This year’s festival will feature more demonstrations, more local producers and more tastings than ever before, with a fantastic range of food, drink, and activities for the whole family to enjoy, plus a guest appearance from one of the UK's most respected chefs, Raymond Blanc.
Join us for a day of code cracking and clue hunting to test out your detective skills. 11.00 & 16.00 Ruby Redfort Performance - the first ever stage adaptation of Lauren Child's best-selling mystery series. This quirky hilarious spy thriller takes us into a world of terrifying villains, cutting-edge gadgets and death-defying escapes. £8/£6. Ages...
There will be something for everyone to enjoy in the beautiful surroundings of Cogges. It's all about jumping in with both welly boots, trying new things and waving your hands in the air, including a special performance by local children's musician, David Gibb at 11.00am, and ending the day with a big family ceilidh from 3.00pm.
Prepare to be amazed by our spectacular family science show all about planet Earth. Help the doctor to find out why "Earthy" is poorly and see if together we can help. Limited spaces for each show - to book in contact museum. For ages 6+. Shows at 2.00pm & 3.00pm 29th May 2018 30th May...
Dare to experience the dangers and delights of dinosaur world in this interactive new show for all the family. A special meet-and-greet after the show offers all our brave explorers the chance to make a new dinosaur friend. For age 3+. Shows at 11.00am and 2.00pm. Duration 50 minutes with interval.
What did intrepid women take on their journeys around the world? See the objects they packed in their luggage and create your own travel stories.
Use ropes and harnesses to access the treetops with The Great Big Tree Climbing Company. Minimum age 6 years. 1 hour sessions (max. 8 people per session): 10am, 11am, 12pm, 1.45pm, 2.45pm and 3.45pm. To book please visit the Big Tree Climbing Company’s website. £20 per person taking part.
We all love Mr Toad! Create a banner showing his adventures with his friends using all sorts of paint and collage. Suitable for ages 4 to 7. £8.50. Booking is essential for events.
Join Science Oxford for a wild family workshop at Cogges about the animals that live in our gardens and woodlands. Our mini-ecologists will learn about habitats and homes, get dressed up in animal disguise and set out to hunt for the habitat that fits them best. Using play dough, craft and natural materials, they’ll make...
Recounting the race between the United States and the Soviet Union to send the first man to the moon, One Small Step is an inventive, funny and surprisingly moving action-packed show that crams 50 years of history into 60 minutes! Our Playhouse Plays Out Tent offers everyone the chance to this space-tastic show for FREE....
Join us for a playful exploration of the science of colour. Investigate how colours are made and what happens when they’re mixed together. Create a colourful masterpiece to take home and mix up a magical colour-changing drink that that any artist would enjoy! A rainbowtastic workshop for the young at art! Sessions are 10.00-11.00 and...
Help us create a huge cityscape inspired by the America’s Cool Modernism exhibition, and make a mini cityscape of your own. Exhibition event in the education studio.
This half term we’re heading to Neptune Wood! Come out and play, and discover more about this fascinating and under-explored area of our nature reserve in Little Wittenham. £2 suggested donation per child.
The perfect companion, as they eat very little, don't take up much space and look super cute! This activity will be in the manor house kitchen. Free with admission. Drop-in.
Create colourful woven hanging artwork full of texture and pattern, inspired by the Museum’s collection. Suitable for ages 7 to 11. £8.50. Booking essential.
Enjoy the music of Silver Sepp's quirky invented instruments as story teller Piret Paar leads you into a landscape of Estonian folk tales. Exhibition artist Kertu Sillaste will share the magic of making a puppet so you can continue the story at home. FREE with museum entry. Booking in advance recommended. 12.00pm and 2.30pm on...
During this fun Circus Skills workshop you will be taught by the expert teachers from the National Centre for Circus Arts. Play and discover as you explore movement, balance and coordination through circus and fun physical tasks and challenges. You will be introduced to basic Juggling and Manipulation skills, Acrobatics, Acrobalance and Handstands. Three sessions running (3-5 years (sold...
Kite making in the manor house. Why not bring a picnic and run wild in the meadows with your handmade kite. How high can it soar? Free with admission. Drop-in.
Be inspired by the work of Barbara Hepworth to create your own artworks! Help us make a giant sculpture from recycled materials and make a mini masterpiece to keep, with weaving and collage. Craft a pair of wings and a musical instrument inspired by the sculptures, use a viewfinder to discover the world around you...
