Exeter & district · Local news you can trust
Exeter groups can claim up to £350 from their ward's £3,000. Duryard and St James left £1,250 unclaimed last year; the council wants bids from three wards.
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Charity
Light Beam Appeal: Exeter Curry and Quiz Night on 1 October
Royal Devon Hospitals Charity's quiz raffle will fund tattoo-free radiotherapy cameras at the RD&E, part of a Light Beam Appeal for 1,800 patients a year.
Events
What's On in Exeter: Pumpkin Fest, ghost hunts and the Cathedral Fair
Pumpkin Fest and Crealy Spook-Fest open 10 October, the free Cathedral Autumn Fair is 13 and 14 October, candlelit Queen is 22 October, fireworks 7 November.
Local Info
Exeter Roadworks This Week: M5 Shut 12 Oct and Honiton Road
The M5 northbound shuts between J31 and J30 from 8pm on Monday 12 October. Honiton Road is due to close 19 to 30 October. Every Exeter closure, checked 7 Oct.
Culture
Frederick Douglass Play at Exeter's Cygnet: 1 and 2 October
The Ocean Can Be a Bridge, a play about Frederick Douglass's 1846 visit to Exeter, is at the Cygnet on 1 and 2 October. Tickets £15, 7.30pm start.
Heavitree
Heavitree Water Play Now Opens Spring 2027, Not This Month
Exeter's new Heavitree water play facility will not open until Spring 2027: the concrete needs a 28-day cure. The St Thomas splash pad stays open for now.
Remembrance
Exeter Remembrance Sunday 2026: 8 November, cathedral 4pm
Remembrance Sunday is 8 November 2026. Devon's county service is at Exeter Cathedral at 4pm, no booking; the city service is at the Northernhay war memorial.
Christmas
Santa's grotto in Exeter 2026: four to book, one free
Where to meet Santa in Exeter for Christmas 2026: Winter Wonderland from 28 November, Crealy from £14, Darts Farm at £15 and Princesshay's free sleigh.
Christmas
Exeter Cathedral Christmas 2026: carols, services, tickets
Exeter Cathedral's Christmas 2026: the free Lord Mayor's carol service on 7 December, free Grandisson carols 23 and 24 December, Midnight Mass and concerts.
Wonford
Wonford Community Wellbeing Hub Plans on Show 24-25 Sept
Exeter City Council shows the redesigned £6m Wonford hub on 24 and 25 September. The police design adviser has repeated concerns the new plans do not answer.
House prices
Exeter House Prices: Flats Back to 2021 at £164,900
Exeter flats averaged £164,900 in July, a price the city last saw in 2021. The average home across all types fell £4,907 in a year to £282,696.
Culture
Bayeux in Exeter: Free RAMM Display as London Sells Out
London's Bayeux Tapestry tickets are sold out to 31 December. Exeter's own Norman coins and pottery are on free display at RAMM until 11 July 2027.
Community
Exeter City Grants: £40,310 Left, Deadline 13 October
Exeter groups can bid for up to £2,500 by 13 October. Last year 19 of the 33 winners got less than they asked for, and only 4 of 15 got the full amount.
Exeter’s city boundary is tight. It takes in the centre, the quay, St Thomas, Heavitree, Whipton, Pinhoe, Alphington and Topsham, and then stops, even though the city plainly carries on past it. That was due to change in April 2028, when Exeter would have become a full unitary authority taking in Exminster, Broadclyst, Ide and dozens of other parishes currently run from elsewhere. The government paused that plan on 7 September 2026 and no new date has been set: what the pause means for Exeter.
Until then two councils share the work. Exeter City Council handles planning, bins, licensing and housing inside the boundary; Devon County Council runs roads, schools and social care. We name which of them a decision belongs to, every time, and we report from what they publish rather than from what anyone says about it.
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