Performance - Uncover Liverpool

9 Things To Do In May Half Term In Liverpool and The City Region

Posted on 26/05/2025 | by Uncover

Looking for ways to keep the kids entertained this May half term in Liverpool? Whether you’re staying local or heading into the city for a day out, there’s a packed programme of free and low-cost family events happening across Liverpool and the wider region. From musical mornings and interactive theatre to hands-on science shows and crafty workshops, there’s something to spark every imagination. Here’s our top pick of activities that promise fun, creativity and adventure for children of all ages – without breaking the bank.

1. Mini Maestros, Everyman Theatre Cafe (17 May – 28 June)

Mini Maestros is an excellent music session for 0-5s on Saturday mornings. The session is an interactive, multi-sensory music workshop for children and their grown-ups.

With percussion, signing and dance, the sessions present an engaging platform for children to explore sound and song whilst learning and having fun! Head along on Saturday mornings and join them making music at the Everyman Theatre Cafe.

Mini Maestros is run by RISE Music Education CIC, a local collective of professional musicians working to deliver engaging creative arts projects in the community.

2. Fowl Play – May Half Term Workshops, Tate Liverpool + RIBA North (24 May – 4 June)

Swoop into Tate Liverpool’s Learning Space this half term holiday for free Fowl Play avian art activities!

Flock together for crafty family fun, constructing multi-coloured replicas of your favourite birds. Play with print stamping blocks and collage to recreate intricate feathered patterns and textures. Using their easy-to-follow templates, make a 3-D model of your bird and dive into their pick ‘n’ mix recycled craft box to add finishing touches to personalise your bird.

There will be a free facilitated workshop on Thursday 29 May from 14.00-16.00 led by artist Colette Whittington.

3. Animal adventures – Little Liverpool special, Museum of Liverpool (27 May)

Are you ready to explore the wild world of animals? Welcome to Animal adventures! Join Museum of Liverpool’s animal-themed Little Liverpool special combining a visit to the popular Little Liverpool gallery, with extra animal-themed activities for their younger visitors to enjoy.

Animal adventures takes place on Tuesday mornings at 11.15am and on Sunday afternoons at 2.15pm.

4. Beanstalk! Shakespeare North Playhouse (27 May)

Beanstalk! is a fantastic tale for kids, big kids and everyone in between! Stuffed with outlandish mischief, magic, music and maybe a bean sprout or two…

Jack is stuck working in his Mum’s greengrocers and all he wants is to go on adventures! When a huge beanstalk starts sprouting between the shelves – maybe the biggest adventure isn’t so far away after all!

A classic slice of family theatre and ideal for a half term visit.

5. Aquarium Behind The Scenes Tour, World Museum (27 / 28 May)

Ever wanted to know what it takes to look after all the amazing animals in the World Museum’s aquarium? Wonder no more! Why not book onto this 20 minute Aquarium Behind The Scenes Guided Tour with one of the museum’s knowledgeable aquarium team members.

You’ll be taken into their back of house facilities to see how they look after the animals in their care. Each tour will have a maximum of 10 visitors and is for years 6+. They also ask for a minimum ratio of 3 children to 1 adult.

6. Big Art special: Art Sparks, Walker Art Gallery (27, 28 and 31 May)

Spark your creativity and have fun with Walker Art Gallery’s fabulous friendly facilitators in Big Art special: Art Sparks! Big Art is a very special place for young children and their grown ups to discover arty things together.

Explore your creativity as a family with their special facilitated activities and make a marvellous masterpiece to take home. Plus you’ll have some time to explore Big Art and all the wonderful resources for yourself.

There is a small charge of £2 per child with up to two accompanying adults who can attend free of charge.

7. Garden Cyanotypes: Family Print Session, Bluecoat (28 May)

Join Bluecoat as they explore this photographic printing process in a Family Friendly Print Session. Collect leaves and flowers from their beautiful spring garden to create your prints, or you can bring your own.

A cyanotype is a blue print made by placing an object on paper coated with iron salts. The silhouette of the object is transferred onto the paper as it is exposed to light, and appears after washing the paper in water. Suitable for ages 3+, just drop-in on the day.

