Here’s our pick of the best events coming in September across the destinations and attractions we work with. Most events require booking in advance. As ever, please check individual websites for the latest updates.
Heritage Open Days
9-18 September 2022
www.heritageopendays.org.uk
Every September thousands of volunteers across England organise events to celebrate the nation’s history and culture – all of which are free to explore. Heritage Open Days is England’s largest festival of history and culture, bringing together over 2000 local people and local organisations. The national website lists all events by county, but there are also some more local roundups from some of our destinations:
East Yorkshire –
Lincolnshire –
Stoke –
HULL
Freedom Festival
Until 4 September 2022
Mostly free (some needing advance booking), but some paid-for events
www.freedomfestival.co.uk
Hull’s flagship cultural event, the Freedom Festival, returns to the city with a programme of events from epic performances unfolding on the streets, to intimate moments where audiences and artists meet. Back for its 15th year, it will again take place in galleries, museums, theatres, and public spaces across the city – with this year seeing the return of large-scale street spectacles.
Maritime Festival 2022
Hull Marina
9 – 11 Sep 2022
https://hullfolkmaritime.org
A two-day event at Hull Marina, Victoria Pier, Humber Street and the Old Fruit Market areas, where visitors can soak up the sights and sounds of folk music, including traditional folk dancing, and song writing. There will be live folk sessions in the pubs, a main stage, a busker trail, an open mic warehouse for Hull’s up and coming talent, and ticketed evening events, across both days. Plus, take a food trip around the world and sup up at a real ale warehouse.
Hull Old Town Festival
10 Sep 2022
Free
This year’s Hull Heritage Open Days programme is launched at Hull’s Beverley Gate where in 1642 Charles I was refused entry to the city, an act of defiance widely acknowledged as the spark that ignited the English Civil War. Join the parade led by the Town Crier and the Humberside Police Band, together with members of the local steam punk brigade, to Trinity Square. Visit over 30 crafts and artisan foods stalls, or tour Hull Minster tower, while for children there will be Punch and Judy and face painting.
Hull Theatre Quarter Beer Festival
22 – 25 Sep 2022
Enjoy real ales, ciders, quality tequila and locally produced gins, in the comfort of a proper pub (or several) for this festival that involves as many pubs and bars in the Theatre Quarter area as possible. Key locations will be The New Clarence (Charles Street) and The Hop and Vine (Albion Street).
Sea Change
87 Gallery
From 25 September
Free
https://87gallery.co.uk/sea-change
In some ways, Hull is a place defined by its relationship to the sea. It is a place grounded by a body of water- always pulling out, always coming back in again. Sea Change is an exhibition which brings together the work of five artists, all with connections to Hull.
EAST YORKSHIRE
Land Sand Stone Art Festival
Bridlington Beach
10-11 September
A unique celebration of Bridlington’s coastline through creative connections to nature, featuring Land Artists from across the UK and beyond.
Chalkland Way 4 day walk
10 – 13 September 2022
£30 per person. pre booking essential
A unique opportunity to walk the trail in four stages over four days during the Walking East Yorkshire Festival. The first stage will be on Saturday10th September, starting at Millington and walking a circular route to finish up back in the village on Tuesday 13th September. Coach transport is organised to take the group from the finish point to start point of the walk each day.
Walking East Yorkshire Festival 2022
10 to 23 September
www.walkingeastyorkshirefestival.co.uk
East Yorkshire’s annual walking festival is set to be extra special for 2022 – helping to mark the 40th anniversary of the Yorkshire Wolds National Trail. Celebrating the ‘Great Outdoors’ in all its glory, this year’s Walking East Yorkshire festival will offer a packed programme of events aimed, not only at walkers, but also cyclists, horse riders, nature lovers and even history enthusiasts.
Bridlington Super Soapbox Challenge 2022
11 September 2022
Bridlington seafront
Free to spectate
Watch brave soapbox racers hurtle down a huge ramp in this new event, which promises to be a great family day out with continual commentary and all the action visible on large format screens. As well as the excitement on the course itself, there will be a funfair, live music, plus food and drink.
Bridlington Crab Chase
Bridlington harbour
18 September 2022
A new family fun event will see children battle it out for top honours in the first ever Bridlington Crab Chase catch-and-release competition this September. The East Yorkshire resort’s bustling harbour will be the setting for the fishing contest, for children under 16 years, which organisers hope will become an annual event.
DERBY
Derby Beer Con 2022
16 – 17 September 2022
The Chocolate Factory
Tickets from £11
Derby Beer Con 2022, the city’s only craft beer festival, returns for its fifth year. Staged at Bustler Street Food Market in The Chocolate Factory – a multi-events venue housed in an old chocolate factory – the event promises an epic line up of craft beers, food and music.
The Wing Scuffle Spectacular – DOUBLE BILL
Markeaton Park
15 – 25 September 2022
Standard tickets £15
An evening of thrilling circus from one of the UK’s leading companies, plus a celebration of performances from local companies. As part of this spectacular double bill, audiences will be treated to The Wing Scuffle Spectacular Revel Puck Circus Show.
