Sherston Boules Festival

The Sherston Boules Festival turns the High Street of Sherston, a village near Malmesbury, into a row of boules pitches for a Saturday in July, with a duck race on the Sunday. In 2026 it was held over the weekend of 4 and 5 July; in 2025 it was on Saturday 12 July. The 2027 date is to be confirmed: the organisers announce it in the spring, when team entries open. We show Saturday 10 July 2027 as a placeholder on the pattern of recent years, not as a confirmed date.

What happens

Teams of three players and a substitute play through the day on pitches laid out down the closed High Street, from the village's own players to visiting teams, with open, local, plate, junior and colts competitions in 2025. Play starts early and runs all day, and spectators can wander the length of the street.

There is a family zone at the village hall from 10am to 2pm with activities for children, craft stalls and a crêpe stall, and on the Sunday a duck race. It suits families and anyone who likes a village fête with a game at the centre of it. Spectators need no ticket; teams enter through the festival's website.

Getting there and parking

The High Street is closed to all traffic from 7am to 9pm on boules day, so park considerately on the side streets away from the centre and walk in. The Coachstyle 41 between Malmesbury and Yate calls at Sherston from Monday to Saturday, five or six times each way on a Saturday in the autumn 2026 timetable; there is no Sunday bus. The Rattlebone Inn, on Church Street at the top of the village, has its own boules pitches in the garden.

The festival's story

The 2026 festival was the 40th anniversary, according to the parish newsletter, the Cliffhanger, which reports the winners each summer. It is run by volunteers, and the Rattlebone’s boules league plays on weekday evenings from April to August. The village, its church and the Rattlebone legend are in the guide to Sherston.