8. Pirates Love Underpants, Liverpool Playhouse Theatre (28 – 31 May)

Pirates Love Underpants is based on the beloved book by Claire Freedman and Ben Cort. Join their swashbuckling party of pirates on their quest to find the fabled Pants of Gold for the Captain’s Treasure chest!

Dodge hungry crocs beneath Long-John Bridge, bob upon the waves of Big Knickers Bay, spot sharks in fancy underpants and trek across Three Pants Ridge.

Filled with music, puppetry and glittering pants of gold, arrr you ready to set sail for a family adventure?

9. Exciting Science, The Atkinson (30 May)

This brand new, Exciting Science educational show will amaze and astound all ages from 4 years and upwards, as they put the ‘Exciting’ back into ‘Science’.

With fun and fact filled experiments, watch in amazement as they recreate a volcanic eruption; turn a vacuum cleaner into a missile launcher or take aim at you with their smoke blaster!

So, stand clear and prepare to be amazed!

For even more things to do in Easter half term in Liverpool and the city region check out our What’s On Listings.

Double bill! Any Other Business and Seat of Learning!

Join us at The Studio Beyond for a double bill of new writing this May!

Any Other Business by 4th Wall Productions and Seat of oLearning by Four by Four productions are taking to the stage in a fantastic double bill.

Any Other Business: A life – and a committee – in disarray. Will Gerald be able to reconcile looking after his sick mum with his role as treasurer, or will it all come tumbling down? An award winning play, Written/Directed by Ted Grant.

Seat of Learning: A light hearted, engaging look at intergenerational family life with its heartwarming tales of relationships and new ventures. Written by Tony Vale and Directed by Liz Hardy.

Age Advisory: 12+

Trigger Warnings: Occasional sexual innuendo references. Very occasional mild swearing. References/portrayal of dementia.

FRUIT SMOOTHIE

6:00pm
Got a craving for some Whose Line Is It Anyway style games, brought to you by everyday, fun-loving people from different parts of the northwest? Come in for some belly laughter, served extra fruity, extra sweet and extra fibrous by improv comedy troupe the Oickers!

The fourth wall won’t know what hit it, as audience suggestions are part of everything we make up–there will be singing, as an audience member will be serenaded, guessing games with the help of audience imagination. There will be a celebration of the wacky, pocketbook edition themes of life in all its hilarious banality!

See some crowd favourites, but also some Oicker originals–our Fruit Smoothie may not break any visionary records, but we have sweetness at our core, zest in our little steps, and a keen focus on what makes ordinary life extraordinary–so come and be a part of it for an hour!

The Team
Dave Hodgson

Iain Luke Jones

Liz Hardy

Michael Ananins

Sandra George

Sekki Tabasuares

Stuart Hughes

HERZ; the roots of the potato

8:oopm
HERZ is the encounter of a woman and her heart in the empty space.

Physical Fest are delighted to bring the hilarious and brilliant Spanish clown back to Liverpool after her fantastic performance a few years ago with this funny and moving show exploring the limits of freedom and love!

The encounter between her and her roots, the expectations and the facts, the ones who wait and the ones who arrive.

lnspired by the return of the hero in classic mythology, Madame Señorita has a teasing silliness that invites the audience to witness and take part in a playful transformation where the ridiculous and the absurd blend with the tenderness of a failed character

Midsummer Manarchy | Unity Pride Series

7:30pm
Come and celebrate the summer solstice at Midsummer Manarchy, an evening of moustaches, mayhem and the Manarchy you’ve come to expect from the best Drag King talent that Merseyside has to offer.
The Kings of Merseyside are back, after their explosive first show at the Unity in March, the handsome chaps of Merseyside are back with a brand-new, gleefully irreverent, midsummer extravaganza.

The evening promises more gender euphoria than you can shake a supreme court judgement at. Come celebrate with us, as we bring an evening of gender defiance, transgender joie de vivre and non-binary brilliance, seasoned with a sprinkling of joy, and a dash of cheer, which, let’s face it, we could all do with more of!

The show begins at 7:30 PM, followed by a mixer event in the bar at 9:30 PM where you can meet the performers and celebrate with the community. Grab your tickets now!