Imagine early voyages of exploration with maps, globes and hands-on navigational instruments. Drop-in, ages 7-13.
balletLORENT‘s award-winning team who brought you Rapunzel and Snow White are back with the beloved tale Rumpelstiltskin, directed by Liv Lorent and retold by Poet Laureate Carol Ann Duffy. Full of action and humour this emotionally rich fairytale is set in the rural world of sheep, straw, wool and spinning where the alchemist, Rumpelstiltskin, is...
Forest School for the under 5s. Join us for a morning of play and discovery in our woodlands. £4 suggested donation per child.
Join us for a day of wildlife activities at the Oxford University Museum of Natural History. Here's just a selection of what you can do at the Wild Fair! Come face to face with 'wolves' and birds of prey Get your face painted and listen to live music Admire our mini-meadow in the heart of Oxford...
Join us for an exclusive parenting event and learn more about essential baby products and key parenting topics from our in store experts. The events are free to attend but places are strictly limited (book online).
Monkeys, bears, socks and mud! Nick Cope sings about everything children are REALLY interested in, and you’re invited to join in! £5 / £3. Start time can vary - check in advance.
Relaxed visits are for those with autism, learning disabilities or sensory and communication disorders. Experience our exhibition and installations with families and carers in a more relaxed environment.
Our first SEN friendly play session is now available to book online. Come along to Sprouts for our play sessions specifically for those with special educational needs, providing safe environment to play and have fun, this is sympathetic to their needs. These sessions will have fewer visitors, our music system will be turned down and...
Giffords Circus proudly presents a family-friendly 90 minute show, suitable for all ages. This year Giffords Circus celebrates the birth of circus which happened near Westminster Bridge in London in 1768, and is, in our view, the most bonkers, surprising, diverse and life affirming art form there is. Check Giffords' website for show times.
Racing takes place throughout the day and viewing is available from the natural arena that surrounds the lake. Be sure to head down to the lakeside on your visit and cheer the competitors on!
Part of the Oxford Festival of Nature. We’ll be exploring Wytham Woods looking for signs of badgers, deer and small mammals, and with the help of researchers from Oxford University, we’ll be finding out more about what goes on in the woods. For families with older children welcome (7+years). What to bring: Please bring a picnic...
On June 9th 2018 our fabulous free & family-friendly event returns to Broad Street for it’s 4th year. Come and help us celebrate all the wonderful organisations working hard for the environment and sustainability in Oxfordshire. The Big Green Day Out kicks off a month full of festivals in Oxford and features community stalls from...
Come along and meet book worm and join in his amazing adventures through the world of story books. An interactive puppets and play session with music, gentle clowning and lots of joining in. Suitable for children aged 0-5 years. £5 per person. Booking advisable.
LEAF Open Farm Sunday is one of the farming industry’s biggest success stories. Since the first Open Farm Sunday in 2006, over 1000 farmers across the UK have opened their gates and welcomed people onto their farm for one Sunday each year. It is a fantastic opportunity for everyone, young and old, to discover at...
Join us for some tropical fun - no matter what the weather! Free crafting, island-themed stories and face-painting. 2.00pm - Moana Sing-Along - set sail with a special screening of the all new sing-along version of Moana. FREE with museum entry. Booking recommended.
NCT Abingdon is encouraging local residents to help give perinatal mental health difficulties the ‘Big Push’ by joining a family friendly 5km buggy push. The Big Push event, sponsored by Puddle Ducks, will raise vital funds to support the many new parents who experience mental health issues around pregnancy. As well as the 5km route,...
Join the RedCat Trio and their bard in a feast of music and rhyme, encountering an owl, a pussy cat, and a very strange clock! Under 1s go FREE. Please note, under 5s are unable to sit in the Gallery Level. This is an Oxford Playhouse event showing at the Jacqueline du Pré Music Building. Phone Oxford Playhouse...
Meet some of our feathery friends and glide with us on this guided walk around the museum See creepy crawlies and spectacular spiders around the museum. Suitable for under 5s. 10.30am & 11.30am
Join us for an exclusive parenting event and learn more about essential baby products and key parenting topics from our in store experts. The events are free to attend but places are strictly limited (book online).
Join us for a super sensory workshop at the Botanic Gardens that explores how we feel, smell, taste and see the world around us. Guess what natural materials our selection of objects are made from, just by the way they feel, look at flowers through the eyes of a bee and find out how plants...
