Cosy up and explore favourite festive stories, sing classic songs and create a beautiful keepsake ornament to take home.
Perfect for 4-9yr olds
Event type: Days Out
Christmas Incy Wincy Rhymers
Celebrate Christmas with some special Festive Incy Wincy Rhymers this December.
Their sessions are for little ones, 1-4 year olds and their families. They’ll explore Christmas stories, festive favourites and seasonal nursery rhymes through storytelling and sing-a-longs.
Family Weekend November
Join Bluecoat for a host of free family activities exploring the environment and the air that we breathe.
Join them for two days of free family activities where your little artists can get creative.
They’ll be working with an artist to explore our environment and the air that we breathe. More information to come soon.
Free, drop in
Suitable for all ages.
Car Free Sunday
Merseyside residents are being encouraged to ditch their cars and embrace fun, friends, family and freedom by choosing fossil-free ways to get around this World Car Free Day.
A weeklong series of events will culminate with a free family friendly festival at the Mystery Park on Sunday 24 September, which will include live music and entertainment, stalls and workshops, and ends with an all-ages bike ride to the new urban parklet at Mann Island.
Schedule:
- Starts at 9am with the regular junior Park Run
- At 10am market stall will open and there’s a Love Wavertree ‘run a mile’ event
- Fun all day with Childwall Emporium on arts and crafts and Living Streets family activities, bike skills sessions for kids, treasure hunts, playground, plus Liverpool Magic Circle member John the Great magician at 2pm
- Free, all-day Dr Bike sessions where local bike mechanics will give your bike the once over
- Bike maintenance workshops with Hollie from Energise Cycles at 12pm and 2pm
- Music every hour from 10.30am, including Liverpool’s Cheery (12.30pm), Ukulele Club (1.30pm), local solo act Andrew Stride (2.30pm) and Dog Brainz (3.30pm), who are about to release their second album of “good time northern pop punk”
- Family bike ride leaves on National Cycle Route 56 to the town centre at 4pm –register for the ride by signing up the Aigburth Community Cycling Club here
The event is being supported by Cycling UK and local council wards Penny Lane, Church, Wavertree Village, Smithdown Road, Greenbank.
On the day we’ll have help from Aigburth Community Cycling Club, Cycle Liverpool, GoodGym, Liverpool City Council, Liverpool City Region Combined Authority, Living Streets, Love Wavertree, the Merseyside Cycling Campaign, ParkRun, Peloton Liverpool, the Penny Lane Wombles, St John’s Ambulance, Sustrans, Transition Liverpool, Zero Carbon Liverpool and more.
Even more events
Ignite Liverpool is hosting a one-off special of their regular quick-fire talks series on Wednesday 20 September, asking people to speak to the theme ‘Merseyside 2030 – Zero Car City?’. Register to speak here. Register to attend here.
Peloton Liverpool will be running a special ‘Joy Ride’ on World Car Free Day itself, happening this year on 22 September. Sign up the Peloton group here and keep an eye out for details
St Cuthbert’s primary school is also planning to open a playstreet for the day on Church Road in Old Swan.
From the organisers…
Kirsty Styles, co-chair of the Merseyside Cycling Campaign, says: “Today in most countries, it is easier to imagine the end of the world than it is to imagine our lives with fewer car trips. But imagine – and take action – we must.”
“In 2019, our council declared a ‘climate emergency’ and said that everyone must now work together to meet the ‘challenge of an impending ecological disaster by making Liverpool a Net Zero Carbon city by 2030’.
“Transport is the second-largest contributor to the city’s carbon emissions and, according to the council’s own transport report , we need many more people to switch from driving their own cars to walking, wheeling or public transport.
“Data collected before the pandemic found that most car trips made in the city region – totalling 300 million journeys – were less than three miles. That’s just 15 minutes on a bike.
“So what would Merseyside with fewer cars look like? And how do we get there?”
Elke Weissmann adds:
“We have lots of research that suggests walking and cycling is better for our health, but it is also better for our communities. If we want to live happier, more connected lives, then we need to try and walk, cycle and use public transport more.”
“The car free day events are all meant to help people across Merseyside a sense of how this can be achieved – and give people the confidence that they can be part of it.”
These events are all coinciding with efforts being made across the world to understand what we all may need to do to ensure our planet remains liveable in the future.
It’s Global Goals Week (15-24 September), European Mobility Week and Travelwise Week (16-22 September), Liverpool Climate Week (18-22 September), and of course, World Car Free Day (22 September). Do feel free to let us know of anything else that is happening during this time.
Hilbre Island Drawing Adventure
The return of Liverpool Independent Art School’s adventure of visiting the island for one day, drawing and painting and then returning for a civilised throw-down in the White Lion.
They start the day with a coffee at Toast café at the train station then walk down to beach and out to the island together.
Obviously weather can change our plans there so if the event is rained off we will reschedule for the next doable weekend date and refund anyone who’s not available on that day. They haven’t done this since last summer and it’s a bit of a hike out to the island so remember to bring sun cream, water and snacks and sensible clothes!