Created in 2024 by performer Cal Phillips and Mooncup Theatre company, Merseyside Kings is a drag king collective that aims to highlight the often-overlooked genre of ‘Kings’ Drag culture.

The Collective drives to support new kings, newcomers looking to experiment with drag, and is open to anyone with an interest in drag. We especially look to working with our trans siblings and those from the global majority.

Queer Scratch Night | Unity Pride Series

7.30pm
Join us for a one-off night of sparkling new stories that imagine a better world through a queer lens.

Performed by local LGBTQIA artists trying out new work for the first time, this performance is developed with Liverpool Everyman & Playhouse’s Nathan Powell and writer Luke Barnes (Cinderella).

“Heart-warmingly, proudly, queer.” Sydney Morning Herald⁠ on Roots’ Happy Meal

@rootstouring

Want to get involved?

Are you a Merseyside-based LGBTQIA writer, creator or content maker looking for collaboration and a stage? Then we have an opportunity for you…

In Queer Scratch, rootstouring are inviting 8 theatremakers to create and perform their own short work at Unity Theatre, that imagines a better world through an LGBTQIA lens.

You’ll be working with Roots, Yorkshire’s award-winning queer theatre company, and will receive training from leading theatre makers in Liverpool, including writer Luke Barnes (Cinderella) and Liverpool Everyman & Playhouse’s Nathan Powell.

Deadline to apply: May 30th 18:00

Performance at Unity Theatre: June 28th

Wet Dream with Jesus | Unity Pride Series

6pm

Louisiana; home of Mardi Gras, southern hospitality, and purity culture. This autobiographical comedy explores Alice’s teenage upbringing in the thick of America’s Bible Belt. Discover her LGBTQ+ identity and experience the South beyond it’s cowboy boots!

Hold your beers tight as Alice plays 20+ characters with more flavour than a boilin’ pot of gumbo. Expect chameleon-like storytelling as Alice recounts events so shocking you won’t believe they’re real! Always wondered if American high school is really like the movies? Don’t be shy now – How much can happen to one queer high schooler swimming through a flood of southern gossip?

16+

Test

The Horne Section’s Hit Show

They have two series of their own Channel 4 TV show, an iTunes-chart-topping podcast and now they’re tuning up their instruments once more to tour the country: it’s the Horne Section’s Hit Show!

“Britain’s Funniest Band” (The Guardian) have made appearances on The Last Leg (Channel 4), Peter Crouch’s Year- Late Euros (BBC One), they are Dictionary Corner regulars on 8 out of 10 Cats Does Countdown and the only band to ever host Never Mind The Buzzcocks. Separately, members of The Horne Section have performed with recording artists including Robbie Williams, Madness, Florence and the Machine, Amy Winehouse, George Ezra, Basement Jaxx, Disclosure and Noel Gallagher’s High-Flying Birds.

Unruly, ridiculous, and surprisingly satisfying, the six-headed comedy band includes five outstanding musicians and one non-musical stand-up. There’ll be comedy, songs, enthusiastic dancing, and a lot of mucking about. A brand-new show from the hugely talented band and Alex Horne, the creator and co-host of the BAFTA and National Comedy Award winning Taskmaster.

Age guidance: 12+ (parental discretion advised) – U16s must be accompanied by an adult.This show may contain mild language and some adult references.

Hejira – Celebrating Joni Mitchell

Hejira is an outstanding 7-piece band set up to celebrate and honour the masterpiece works of Joni Mitchell, mostly from the late ‘70s. Having released the albums The Hissing of Summer Lawns, Hejira, Don Juan’s Reckless Daughter and Mingus, Joni then toured briefly with a band formed from the crème de la crème of contemporaneous musicians (Pat Metheny, Lyle Mays, Michael Brecker, Jaco Pastorius and Don Alias). The tour was recorded, producing the much-lauded live album, Shadows And Light; it is from this work that the band Hejira is drawing the spirit and body of its repertoire.

Comprising highly experienced, world class musicians, Hejira is fronted by the brilliant Hattie Whitehead who not only has – in her own way – assimilated the poise, power and beauty of Joni’s vocals, but also plays guitar with Joni’s stylistic mannerisms. Expect an evening of the ‘great’ songs from Mitchell’s back catalogue!

Event type: Performance