See the North Front transformed with flowers, colourful flags and decorated tables for this years Feast festival. Enjoy a picnic, or try some of the delicious food from one of over 70 handpicked artisan food and wine stalls. Be entertained by extraordinary international performances. Enjoy wine tasting, a special Father’s Day Gentleman’s Tea, live music, children’s...
The Run Jericho 10K is a multi-terrain race following a beautiful route that takes in Jericho, Worcester College, Port Meadow, Fiddler's Island, Goose Green and the Oxford Canal. The run is suitable for runners of all abilities. Before the 10k run there is a 1 mile run for kids through Worcester College and the streets...
All the usual activities plus take a look round some farm machinery. Fathers go free with a paying child.
Celebrate Father's Day at Cogges with a whole host of motors, motorbikes and machines to interest enthusiasts of all ages! We'll have the farmyard packed full of wonderful vintage and classic motorbikes, cars, working steam engines, and traditional farm machinery and tractors.
We are giving every dad HALF PRICE ENTRY to Fairytale Farm when accompanied by one full paying person. There will also be free activities taking place all day: decorate a heart-shaped biscuit for your dad and get crafty and award him one of our special Father's Day rosettes. Plus all our usual attractions are open.
A wonderful three-day event, join us in the Grand Floral Marquee to celebrate the very best of gardening, home and lifestyle. Explore the show gardens and shopping village, attend talks and discussions led by the professionals and venture into the Floral Art Marquee to find beautiful pieces by renowned local and international artists.
Thomas the Tank Engine and his friends visit the Gloucestershire Warwickshire Railway. Please note that entry to the site will be by ticket only. There is no free entry.
As part of our annual Pitt Fest, drop in and find out what researchers do and get hands-on with a range of family-friendly activities.
A show for ages 5-7 by multi award-winning comedian Jo Neary, as seen in CBBC’s So Awkward. Little Bob has a new job in a seaside art gallery but he’s forgotten the artwork and the show must open today. £5. Part of the Offbeat Festival.
Are you a budding inventor, engineer or designer? Get access to 1000s of LEGO(R) bricks and let your creativity run wild. Children must be accompanied by an adult, and both children and adults need tickets. £8/£6. For ages 4+.
Community bring your own picnic for West Oxford and Botley residents, friends and family. Part of the 'Great Together' a nationwide series of events where communities get together to celebrate what we have in common, co-ordinated by the Jo Cox foundation. Bands, open mic and club bar serving alcohol.
In 2015, newly pregnant and just off her psych meds, Amy Mason travelled around Texas to research the death penalty for her new novel. This show is about what happened next. Featuring an original soundtrack by multi-award winning musicians Jackie Oates and Megan Henwood, Hollering Woman Creek follows Amy as her mental health goes haywire...
Under a star studded big top an international band of acrobats and musicians invite you to share in their circus spectacle. In this haven of fun, the circus artists appeal to young and old to leave their differences outside the tent, to dream and simply enjoy being together. Ages 5+. £18. Part of the Offbeat...
The world’s first cycling theatre company, The HandleBards, pedal from venue to venue with all the set, props and costume necessary to perform environmentally sustainable Shakespeare across the globe. Expect riotous amounts of energy, a fair old whack of chaos, and a great deal of laughter!
Millets would like to welcome back, Blackwell's for their 3rd Children's Book Fair! The fair is FREE to enter. Call 01865 792792 for more info.
Prepare to be amazed by our spectacular family science show all about planet Earth. Help the doctor to find out why "Earthy" is poorly and see if together we can help. Limited spaces for each show - to book in contact museum. For ages 6+. Shows at 2.00pm & 3.00pm
'David Attenborough meets clowning' (Broadway Baby) in this children’s comedy show. Sea levels have risen, and it’s time for a flooded BBC to make another Blue Planet. But where are all the animals? Put on your polar ice caps and join two idiots in an adventure to repopulate the sea and save the oceans! Ages...
Our events give parents the perfect opportunity to BUY and SELL pre loved nearly new items face to face, everything from pregnancy, baby and children's age up to 6 years, anything from toys to clothes, prams to cots in a safe and friendly environment. £2 per adult and kids go free.
We’re hosting a big, bonanza book sale AND holding another gnome upcycling workshop. Buy brand new books for a fraction of the cost or pick a gnome, spruce it up and take it home!! (You can do both!!) The will also be rolls and rolls of fabric and remnants too. As well as a really...
