EDITOR'S NOTE
A wet Monday and Wednesday, bright Tuesday and Thursday, and a mixed weekend at around 15°C. Saturday is the big one: Reading's Diwali parade lights up the town centre from 4.30pm, free, with 19ft illuminated puppets and more than 150 lanterns. The Princess Proms and a free autumn trail make it a good day for kids, and half-term starts. Weeknights bring Nish Kumar, the Illegal Eagles and Susan Calman. On the register, Winter Wonderland is approved for Hills Meadow again, and 10 flats are proposed in an Audley Street office. The clocks go back on Sunday, the same day rail works hit Paddington–Reading trains.
FEATURED THIS WEEK
Reading Diwali Parade - Town Hall Square and Broad Street, Saturday 24 October
One of the largest Diwali celebrations in the South East. Gather at Town Hall Square from 4.30pm; performances start at 5pm and the parade sets off at 6.15pm along Broad Street. Kala the Arts brings its lantern parade with more than 150 lanterns and 100 lotus flowers, Global Grooves' 19ft illuminated puppets return, and there's classical and folk dance, the Bollywood Brass Band and dhol drummers. Free, no booking.
BEST FOR KIDS
Saturday 24 October is the first day of half-term fun. The Princess Proms brings songs from Frozen, Wicked, Moana and more to the Hexagon at 2pm and 5.30pm (ages 3+, from £23.50, under-16s £4 off). The free Autumn Adventure Trail starts the same day: hunt for acorns hidden in town-centre shop windows, then enter the prize draw (on until Sunday 1 November). Princess Proms tickets →
NEW THIS WEEK
Winter Wonderland is coming back to Hills Meadow. Planners have approved an ice rink, a marquee, stalls, fairground rides and event fencing on the Caversham riverside car park, for a period no earlier than 11 October and no later than 20 January, which covers setting up and taking down. Opening dates haven't been announced yet.
HEADS UP
The clocks go back an hour at 2am on Sunday 25 October. That same day, only two of four tracks are open between Paddington and Reading, so GWR runs an amended timetable. Buses replace Maidenhead–Marlow trains after 7pm, and North Downs trains run Reading–Guildford only, with buses on to Gatwick and Redhill. GWR planned engineering →
👨👩👧 Things To Do
Kids & Family
The Princess Proms, Hexagon, Saturday 24 October, 2pm and 5.30pm. Songs from Frozen, Wicked, Moana, The Lion King and Aladdin, plus Taylor Swift and Coldplay; about 1 hour 40 minutes with an interval. Ages 3+. Tickets →
Autumn Adventure Trail, town centre, Saturday 24 October - Sunday 1 November. Free. Find the acorns in shop windows, then enter the prize draw online. Maps are available to download or in print.
Hanging hedgehog decoration craft, Southcote Library, Saturday 24 October, 10am-12pm. Free drop-in, ages 4+, with an adult.
Winnie-the-Pooh at 100, Central Library, Friday 23 October, 3.45pm. The free centenary storytime series continues, aimed at under-8s, drop in.
Whitley Festival - Our Home, Monday 19 - Friday 23 October. Free events celebrating Whitley's history, mostly at the WCDA Café on Northumberland Avenue. Highlights: A Glimpse into Wartime Whitley, including a visit to a Second World War air raid shelter (Monday 11am), and a community walk at The Cowsey (Friday 10am).
Adults · Date Night
Nish Kumar: Angry Humour From a Really Nice Guy, Hexagon, Wednesday 21 October, 7.30pm. £28.50, ages 14+, strong language. Tickets →
Duke Special, South Street, Wednesday 21 October, doors 7.30pm. Tickets →
The Illegal Eagles: Hotel California Tour, Hexagon, Thursday 22 October, 7.30pm. The Hotel California album played in full, then the Eagles' greatest hits. £42. Tickets →
Manding Melody: Habib Koité & Sura Susso, South Street, Thursday 22 October, 8pm. Malian guitar and Gambian kora with musicians from Senegal, Mali and The Gambia. £22.50, all ages. Tickets →
Celya AB: We Must Stop Meeting Like This, South Street, Friday 23 October, 8pm. Tickets →
Susan Calman: Tall Tales, Concert Hall, Saturday 24 October, 7.30pm. Tickets →
Autumn Beer & Cider Festival, Castle Tap, Thursday 22 - Sunday 25 October. Free entry. 21 beer lines and 12 ciders and perries, with a quiz on Friday, Benjamin Lewes live on Saturday afternoon and a ceilidh on Sunday. Opens 4pm Thursday, midday Friday to Sunday. Details →
Weekend Events
Fri 23 Oct: Pooh storytime at Central Library, 3.45pm. Oliver Samuels in Where Dere's A Will Dere's A Criminal at the Hexagon, 7.30pm. Celya AB at South Street. Barbershop Uncut Stories at Reading Rep, 7pm (free, 18+). Sun and a shower, 17°C.
Sat 24 Oct: Bayeux Tapestry talk at Reading Museum, 11am (book). The Princess Proms. The Diwali parade from 4.30pm. Susan Calman at the Concert Hall. Josh Berry at South Street. Dance Pon Di Corner: a night of roots reggae at South Street. Mostly cloudy, a shower possible, 15°C.
Sun 25 Oct: Clocks go back. The Castle Tap's beer festival ends. Rail works to Paddington. Sunny after a cloudy start, 14°C.
