Education
Cambridge Regional College Opens £150k Hospital Ward
Cambridge Regional College has opened a £150,000 mock hospital ward where T Level students train on mannequins that talk and go into cardiac arrest.
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Schools
Trumpington Park Primary: Ofsted Early Years Exceptional
Ofsted's first report card for Trumpington Park Primary rates its early years exceptional and five other areas strong. Safeguarding standards are met.
Film
Cambridge Film Festival 2026: 22 Oct to 1 Nov, booking open
Cambridge Film Festival tickets are on sale for 22 October to 1 November at the Arts Picturehouse. Wild Horse Nine closes it; seven family films are free.
Halloween
Cambridge Halloween 2026: Zombie Fest 31 Oct, pumpkin patch
Halloween in Cambridge falls on a Saturday: Zombie Fest 9 at the Junction from £40 (18+), Milton pumpkin patch to 31 Oct, a free Addams Family film.
Events
What's On in Cambridge: Film Festival, Fireworks, Lights On
Cambridge Film Festival opens 22 October, fireworks are free on Midsummer Common on 5 November and the lights go on 15 November. 39 listings, all linked.
Roadworks
Hills Road Cycle Lane Shut 5 Oct to 4 Dec for Gas Main
The inbound Hills Road cycle lane from Long Road to Purbeck Road is suspended for two months from 5 October while a gas main is replaced. The order is now made.
Remembrance
Cambridge Remembrance Sunday: 8 November, Hills Road, 11am
Cambridge Remembrance Sunday is 8 November: a parade to the Hills Road war memorial and a Great St Mary's service, silent at 11am. Armistice Day is Wednesday.
Half Term
Cambridge October half term: 26 to 30 Oct, what's on
Cambridge's October half term is 26 to 30 October. Twenty things on, most free: seven festival films incl. a Wicked sing-along, a Fitzwilliam family day.
Christmas
Cambridge Botanic Lights 2026: 17 nights from 27 Nov
Cambridge Botanic Lights runs 17 nights from 27 November to 23 December 2026. Adults £24.75 standard, £18.15 off-peak; children from £13.50. Pre-book only.
Christmas
Cambridge panto 2026: Footlights Cinderella from 25 Nov
The CUADC/Footlights panto is Cinderella, at the ADC Theatre from 25 November to 5 December 2026, tickets £11 to £21. All 14 show times and the age advice.
Christmas
King's College carols: no queue, tickets by ballot only
There is no queue any more for King's College's Christmas Eve carol service. Seats go by online ballot; last year the UK ballot ran 1 to 15 November.
Planning
Wilberforce Road Floodlights Approved: 12 Columns to 18m
Taller floodlights for the university athletics track on Wilberforce Road won approval on 24 September over Newnham objections. Brooks Road render passed.
Community
The Arbury Social: Not-for-Profit Café Opens on Arbury Road
The Arbury Social is open at the Meadows Community Centre, 9am to 2.30pm weekdays. Its profits fund Cambridge food projects, from holiday lunches to food hubs.
Cam News is the local news site for Cambridge, written for the city people live in: Mill Road and Romsey, Chesterton and Arbury, King’s Hedges, Cherry Hinton, Trumpington and Newnham, as well as the centre and the river. Cambridge is a small city with a very tight housing market, and what happens to a street here is usually settled on paper first.
Two councils matter here. Cambridge City Council handles planning, bins, licensing and housing inside the city boundary, and Cambridgeshire County Council runs the roads, the schools and social care. Both publish a great deal and almost none of it is read. We read it, we write down what it says in plain English, and we link to the document every time so you can check us rather than trust us.
Start with these
- Cambridge house prices: the average home sold for £467,028 in May 2026, down 1.6% over the year while the county rose 2.1%. Why the city average is lower than the price of a terraced house.
- Cambridge to London trains: 55 minutes to King’s Cross on the fast service, three terminals, and the £544 a year the fast line costs you on a season ticket.
- Roadworks and travel: what is closed and when, the £70 Mill Road bus gate, and why a Saturday costs £9 on park and ride or £36.50 in the Grand Arcade.
- Things to do in Cambridge: King’s is £16 to £18, the Fitzwilliam is free, punting starts at £28.50. Checked prices, not guesses.
- Cambridge planning: over 50,000 homes to 2045, consultation closing 25 September, and the corporation that would take the decisions off the council.
Cambridge today: the dates that are already fixed
Checked 9 September 2026. Each of these sits on a page that links its source:
| When | What |
|---|---|
| Thursday 10 to Wednesday 23 September | Castle Hill car park shuts, the cheapest council car park in the city, plus its 23 EV bays |
| Sunday 13 September | Bridge the Gap. Six colleges open, waves leave Parker’s Piece from 9.30am, adults £22.50 |
| 5pm, Friday 25 September | Greater Cambridge Local Plan comments close. Late ones do not count |
| Thursday 5 November | Fireworks Night on the council’s list, with everything else about it still unconfirmed |
| Sunday 15 November, midday | Christmas lights Big Switch On, Market Square. Station lights on 12 November |
| Saturday 5 December | Mill Road Winter Fair, 10.30am to 4.30pm, with Mill Road shut from 9am |
And the three practical pages people come back to:
- Bin collection days: Cambridge collects garden waste free, unlike most councils, and rounds run Tuesday to Friday, so most bank holidays change nothing.
- Parking: the Grand Arcade is £33.50 for a weekday over five hours, Queen Anne Terrace £24 and free after 6pm, park and ride free for 18 hours.
- Council tax bands: band D is £2,467.02 in 2026/27, up £111.61, and the city council keeps just £239.07 of it.
Every fact carries a link to the source it came from.