MONMOUTH and Chepstow will be celebrating Bonfire Night this year with fireworks displays that promise to be bigger and better than ever.

The Round Table Chepstow Community Fireworks, on Sunday 4th November at Chepstow School, will be free again thanks to funding from Chepstow Town Council and other sponsors.

The festivities will start earlier than usual, with a family fun day kicking off at 3pm, featuring fairground rides for the little ones as well as a range of musical entertainment.

The following day (Monday 5th November) Rotary Monmouth will be staging its annual event from 6pm to 8pm on the Town field alongside the Rowing Club in Old Dixton Road.

The normal display will end with the lighting of a magnificent five-foot diameter firework installation, in the shape of a poppy. Silent soldier silhouettes will be positioned at the base of the display and a couple of army personnel, dressed in First World War uniforms, will be on hand to explain their significance.

Tickets cost £6 for adults, £3 for children and £15 for families (two adults + two children), with all money raised donated to charitable organisations supported by Rotary Monmouth.

Caldicot Castle will also host its annual fireworks event on Sunday 4th November, with gates opening at 4.30pm and a display lasting over 20 minutes starting at approximately 7pm.

The following weekend attention shifts to the Beacons of Light that are being lit across the UK to commemorate 100 years since the end of the First World War.

At 7pm on Sunday 11th November beacons will be lit on The Kymin outside Monmouth, in the grounds of Usk Castle and at Chepstow Rugby Club, Shirenewton Recreation Field, Sudbrook Camp (near Portskewett) and Penhow Recreational Grounds.

Monmouth town council is hoping that hundreds of people will stay on in town following a day of commemorative events, to see the beacon burning on The Kymin. Please note, there will be no access to the National Trust site itself.

While the beacons on high ground at Monmouth and Usk will be visible for miles, residents on both sides of the River Severn should have a good view of the beacon burning at Sudbrook Camp - site of an Iron Age fort and earthworks on the cliffs overlooking the Estuary, half a mile south of Portskewett and one mile west of Caldicot.

There’s a service of remembrance organised for St Mary’s Church in Portskewett itself, starting at 2.45pm.Penhow Community Council, meanwhile, is encouraging all ages to get involved in the evening event by staging the annual free family firework display immediately after the lighting of the beacon.

During the week before, members of the local WI and the scouts will be hanging handmade poppies on trees around the village.

Shirenewton community council is organising an Old Time Music Hall on Friday 9th and Saturday 10th November at 7pm. Tickets cost £10 including buffet, with the event supporting Help for Heroes.