Community Post Type: News

FREE ACTIVITIES this Easter Holidays 2025

Shadow Puppetry for children aged 7-13

Join ArtsGroupie for their Free Workshops in library spaces across Liverpool City Region, kindly supported by Arts Council England National Lottery Project Grants.

Shadow puppetry encourages children to engage in creativity, and unleash their imaginations.

Children will devise their own characters and stories, and create their own puppets, culminating in a celebratory puppet showcase at Liverpool Central Library – a FREE FAMILY Puppet Day on Saturday 10th May 11 -3pm.

Mersey Trails are also back for 2025 with an amazing offer!

Start the year off right and explore Liverpool like never before with four incredible tours. Whether you’re a local or a tourist, there is something for everyone!

Special Offer: Get 3 for 2 Simply use code: MERSTRA342 at checkout to grab this limited-time deal!

Get your tickets today https://bit.ly/43zN7Eg

ArtsGroupie CIC

Visitors to Beyond Van Gogh and Beyond Monet will have the chance to take part in an exciting programme of activities when the two mesmerising immersive experiences come to Liverpool this summer.

 Yoga, Pilates, meditation and painting sessions will all be held inside the unique multimedia events which come to Exhibition Centre Liverpool from Tuesday 15^th July to Sunday 3^rd August.

When Beyond Van Gogh was given its UK premiere in Liverpool last year, yoga among the art was a sell-out success. Special Beyond Yoga sessions return for 2025, with Yogacita Liverpool instructor Lucita Fernandez leading 50-minute classes on the morning of Saturday 19th July and the evening of Thursday 24^th July.

New for 2025, there is a chance to take part in Beyond Pilates inside the exhibition, with 50-minute sessions on the evening of Thursday 17^th July and the morning of Saturday 26^th July. The mat-based classes will be hosted by the city’s DT Pilates.

A second new activity for this summer is Beyond Breathwork and Meditation, with a morning session on Sunday 20^th July taking place among Monet’s impressionist masterpieces. Join Align Lifestyle for 50-minutes to relax tension and foster mindfulness, connection and restoration.

And Beyond Van Gogh producer Annerin Productions is also thrilled to partner with Paint Away Events to give visitors the chance to paint like Van Gogh and Monet – right inside the immersive experience.

Special two-and-a-half-hour Paint and Sip classes will be held on the evenings of Friday 18^th July and Friday 25^th July, with participants able to draw inspiration from the breathtaking surroundings to create their own masterpiece in a relaxed and social atmosphere, while enjoying a drink at the same time.

The ticket price will include all materials, aprons and a welcome drink, with additional beverages available to purchase at the venue. No artistic experience is necessary.

Produced by Annerin Productions and Paquin Entertainment Group, Beyond Van Gogh: The Immersive Experience brings together more than 300 of the post-Impressionist icon’s paintings blended with cutting-edge technology and a specially curated musical soundtrack to tell the story of one of history’s most influential artists, with people able to wander through iconic works – including The Starry Night, Sunflowers and Terrace of a Café at Night – as they came alive around them.

Meanwhile Beyond Monet: The Immersive Experience has been seen by thousands of people at venues across North America, and now it is coming to the UK, following in Beyond Van Gogh’s footsteps by being premiered in Liverpool.

In the immersive impressionist extravaganza, cutting-edge technology breathes new life into more than 400 of the legendary French painter’s artworks, taking visitors on a spectacular and unforgettable audio-visual journey through his captivating and colourful world.

Beyond Monet brings together some of the artist’s most famous canvases – including Poppies, Impression: Sunrise and his exquisite Water Lilies series – with lesser-known works which all swirl around the space, offering a fresh and exciting new look at much-loved masterpieces and a deeper connection with Monet, his subjects and his innovative technique.

Taking inspiration from Musée de l’Orangerie in Paris, the designated home of Monet’s works, visitors can freely roam the Infinity Room where they are transported inside the paintings themselves to the accompaniment of a moving original score.

There are a range of ticket options for both experiences including, new for 2025, special family tickets and ‘parent and child’ tickets which offer great savings on individual prices.

Anna Parry, UK Business Development at Annerin Productions, said today: “Our special yoga sessions in the heart of the immersive experience were really popular with visitors when we held them during Beyond Van Gogh’s UK premiere in Liverpool last summer, so I’m absolutely delighted to be able to offer more classes for 2025.