Gaia at Derby Cathedral
From 22 September
Entry will be free with a suggested entry donation of £3 per person
https://derbycathedral.org/gaia/
Derby Cathedral offers visitors the chance to get up close and personal with a giant three-dimensional, illuminated artwork of the Earth floating above the nave. Gaia, a touring artwork by UK artist Luke Jerram, measures seven metres in diameter and is created from 120dpi detailed NASA imagery of the Earth’s surface, Gaia is complemented by a specially made surround sound composition by BAFTA award winning composer Dan Jones.
Derby Festé
23 – 24 September 2022
www.derbyfeste.com
Back with a bang, Derby Festé returns with a bumper festival of family fun featuring everything from Japanese drummers to choreographed aerial dancing. One of the UK’s top street-fest events, and the highlight of the city’s events calendar, the annual arts and culture celebration has an action-packed two-day programme, which sees the return of large-scale public events.
Derby Folk Festival
30 September – 2 October 2022
www.derbyfolkfestival.co.uk
Returning to a live stage in the city’s historic Market Place, organisers are promising that this year’s line-up will again make Derby the place to be for all things folk. Featuring top acts, the main festival site will be in a marquee which will host the Mick Peat Stage, named after the festival’s founder. But folk fans are set for a real treat with a whole host of performances at venues across the city centre over the weekend.
LINCOLNSHIRE
Sculpture at Doddington
Doddington Hall, near Lincoln
Until 11 September
Included with normal garden admission (£8.50 adults, £4.50 children, and £22 family)
www.sculpturedoddingtonhall.com
With the Elizabethan manor house as a backdrop, the Hall’s grounds provide a picture-perfect setting for the return of the biennial Doddington Sculpture Exhibition. More than 340 works of art from 60 national and international sculptors will be displayed throughout the walled gardens and the wild gardens of the red-brick Hall.
Festival Of The Horse
Belvoir Castle
10-11 September 2022
www.belvoircastle.com
Back by popular demand for its second year running, with thrilling equestrian entertainment for all the family. This year the festival features many new additions, now hosted across three arenas, with headline displays including Liberty Acts, Dressage, and Trick Riding. Away from the action-packed arenas, visitors can explore a selection of shopping stalls alongside food and drink outlets.
Mablethorpe Music Mix-Up
High Street, Mablethorpe
10 – 11 September 2022
The second year of Mablethorpe Music Mix Up Weekend, filled with favourite music from local bands.
Equinox Festival
Chalk Farm, Louth
16 – 18 September 2022
Tickets: £123.35
https://equinoxfestival.org.uk
Set in the Lincolnshire Wolds, this festival features six stages representing all musical tastes, as well as lightshows, a family area, fire shows and workshops. There will be over 100 bands and DJs, including three dance tents – Sunrise, Lunar and John Street, with crazy decor and stage shows to match.
Mablethorpe Carnival
Queens Park
17 September 2022
Mablethorpe’s carnival parade is back this year, with a new theme – the Best of British!
Luna Cinema – Elvis and West Side Story
Lincoln Castle
29 and 30 September 2022
Tickets from £17.50 adult and £11.50 child
www.lincolncastle.com
Summer cinema under the stars is back at Lincoln Castle. The Luna Cinema returns with highly acclaimed new biopic, Elvis, showing on the 29 September, and Spielberg’s award-winning new take on the classic musical West Side Story on 30 September.
STAFFORDSHIRE
The Abbots Bromley Horn Dance
12 September 2022
The Horn Dance, performed in Staffordshire since 1226, is now one of the UK’s oldest surviving annual rituals. After collecting their traditional equipment from the church in the morning, the Horn Dancers – comprising six Deer-men, a Fool, Hobby Horse, Bowman and Maid Marian (who is always male) – perform their dance to music from a melodeon player at locations throughout the village.
Lichfield Cathedral Library Tours
10 September 2022
https://bit.ly/3LCXQ55
A collection of early printed books and hand copied manuscripts can be viewed at Lichfield Cathedral thanks to new pre-booked library tours throughout the year. The collection is located in a 13th century space – with medieval floor tiles, and coloured armorial glass – up a spiral staircase. It was the gift of Frances Seymour of Drayton Bassett, who gave her late husband’s library to the cathedral in 1674 after his death.
Tamworth Food Gusto Festival 2022
Tamworth Castle Pleasure Grounds
10-11 September 2022
Entry costs £2 per person
https://bit.ly/3PWcply
Food Gusto will bring some of the region’s best food and drink to one venue, along with family entertainment, including live music and children’s rides.
Museum of the Moon
Lichfield Cathedral
From 21 September 2022
Tickets: £5 adults, £3 children
Suspended in the nave of the Cathedral, and measuring seven metres in diameter, the Museum of the Moon, a touring artwork by UK artist Luke Jerram, features 120dpi detailed NASA imagery of the lunar surface. The installation is a fusion of lunar imagery, moonlight and surround sound composition created by BAFTA and Ivor Novello award winning composer Dan Jones.
