Short answer: The Meadows, the free park between the Tavy and the canal, is the obvious place to stand and it costs nothing to park there. The Cornish Arms does near-Michelin cooking at pub prices if you want to eat first.
A large free park between the River Tavy and the Tavistock Canal, a short walk from the centre, with a playground, zip wire and BMX pump track. It is open ground near the middle of town — which is exactly what you want on a dark evening — and parking there costs nothing.
Tavistock has no confirmed display this year. Plymouth is forty minutes down the road and its display is free, which makes it the default for most people here.
Dates and times come from the organisers' own listings and the regional what's-on pages, checked in late October. Small displays are run by volunteers and can move or sell out, so confirm with the organiser before you travel — particularly for anything ticketed.
Going further afield, or the local one does not suit? Every confirmed firework display in Devon is on one page here, listed by date.
Tavistock eats better than most Devon market towns. The Cornish Arms does near-Michelin cooking at pub prices and takes dogs in the bar. The Annex on Drake Road is the highest-rated restaurant in town. Granito Lounge on Brook Street serves food until ten, which is unusual round here in November.
The Pannier Market runs Tuesday to Saturday with a different theme each day, so if the display falls on a market day you have an indoor afternoon before it. Buckland Abbey is twenty minutes south and Lydford Gorge fifteen minutes north.
The roads out of town onto Dartmoor are unfenced with livestock and ponies on them, and in November it is dark by five. If you are driving back across the moor, take it slowly.
Bringing a dog to a display is rarely a good idea — see the guide to Bonfire Night with a nervous dog for what actually helps.
See the full Tavistock guide, filtered by who's with you.
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