“I’m also excited that this summer we’re expanding our complementary activities to include Beyond Pilates and Beyond Breathwork and Meditation sessions too. And for all the budding artists out there, our Paint and Sip events are going to be a unique and memorable way to spend an evening immersed in Van Gogh and Monet’s iridescent worlds.”

FOR MORE INFORMATION

Website –  www.beyondvangogh.co.uk

Facebook – Beyond Van Gogh UK | Beyond Monet UK

Instagram – @beyondvangoghuk | @beyondmonetuk

Official trailers – Beyond Monet trailer – https://youtu.be/bKOWI8jUyNo | Beyond Van Gogh trailer – https://youtu.be/day0lyb-s4s

The Studio Below are officially up and running in their new space for 2025!

They’re launching their new space the way they know best; with a sold out double bill of plays called “Relics” and “Wise and Foolish”.

Both plays are written by Bernie Winston, a loved playwright within the Liverpool community, who uses their spaces frequently.

RELICS highlights the importance of families pulling together in times of need.  Grace, Gran, and Berni are under pressure.  Berni’s unemployed boyfriend, Steven, adds to the pressure.  As their worlds start to fall apart, no one seems to be listening to their prayers.   Then they hear news that St. Bernadette’s relics are touring the UK and are coming to Liverpool. Could paying her a visit help ease their plight?

WISE AND FOOLISH is the story of Brian, a Scouse lad whose older brother has gone to the big smoke after finishing uni.  Two worlds collide in this one-man play from Bernie Winston.

Both pieces are full of wry humour alongside the more serious moments.

Both shows have sold out, marking our first performance in the new space a full house.

Visit their website here for more information on their work and events.

The Beautiful Things About is an exciting collaboration between artists Andy Field and Beckie Darlington with children from Broad Oak Community Primary School and the wider community in Parr, St Helens.

The documentary film about Parr was created by their young artist collaborators, in dialogue with and for the people from the place they call home.

The Beautiful Things About features interviews with a range of members of the local community (from taxi drivers and teachers to chip shop owners and former miners) and tells the story of Parr through the children’s eyes. Every part of the project has been shaped by children ages 8 to 11 as they explore their neighbourhood and imagine its future.

Find out more about the project and watch the film on the Heart of Glass website.

Liverpool Arab Arts Festival (LAAF), the longest running annual festival of Arab arts and culture in the UK, returns for its 23rd year this July.

Founded in 1998, LAAF exists to support and champion creatives from across the Arab region and its diaspora, in the belief that art and creativity have the power to express a shared humanity.

The festival also celebrates Liverpool’s unique identity; a city, with a global community and brimming with artistry, that looks outwards across the world and welcomes and accepts all who arrive within it.

This year’s festival theme is Nostalgia, which will be explored through a diverse range of disciplines, including music, theatre and performance, visual art, literature and film – with the programme culminating at the ever-popular LAAF Family Day.

Nostalgia evokes a longing for the past, both in individual and collective experiences. Whether rooted in childhood memories or recent defining moments, it often has an idealised or romanticised connotation.

Within the Arab world and its diaspora communities, you will find that nostalgia transcends mere sentimentality. Indeed, it translates the need to reclaim and preserve cultural identities, acting as a parallel resistance to the internal changes and surrounding shifts that shape them. Increasingly, MENA artists use the culture of nostalgia to bridge between nations and generations, while unlocking connections of the past and present. Whether by revising treasured memories or revisiting historical narratives, it has become a powerful means for honouring, revival and continuity.

This is the journey LAAF would like to invite audiences on at this year’s festival. From one-person performances and family events to film screenings, a golden music era homage, authentic embroidery and cultural cuisine workshops, talks and literature events; the notion of nostalgia is woven throughout this year’s festival programme, it will undoubtedly resonate with the challenging context we witness today.

At a time when war and violence fill screens on a daily basis, LAAF believes passionately in the ability – and in the freedom – of artists who are documenting and narrating change.

Visit their website here

Goodison Park’s final season as home to Everton Football Club will be documented from a fan’s perspective, through a new photo display opening on 5 April at Museum of Liverpool.

Featuring nine photographers from the club’s fanbase, Goodbye to Goodison is a love letter to the home stadium of Everton Football Club in its final season. The display of photos taken during the final season looks at the relationship between this iconic ground and the loyal fans who congregate around the stadium.