They really are excited to get their jewel in the crown summer day out back (some ticket discounts are available for LIAS patrons )
Queer 4 You
The day is a youth-led and co-produced event that aims to promote values surrounding connection, hope, and mental health. In such an uncertain time, with hatred and bigotry becoming so rampant, their young people wanted to create a space where LGBTQIA+ people and marginalised people could feel safe, seen, and heard.
There will be workshops, ran by creative young people, taking place throughout the day in the Mann Island Atrium. You can choose between a writing workshop, two art workshops, and a yoga workshop!
Within the RIBA building, there will be a young person-led exhibition which focuses on themes of hope and connection, and a quiet sensory space available to all who wish to use it. A book swap within the RIBA building will also be available for anyone interested!
A Sense of Green at Incredible Edible
Join Heart of Glass for an action-packed family -friendly Saturday at Court Hey Park’s community allotment to launch an autumn programme, celebrating our community’s love and appreciation of local green spaces.
The day includes a range of activities from a creative celebration of local bird species and hands-on art and embroidery workshops to facilitated discussions about the climate crisis. They invite you to listen, watch, create and reflect on the wild spaces right on our doorstep. See below for more information and how to book onto individual workshops.
Environmental Justice Questions: Workshop
10.30am – 12.30pm and 2.30pm – 3.30pm, Booking required
Environmental Justice Questions, organised and edited by Harun Morrison, is a compilation of questions for discussion and debate. Harun has invited a range of people including activists, writers, artworkers, theorists, architects, chefs, natural historians and horticulturalists to propose a question relating to environmental justice that can stimulate conversation. The workshop will involve a series of small-group discussions around chosen questions followed by a larger group discussion. Suitable for ages 16+.
Benjamina Albanese: Let’s Make Rubbish Art
11am – 4pm, Drop-in
Part show-and-tell, part artistic play area, Benjamina invites you to make ‘rubbish art’ from a range of materials she has accumulated over years of zero-waste living. Having lived without a general waste bin since 2018, the St Helens-based artist will use the session to challenge what we think of as ‘waste’, our role as waste producers, the waste we produce, and how that ‘waste’ might be reused.
Avian Amble with Paul Harfleet
12.30pm, Booking required
A special sharing / celebration event at Court Hey Park, where attendees of Paul Harfleet’s Birds Can Fly workshops are invited to share their bird-inspired creations, and have their portraits taken to add to an exhibition of ‘gently referenced’ ornithological looks. There’s a prize for best dressed, and a free lunch too. Meet us at the park café in your best feathers if you’d like to join the walk, or come along to watch! Birds Can Fly uses art, illustration and design to educate and inspire bird lovers and promote creativity, kindness and acceptance, encouraging an inclusive community of ornithologists and naturalists. Sign up to be part of the Birds Can Fly workshops here.
Lunch
Enjoy a delicious homemade lunch on Heart of Glass! From 1pm – 3pm grab some free food and take a tour round an exhibition of work by artist John Maguire and volunteers from Incredible Edible, exploring how we can help to look after our precious ‘green lungs’ (parks, gardens and fields). Meanwhile,writer and social advocate Bernadette McBride will be sharing poems from creative writing workshops with local group Cut Glass Writers.
Mythology, Ecology, Embroidery with Becca Rauer
2.30pm – 4.30pm, Booking required
Folklore, mythology and storytelling have been used for centuries to influence behaviour and instil morals in children and adults. Many of these powerful stories include environmental conservation messages that continue to influence policy today. Becca’s embroidery workshop will explore how folklore can help shape attitudes towards green spaces, inviting you to share stories and knowledge to inspire original embroidered artworks. Becca invites sewers and crafters of all experience and levels to take part in this session and will be on hand to offer tips and share skills with those less confident.
Here’s the link to their full programme – people can book onto individual workshops via Eventbrite: https://www.heartofglass.org.
Imagine Bamboo Is Everywhere
Come along to Imagine Bamboo is Everywhere this August – family-friendly outdoor events with giant bamboo structures, playful performances, music, circus workshops and crafting.
Marvel at large-scale artworks made by local artists, with bamboo harvested locally from Ness Botanic Gardens.
Enjoy music from the Imagine Bamboo Orchestra, led by Pagoda Arts with young musicians from across the region. Look out for promenade physical theatre performances, run away with the bamboo circus, then have a go at making your own creation in our bamboo crafting zone.
Why are we interested in bamboo?
Bamboo is widely held to be one of the most important sustainable materials in the world. It has uses in design, construction, green innovation, farming and carbon capture.
Local residents, young climate leaders and artists from across Liverpool City Region are coming together with engineers from Atelier One and bamboo specialists from four continents to explore bamboo as a sustainable material for the future.
We are using locally grown borinda bamboo, originally from mountainous Tibet, brought to the UK by a botanist working for University of Liverpool and grown at Ness Botanic Gardens, who have kindly allowed us to explore what we can design, make, build as we Imagine Bamboo is Everywhere in Liverpool City Region.
