Immerse yourself in the celebration of our city’s river, community, art, and nature, exploring the global connections fostered by water, as this year’s programme, featuring the live music, performances, and family-friendly activities, comes to FarGo.
Keep your eyes out for more updates for this year’s programme!
Celebrate the bank holiday on Monday, 26th August, with our exciting new immersive dragon experience.
Join our valiant Dragon Trainer as they take you on a never-seen-before journey through the Guildhall’s legendary past. Along the way, you’ll hear valiant tales and learn what it takes to become a dragon tamer whilst also meeting some legendary friends. All before you come face to face with a full-sized dragon which has nested here in Coventry!
Featuring life like puppets and an actor-led adventure, explore the Guildhall and hunt for dragons.
This is an estimated 1 hour experience and all children must be supervised by a responsible attending adult who must also purchase a ticket.
On the Friday 2ndof August, don’t miss our special birds of prey talk. Get up close and personal with up to 6 birds of prey in the Great Hall and learn about their historical significance as symbols of power, wealth, and royalty.
Each session is 1 hour.
Recommended for visitors aged 7+.
What’s going on?
To celebrate our 10th Birthday and as part of our Lets Move weekend, join us for a groovy roller disco partay!
We are partnering with local company Skatehouse for a fun filled family day
So get your skates on and join us!
A celebration of FarGo’s relationship with wheels and motion! With a Roller Disco, Parkour, Dancing, Yoga, and fun activities for all the families.
Have you ever fancied having a go at willow weaving? Now is your chance to learn all about the historic art of willow weaving and create your own handcrafted bird feeder and cornucopia (suitable for multiple purpose such as hanging plants).
We will be hosting two willow weaving workshops in the unique historic surroundings of St Mary’s Guildhall in the heart of Coventry.
Get hands on and try out a new craft hosted by our two experienced willow weavers who will guide you through every step. All materials and equipment supplied.
Join the Guildhall Tudor’s in the medieval kitchen to explore live demonstrations and find out the fascinating world of Tudor medicine. Explore a Tudor herb chest and it’s uses.
Children’s craft and a family friendly trail will also be available.
We look forward to welcoming you to St Mary’s Guildhall, the hidden historic gem in the heart of Coventry City Centre. Discover 700 years of power, partying and propaganda in a unique historical setting within Coventry’s Cathedral Quarter.
Please note: If you have an eligible and active Go CV or Go CV+ card, you are entitled to discounted or free entry. Please book your tickets in advance in person at St Mary’s Guildhall or purchase in person on your day of visit*.
*Subject to availability. Please note proof of valid GO CV or GO CV + card membership is required at point of sale and entry. The Go CV card is a free scheme for Coventry residents. Further details regarding Go CV can be found at go-cv.co.uk.
Join the Guildhall Tudor’s in the medieval kitchen to explore live demonstrations and find out about different kinds of Tudor food.
Children’s craft and a family friendly trail will also be available.
We look forward to welcoming you to St Mary’s Guildhall, the hidden historic gem in the heart of Coventry City Centre. Discover 700 years of power, partying and propaganda in a unique historical setting within Coventry’s Cathedral Quarter.
Please note: If you have an eligible and active Go CV or Go CV+ card, you are entitled to discounted or free entry. Please book your tickets in advance in person at St Mary’s Guildhall or purchase in person on your day of visit*.
*Subject to availability. Please note proof of valid GO CV or GO CV + card membership is required at point of sale and entry. The Go CV card is a free scheme for Coventry residents. Further details regarding Go CV can be found at go-cv.co.uk.
Celebrate St George’s day this year with free events in Broadgate on Saturday 20 and Tuesday 23 April.
On Saturday 20 April you can expect comedy performances from the Damsels in Distress who will be roaming around Broadgate on the back of their mischievous dragons. Make sure to hold on to your Prince Charmings as they are on the hunt for their own!
A knight and his unfaithful peasants will also be parading the city centre along with music from the Brass Band of Central England throughout the day.
Celebrate St George’s day this year with our free events in Broadgate on Saturday 20 and Tuesday 23 April.
Those in Broadgate on Tuesday 23 April can enjoy a jig with the Coventry Morris Men and ‘Smoked the dragon’ who invites all young knights, warrior maidens, princes and princesses to join them.
Make sure not to miss out on a photo with St George too!
A yoga practice to promote healing after loss, providing a safe space to move through grief and find release in the areas of our bodies where we hold pain from loss.
The session will provide an opportunity to connect mind and body with the breath, to bring participants into the present moment and help them to find headspace and peace after loss.
