Warwick Mop is 16 and 17 October 2026, the Runaway Mop 23 and 24. Every road closure, plus Hampton Road car park shut for a fortnight from 11 October.

Warwick’s funfair takes the town centre for two weekends this month. Warwick Mop runs on Friday 16 and Saturday 17 October 2026, and the Runaway Mop on Friday 23 and Saturday 24 October. Warwick District Council has published the times, the road closures and the car park closures on its own event page, and they are unusually specific.

Times

Fair Friday Saturday
Warwick Mop, 16 and 17 October 5pm to 10.30pm 12pm to 10.30pm
Runaway Mop, 23 and 24 October 5pm to 10.30pm 12pm to 10.30pm

Entry is free. Each ride is charged separately.

Road closures: from Thursday teatime, both weekends

The council says closures run from 4.45pm on Thursday 15 October to 11.59am on Sunday 18 October, then again from 4.45pm on Thursday 22 October to 11.59am on Sunday 25 October for the Runaway Mop.

The streets closed are:

  • Brook Street
  • Market Place
  • Market Street, except for egress from the bus station and car park
  • New Bridge
  • New Street
  • Old Square
  • Puckering’s Lane, except for egress to the bus station and car park
  • Swan Street
  • The Holloway

Read those two exceptions carefully. You can get out of the bus station and its car park via Market Street and Puckering’s Lane, but the streets are otherwise shut.

Two car parks close, and one of them for a fortnight

This is the part that catches people out, and it starts five days before the fair.

Hampton Road car park is closed to all vehicles, including camper vans, from 7am on Sunday 11 October to 12pm on Sunday 25 October 2026. That is a solid fortnight. The council says permit holders can use Bread and Meat Close and Vittle Close instead.

New Street car park closes from 4.45pm on Thursday 15 October to 11.59am on Sunday 18 October, and again from 4.45pm on Thursday 22 October to 11.59am on Sunday 25 October. The council points drivers to nearby West Rock car park.

CJ’s Events, which runs Warwick’s regular market, names Cape Road (CV34 4UN) as a third town centre car park for Market Place events. Check our parking page for the district’s current charges and the roadworks and travel page for anything else on the network those weekends.

Warwick Market is cancelled on both Saturdays

There is no Warwick Market on Saturday 17 or Saturday 24 October. The market’s operator, CJ’s Events Warwickshire, closes it for the Mop every year, and its 2026 calendar jumps straight from Saturday 10 October to Saturday 31 October with nothing in between. The Sunday markets on the Parade in Leamington are not affected.

Why the dates move, and why there are two of them

There is a rule, and it explains the odd mid-October timing. CJ’s Events sets it out: “Warwick Mop is held every year on the Friday and Saturday following the 12th day of October, with the ‘Runaway Mop’ held the following Friday and Saturday.”

In 2026 the 12th falls on a Monday, which puts the Mop on the 16th and 17th and the Runaway Mop on the 23rd and 24th.

The fair runs under a charter granted by Edward III, and CJ’s says the 12 October anchor is thought to mark the completion of the harvest. It began as a hiring fair: labourers and employers met, workers were taken on for a trial week, and the Runaway Mop the following weekend let either side back out of the deal. The name is most likely from the symbols, or “mops”, that labourers wore to show their trade. CJ’s names Stratford-upon-Avon, Southam, Banbury, Tewkesbury, Alcester, Evesham and Abingdon as towns with similar charters, and says Stratford holds its mop on the 12th itself and Southam on the Monday after.

Every date, time and closure above is taken from Warwick District Council’s own event page and the operator’s own listings, checked on 3 September 2026. Closure orders can change at short notice.