Photo Credit: Andrew Moore
Guided Visit: The Hepworth & York...
Bluecoat Display Centre are delighted to announce our next guided visit to The Hepworth, Wakefield followed by a visit to Yorkshire Sculpture Park (YSP).
They will provide the bus to both venues. (Booking is essential as places are limited). Ticket price includes transport, entry and guided tour at The Hepworth and entry to YSP.
Meet at Bluecoat Display Centre at 8.45am. Depart promptly for The Hepworth at 9am on the bus.
Arrive at The Hepworth at approx. 11am for coffee & guided tour.
Lunch from 1.00pm at the Hepworth cafe. (Please note that lunch is not included in the ticket price but can be purchased at the Hepworth Cafe. Alternatively, you are welcome to bring a packed lunch to be enjoyed in the Hepworth’s gardens.)
Leave for YSP at approx 2.30pm.
Browse the galleries and outdoor spaces at YSP.
Meet back at the bus at 5.45pm. Leave promptly at 6pm to arrive in Liverpool for 8.00-8.30pm.
The Hepworth is an award winning gallery located in the heart of Yorkshire, overlooking the River Calder. It opened in 2011 to house Wakefield’s art collection whilst providing a legacy for Barbara Hepworth in the town where she was born. You will enjoy a guided tour of The Hepworth’s gallery spaces, including The Art of The Potter exhibition.
This display shows a range of major makers working in ceramics and sculpture from 1930 to now. Included are works by British studio ceramicists including Hans Coper, Bernard and Janet Leach, and Lucie Rie plus recent acquisitions by Elizabeth Fritsch, Akiko Hirai and Magdalene Odundo. Many of these makers have been shown at Display Centre over the years: works featured in the show by John Ward were originally bought by collectors from Bdc and were then later bequeathed to The Hepworth.
The Hepworth Garden, designed by internationally acclaimed landscape architect Tom Stuart-Smith, will also be open to enjoy, with various sculptures on display amid the vibrant floral blooms. Dotted about the stunning outside space are large scale works including works by Barbara Hepworth and Halima Cassell.
* There will be the opportunity to have lunch at The Hepworth’s cafe or browse in the shop before heading back to the bus. (Please note, lunch is not included in the price of the ticket).
Back on the bus, you will drive to YSP. This leading international centre for modern and contemporary sculpture is situated in the Bretton Hall Estate in West Yorkshire. Here, you are free to browse the indoor galleries featuring displays by Takahashi McGil & Emma Lawrenson and Leonardo Drew plus the YSP Shop and cafe. You can also explore the stunning outdoor landscape which features around 100 large scale works including sculptures by Phyllida Barlow, Elisabeth Frink, Andy Goldsworthy and Antony Gormley
Booking information: Please call us on 0151 709 4014 to book your place and pay over the phone.
Image credits: The Art of The Potter Exhibition at The Hepworth, image courtesy of The Hepworth, & Henry Moore, Large Two Forms, 1969, courtesy Henry Moore Foundation. Photo © Jonty Wilde, courtesy Yorkshire Sculpture Park
Prescot Elizabethan Fayre
Prescot’s Elizabethan Fayre returns this year to celebrate the town’s Elizabethan heritage and its renaissance, all with a contemporary twist.
The free fayre is a popular date in Knowsley’s events calendar and there will be plenty for everyone to enjoy. It will be a fun-filled day packed with theatre and dance performances, circus skills, craft workshops, music, heritage walks, artisan stalls and more.
Visitors can also experience a piece of Tudor history, with candle making, musical minstrels, archery and soldier school. There might even be an appearance from Queen Elizabeth I herself!
Prescot’s history is quite remarkable – in Elizabethan times it was the only place in the whole of the country, aside from London, to have a free-standing purpose-built theatre. Today it is home to Shakespeare North Playhouse, a new theatre and cultural venue in the heart of the town inspired by William Shakespeare and his love of storytelling.
Get involved
- Help make the Prescot Bird with Arts Groupie
- Get Sketchy with Illustrator Gill Smith
- Willow Weaving from Twig Twister
- Clay making with Prescot Community Curators
- Heritage Walking Tours of Prescot
- Free Face Painting
Performances
- Fools Rush In – Circus Jesters Steve ‘n’ Harry
- The Egg People – The Waggle Bees
- Jan Williams Theatre School
- Liverpool Signing Choir
- Arts Groupie – The Actor’s Corner
- Curbside Ceilidh – Folk Dance Remixed
- Bring the Fire – Fire and Circus Show
- Altered Scale Theatre – Captain Parrot and His Ship of Stories
- Petit Ullaloom – The Dead Average Sonnets Society
- Imaginarium Theatre – Fools and Fairies Parade
- Poppy the Bubble Fairy
- And more!
The full programme with times for events is available here. You can also follow CultureKnowsley on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter for updates.