STOKE-ON-TRENT
Luna Cinema
The Trentham Estate,
9-11 September 2022
Tickets from £17.50 per person
https://bit.ly/3RjhOEk
The Luna Cinema comes to Trentham with an incredible line up of fantastic film! The programme includes stepping into the world of witchcraft and wizardry, singing along to ABBA soundtracks and watching the 25th masterpiece in an ever-popular British spy franchise. Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone – Friday 9 September; Mamma Mia – Saturday 10 September; No Time to Die – Sunday 11 September.
Commonwealth Connections
The Potteries Museum & Art Gallery
Until 11 September 2022
Free entry
www.stokemuseums.org.uk/pmag/
To celebrate the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games, The Potteries Museum & Art Gallery – home to the world’s greatest collection of Staffordshire ceramics – has been looking at the weird and wonderful Commonwealth connections in its amazing museum collections. Join Ozzy Owl as he explores some of the Commonwealth countries.
Trentham Makers Market
The Trentham Estate
17 September 2022
Free to enter
https://bit.ly/3AyTWFr
Organised by the leading artisan market company in the North of England, which already hosts regular Makers Markets across the region, it will showcase original art, quirky modern craft, vintage, and plenty of artisan food and drink. As well as being able to stroll around the market it will also give shoppers the opportunity to meet the makers and – of course – sample some of the delights on offer.
Craft in Focus
Trentham Gardens
22 – 25 September 2022
Usual Gardens admission (£12.50 adult, £9 child (5-15 years)
https://bit.ly/3KvRPHA
Featuring up to 80 of the UK’s finest contemporary artists and makers, Craft in Focus will be staged in semi open sided marquees within Trentham Gardens with its vast perennial plantings providing breath-taking vistas. See and purchase from an exciting range from both emerging British talent as well as more established designer makers.
HAMPSHIRE
Open Weekend
The Watercress Line10 – 11 September 2022
Tickets from £20 adults, £10 children (5-16)
https://bit.ly/3QaypcI
The Watercress Line opens its stations! An opportunity for visitors to go behind the scenes at the railways engineering hub at Ropley. Guided tours will be operating across the weekend, allowing visitors to get up close to current restoration projects throughout the yard, engineering shed and carriage shop. It will be a chance to learn more about how they restore engines and carriages whilst getting up close to the locos.
Southampton International Boat Show
Mayflower Park, Southampton
16 – 25 September 2022
Tickets from £26
www.southamptonboatshow.com
Britain’s biggest festival of boating returns to the shores of the Solent. Experience life on the water at Europe’s largest purpose-built marina and enjoy a fun family day out against a stunning backdrop featuring kayaks to catamarans, SUPS to superyachts and the world’s most exciting and innovative boats.
Science Starz
Winchester Science Centre
From 17 September 2022
Admission: from £13.63 per person
https://bit.ly/3ebnBO9
In 2022 Winchester Science Centre is celebrating 20 years of wow moments, and this autumn, it’s the final chance to take a trip down memory lane to celebrate some of the centre’s best show themes and demos from the past 20 years – all with a retro 2002 twist. The last stop is sound. Grab your exclusive ticket to join the live studio audience of Science Starz – and be wowed by the ultimate science musical instrument, the mind-blowing, light-bending laser harp.
Harvest Fair
Gilbert White’s House & Gardens
18 September 2022
Admission: £8 per adult
Celebrate the changing of the seasons and take the opportunity to revamp your garden for the winter, or plan for the spring, with Gilbert White’s House & Gardens’ Harvest Fair. A range of plant stalls will be selling everything from perennials to shrubs and grasses and more, plus there will be food and drink and demonstrations.
Evening Vineyard Tours
The Grange Vineyard
8 and 16 September 2022
Tickets: £35 per person
https://bit.ly/3RfGk9C
The Grange vineyard lies in the chalky Hampshire downs close to Winchester and Alresford, overlooking the waters of the River Itchen. Join in a number of events where Zam Baring or Harry Pickering will lead visitors on a tour of the vineyard followed by a taste of the award-winning wines the vineyard produces. There are daytime tours and evening tours. Evening Tour with Canapes are a 45-minute wander round the vineyard followed by a relaxed, sunset tasting of current releases. There are also daytime tours on 10 and 26 September (tickets £20 per person).
Hampshire’s OktoberFest
Basingstoke
16 – 17 September 2022
This award-winning celebration, the largest of its kind in the Southeast, Hampshire’s OktoberFest is a family festival, attracting over 8000 visitors annually. A huge variety of real ale from across the region will be available, with over 220 different beers, craft ales and ciders, as well as mouth-watering food, along with a live music programme.
Winchester Jazz Festival
22 – 25 September 2022
Check website for full details
www.winchesterjazzfestival.com
Taking place in venues across the city centre, audiences will enjoy four days of top-quality entertainment from the jazz world. By bringing the jazz festival to this historic city, the event aims to create a platform to nurture local talent, expose a wider local audience to world-class jazz music and show the UK what Winchester has to offer as a destination for the arts.