The session will include breathwork, opening meditation, gentle yoga postures in a Yin style (holding poses) and final meditation/relaxation.
Join professional photographer Iva Dyke on a walk with your camera through Charterhouse Heritage Park and London Road Cemetery – learn how to photograph nature and get technical tips. Bring a camera – even your phone camera will do – and sturdy footwear.
Join us for some Easter fun throughout the holidays!
FREE Face Painting – 27th March 2024
Join us for some Easter fun!
Come along and visit the Easter Bunny and get an Easter egg.
Perfect for the whole family!
Nature Makers Coventry lead sessions of mindful nature activities – collect nature treasures, make rabbit ears, have a vegetable hunt around the garden, play games.
For 5 to 11 year olds – younger (and older) siblings are welcome to join in.
Calming practice including breathwork and meditation, lying and sitting on a yoga mat.
This session combines modern neuroscience and traditional meditative techniques in the monastic setting of Charterhouse. Enjoy 45 minutes of accessible meditation and breathwork to instil a monk-like peace in your day.
The Carthusian monks at Charterhouse lived quiet lives of solitude, contemplation and faithful meditation. Join us for 45 minutes of contemplative practice, combining modern neuroscience and traditional meditative techniques, and bring some monastic calm into your day.
Join Iva & Fran to ignite your natural senses in this special spring session in the beautiful location of Charterhouse garden (under a marquee).
Firstly, Iva will invite you to move in the way that is accessible to your body and introduce you to various modifications of poses. You will have fun with various flowing movements to warm your body to help you to experience deeper movement and relaxation.
Being in nature re-sets your mind and releases any tension in your body, leaving you rested physically and emotionally.
Then Fran will take you through relaxing breathing techniques to calm the mind and body, accompanied by the harmonious tones of a gentle sound bath fusing cultural practices with Tibetan singing bowls, Native American drum and the melodic frequency of the Aztec Tongue drum.
Discover the enchanting world of Fairy Folk and Fearless Knights this Easter at St Mary’s Guildhall. Embark on an exciting Fairy Door Trail throughout the historic Guildhall, where visitors of all ages can unravel clues and seek out hidden fairy doors.
Join the adventure of the ‘Fairy Door Trail’ daily throughout the Easter break, situated in the historic Cathedral Quarter on Bayley Lane.
Indulge your creative side with our children’s craft activities, where you can fashion delightful fairy and knight peg dolls, and unleash your artistic flair decorating knight’s shields.
For families seeking even more thrills, immerse yourselves in Knight School every Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday. Our resident knight will train aspiring warriors in traditional swordplay and strategic defense against mythical beasts. Sessions at 10am, 11:30am, and 2:30pm.
Step back in time with our specially-curated Tudor living history experience days, occurring each Monday and Friday of the Easter holidays from 10am to 4pm in the Medieval Kitchen. Delve into tales of both benevolent and mischievous fairies, then try your hand at crafting an enchanting fairy plate as an offering. Plus, don’t miss the captivating butter churning demonstration.
Join us to welcome in Spring this February half term. Join in our enchanting daily ‘Power to the Flower’ family-friendly trail at St Mary’s Guildhall and embark on a delightful quest to uncover the beauty of spring flowers scattered throughout the venue.
Engage in daily children’s craft activities and immerse yourself in the world of Tudors in the medieval kitchen, helping to prepare for the upcoming Spring festivities. (Tudors are available daily during the first seven days of half term (10th to 16th Feb), from 10:00 AM to 4:00 PM.)
Activities include:
Cleaning the Tudor Way: Experience Tudor spring cleaning first hand. Dive into the past and help us clean pewter with ground eggshells and dust with goose wings.
Tudor Food Traditions: Step into the midst of Lent with the Tudors and discover their unique traditions around food. As they utilize the last of their winter resources, join in the countdown to their Easter feast. Participate in candying primroses and decorating eggs as they eagerly prepare for their Easter celebrations.
Don’t miss this opportunity to connect with history and embrace the spirit of spring. See you there!
Crafting Streets Of Coventry
• Saturday 23 March – Saturday 6 April (excluding Sundays)
• 10.30am – 3:30pm
• £2.50 per child, under 3s FREE | Pay on the day | Drop in
• Ages 3+, but all are welcome
Join us to explore Coventry through creative arts and immersive experiences this Easter. Taking inspiration from our permanent exhibitions, ‘History Gallery’ and ‘Godiva Gallery,’ we will be crafting through two weeks of exciting activities, learning new skills as we reimagine Coventry street scenes and people of Coventry from the past, present and future.