Looking ahead: Only The Poets play a "last chance" homecoming at Sub89 on Friday 6 November; the Universal Groove Festival for Reading Refugee Support Group is at RISC on Saturday 7 November; and Terry Dixon's Huntley & Palmers 200th anniversary walkabout is on Saturday 14 November.
🏙️ What's New in Reading
A new pub is on its way in Market Place. The project to turn the old Coopers Arms and neighbouring historic buildings into flats and a new pub has had its courtyard plan approved - with a condition: no live music, DJs or amplified events out there without separate permission.
KFC on Shinfield Road can now deliver until 3am. Councillors approved late-night takeaway and delivery for the branch after police, licensing and environmental health objections were withdrawn once conditions were agreed. From 11pm it will be takeaway and delivery only.
An Audley Street office could become 10 flats. A prior approval application validated this week would convert 92 Audley Street in Battle ward from offices to 10 homes.
🚧 Useful Reading Updates
Roads - Last Crumb junction and Earley. The Last Crumb junction in Caversham, where Prospect Street, Peppard Road, Henley Road and Westfield Road meet at traffic lights with no pedestrian crossings, is now number one on the council's list of traffic safety schemes, after a petition passed 2,183 signatures. In Earley, the station footbridge over the A329(M) is due to close this month until April 2027, with a long walking diversion.
Rail - a quiet week, then a busy Sunday. GWR lists no planned engineering through Reading from Monday to Saturday. On Sunday 25 October, only two of four tracks are open between Paddington and Reading, Marlow branch trains are replaced by buses after 7pm, and North Downs trains run Reading–Guildford only. GWR planned engineering →
Council - helpline and flood prep. A new confidential Stop Hate helpline, open 24 hours, is now available to anyone in Reading who has experienced or witnessed hate crime. It's also Flood Action Week, and Royal Berkshire Fire and Rescue is urging residents to sign up for Environment Agency flood warnings and have a plan ready before the heavy autumn rain.
Planning - Winter Wonderland and some small conversions. Decided: Winter Wonderland's return to Hills Meadow (approved); an outbuilding for extra nursery places behind Knights Way in Emmer Green (refused). Validated: offices to 10 flats at 92 Audley Street, and to two flats behind the Blazes Fireplace Centre on Oxford Road; a former boarding kennels on Scours Lane to become a single home; car sales from an outbuilding on Gosbrook Road; timber windows to replace uPVC at listed 12 Russell Street after an enforcement notice; and five more double-sided LED advertising displays on town-centre bus stops and pavements. The rest is householder extensions and tree works.
COMING UP THIS WEEK
Mon 19 Oct: Whitley Festival opens · Alison Moyet, Hexagon (resale only) · rain and drizzle, 14°C
Tue 20 Oct: Learn From Us, South Street · Bayeux Tapestry tour, Reading Museum, 2.30pm · sunny, 16°C
Wed 21 Oct: Nish Kumar, Hexagon, 7.30pm · Duke Special, South Street · rain in the afternoon, 16°C
Thu 22 Oct: The Illegal Eagles, Hexagon, 7.30pm · Habib Koité & Sura Susso, South Street · Castle Tap beer festival opens · sunny, 16°C
Fri 23 Oct: Pooh storytime, Central Library, 3.45pm · Oliver Samuels, Hexagon, 7.30pm · Celya AB, South Street, 8pm · a shower, 17°C
Sat 24 Oct: Diwali parade, Town Hall Square, from 4.30pm · The Princess Proms, Hexagon, 2pm & 5.30pm · Susan Calman, Concert Hall · Autumn Adventure Trail starts · a shower nearby, 15°C
Sun 25 Oct: Clocks go back · Paddington–Reading rail works · Castle Tap festival ends · sunny after a cloudy start, 14°C
HIDDEN GEM OF THE WEEK
The Rookery and the Mansion House, Prospect Park
Everyone knows Reading's biggest park, around 50 hectares off the Bath Road, but fewer people walk up past the white house on the hill into The Rookery, the mature oak woodland on its northern edge and a designated Wildlife Heritage Site. The house tells the park's story: Dirle's Farm became a mansion in the 1760s, and John Liebenrood gave it its Regency look by the 1790s. His descendant sold the whole estate to the borough in 1902. The house is Grade II listed, the park itself is on the national register of historic parks, and the view that gave it its name still opens up across town. Free, always open, and at its best in late October colour.
The Mansion House, Prospect Park © Graham Horn, CC BY-SA 2.0 via Wikimedia Commons
WEATHER THIS WEEK
Two wet days, two dry ones. Monday and Wednesday afternoon are the washouts; Tuesday and Thursday are bright and dry at 16°C. Friday and Saturday carry a chance of a passing shower, so take a layer to Saturday's Diwali parade, and Sunday clears to sunshine after a grey start - an extra hour in bed and a good day for Prospect Park.
👀 WORTH KNOWING
Nearly 1,200 men had a free prostate check in one day. Reading Lions and Circle Reading Hospital carried out 1,180 PSA blood tests at their annual screening day, now in its 11th year. A check-in system built by one of the Lions got each man in, tested and out in about three and a half minutes.
The TGWU lettering on Southampton Street won't be protected. The trade union sign near the Crown Street junction, there since the union moved in around 1990, was nominated for the council's local heritage list but has been judged not socially important enough to keep.
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