contents insurance.

Dan Simson, head of Privilege Home Insurance, says if a customer has a firework party and damages their property as a result, if it is hit by a stray firework for example, this can be claimed for under buildings insurance accidental damage cover.

There are also certain precautions to keep in mind before the day.

Fireworks should always be kept in a sealed tin and used one at a time. Look out for BS7114:1988, BS EN 15947:2010  or CE markings which shows they’ve been made to meet British or European safety standards.

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