Goodbye to Goodison brings together fan photographers that document the matchday experience at Goodison Park. The photos selected highlight matchdays away from the Premier League glamour – the chippies, pubs, meeting places and family moments shared during the final season.

As the club moves into the next chapter of its rich history, relocating to a state-of-the-art stadium, fans are savouring the final moments in one of the country’s last great football stadiums.

Chris Wardle, co-curator and contributor to Goodbye to Goodison, said: “While a lot of attention is focused on the pitch for Goodison Park’s final season, I wanted to shift our focus to the pre-game experiences and moments that, to me, make this old ground so special.

“The display celebrates the streets, landmarks and establishments that have become an extension of the ground over the years.

“We’re lucky, as a fanbase, to have a talented group of photographers who have taken it upon themselves to document Goodison’s legacy from their own perspective. I am excited to showcase the work of these photographers and pay tribute to one of the great stadiums in world football.”

To mark the final game, museum curators will select an image taken from the final game of the season, capturing the emotion and importance of the final game at The Grand Old Lady.

Karen O’Rourke, curator for sport, music and performance at Museum of Liverpool, said: “Leaving a space for an image from the final game at Goodison Park seems like an important thing to do. We are hoping the photographers involved can capture the emotion that will no doubt overflow before and after the last game. The display pays tribute to a landmark of the city, before the club moves to its new ground on the banks of the River Mersey.”

Goodbye to Goodison opens in Museum of Liverpool’s Skylight Gallery on Saturday 5 April and runs until Sunday 10 August.

On Thursdays throughout the run of the display, visitors will be able to see additional images from the photographers and share their own memories and experiences of going to the match.

Running alongside the display, the museum will release an episode of the NML Podcast talking with staff, ex-players, ex-managers and other important figures who know Goodison Park best. Online a wider selection of photos from around the ground will be available to view.

For more information on Goodbye to Goodison, the photographers and special events, please visit: Liverpoolmuseums.org.uk/Goodison-park.

St Helens Theatre Royal is in the running for two top accolades at the UK’s prestigious annual Pantomime Awards this spring.

Not only is Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs the theatre’s most successful ever panto production, entertaining more than 37,000 theatregoers over Christmas, but it has now also been recognised by the UK Pantomime Association.

Chantelle Nolan is shortlisted for Best Direction while St Helens Theatre Royal’s sound technician Conrad Kemp is contesting the Best Sound title in the 2025 awards, due to be announced on 13 April. Conrad was also nominated in the same category two years ago.

The UK Pantomime Association was founded in 2021 to explore, share and celebrate pantomime by investigating the genre’s rich past, engaging with contemporary practice and inspiring the future.

Its hotly contested annual awards celebrate the wealth of talent on show at theatres across the country, highlighting the breadth of skill, enthusiasm and hard work of those on and off stage who work tirelessly to deliver first-class entertainment to audiences.

There are 22 categories up for grabs this year, with 52 judges collectively visiting 216 venues and watching almost 500 performances to choose the successful shortlisted nominees.

The winners will be revealed during a special awards evening at the New Victoria Theatre in Woking, staged in partnership with sponsors Trafalgar Entertainment and ATG Entertainment.

The world’s best-loved fairytale is set to cast a spell over St Helens this Easter – and family audiences are being invited to join Cinderella for a right Theatre Royal ball.

The Regal Entertainments production promises an enchanting experience complete with lavish costumes and sets, fantastic choreography and a soundtrack of songs to get you dancing in your seat.

Coronation Street’s Kimberly Hart-Simpson returns by popular demand to reprise the role of the titular heroine in a rags-to-riches story packed with glass slippers, magic pumpkins, a fairytale carriage, outrageous Ugly Sisters and a fabulous Fairy Godmother.

Cinderella tells the story of a beautiful girl reduced to a life of servitude by her two ugly stepsisters.  But all of that is about to change when an invitation arrives for a grand ball at the palace. With a bit of magic, and help from her loyal friend Buttons, Cinderella is transformed into the belle of the ball. But what will happen when the clock strikes midnight?

It runs at St Helens Theatre Royal from 5-21 April 2025. Tickets are on sale now costing from £18.

Tickets can be booked over the phone or in person at the box office between 10am and 5pm, from Monday to Friday. Tickets can also be purchased online. For more information please visit www.sthelenstheatreroyal.com