Saturday 23, Monday 25 & Tuesday 26, Wednesday 27 March
Posca Wooden Eggs – Spring has filled Coventry’s urban streets; The trees bloom with life and green leaves, and birds are busy constructing their nests and laying eggs. Taking inspiration from nature, decorate natural wooden eggs this spring with playful patterns, using Posca pens and other embellishments like glitter, sequence wool and more!
Thursday 28, Friday 29, Saturday 30 March
Posca Jar Lanterns – Light up the streets of Coventry by making fun lantern jars! During World War II, people in Coventry had to keep the streetlights and the lights in their homes turned off in the evening, and they used candles to see in the dark. Make your own colourful candle holders out of glass jars. Decorate your glass jar with posca pens and adorn it with embellishments to play with a colourful array of light illuminations. A battery-operated tealight will also be provided to go inside your wonderful creation.
Monday 1, Tuesday 2, Wednesday 3 April
Posca Totes – Young artists will reimagine characters from the past, present or future that have ridden or walked the streets of Coventry. Using Posca pens to illustrate and customise their canvas tote bags and add embellishments like pom poms, sequence and more. Take home and wear your creations in the streets of Coventry or anywhere else.
Thursday 4, Friday 5, Saturday 6 April
Posca White Stones – Get creative with stone art! Design illustrations on white stones using a colourful array of posca pens. Will your illustration be nature inspired, your favourite person, or creature, or a meaningful affirmation? Or something else? Experiment with background colours and add embellishments to enhance your designs. Take home and display on your front doorstep or a community street garden.
https://www.theherbert.org/whats-on/1790/crafting-streets-of-coventry
Tinker | Make | Play: Eggcelent Experiments
• 23, 25, 28, 30 March and 1, 4, 6 April 2024
• 10am – 3pm
• FREE with admission | Drop in
• Suitable for ALL AGES!
Tinker | Make | Play Engineers are embracing eggy puns (and eggtivities) this Easter holiday and will find themselves faced with eggstreme challenges: Will they be able to transport a variety of fake eggs safely up and down, forwards, and backwards? Will their eggs survive a drop? How many eggs will fit on their vehicle? Tinkering with STEM concepts showcased in some of our museum objects, join us to make eggcellent transport and find out how many eggs your machine can hold and move.
https://www.transport-museum.com/events/1584/tinker-make-play-eggcelent-experiments
Play and Make Zone
• Saturday 10 – Sunday 18 February (half term break), Saturday 23 March – Sunday 7 April (Easter break), Saturday 25 May – Sunday 2 June (summer break)
• 10.00am – 4.30pm
• FREE with admission | Drop in
• Suitable for ALL AGES!
Take a break from exploring the largest collection of British vehicles and relax in our Play and Make Zone. Located in our Future Technology Gallery, discover the wonderful world of Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths (STEM) in a playful way through big play and a variety of crafts to enjoy at your own pace.
https://www.transport-museum.com/events/1583/play-and-make-zone
Tinker | Make | Play: Brilliantly Bricky Cars
• Saturday 10 February, Monday 12 February, Thursday 15 February, Saturday 17 February
• 10.00am – 3.30pm
• FREE with admission | Drop in
• Suitable for ALL AGES!
Make brilliantly bricky cars and add a little extra bling to your vehicles to play about on our Coventry city map.
https://www.transport-museum.com/events/1578/tinker-make-play-brilliantly-bricky-cars
The Big Dippy Birthday Bash!
• Wednesday 14 February
• 10.00am – 4.00pm
• Varied with some FREE activities | More information coming soon
To celebrate Dippy, the Nation’s Favourite Dinosaurs, being at the Herbert for 1 year, we are throwing a BIG Dippy Birthday Bash.
There will be multiple activities available throughout the day to join in with, plus special guests from the world of wild learning! Fossil handling, curator talks, craft activities and exciting performances, there will be plenty to keep your whole family entertained!
Oh… and did we mention there will be cake?!
https://www.theherbert.org/whats-on/1789/the-big-dippy-birthday-bash
Portrait Heads
• Saturday 10 –17 February (excluding Sunday)
• 10.30am – 3.30pm
• Drop in | £2.50 per child, under 3s free | Pay on the day
The ‘Coventry Art Societies Exhibition 2024’ will be on display at the Herbert Art Gallery and Museum from February 2024. The exhibition features beautiful 3D & 2D art, ranging from creative portraits to bronze and wooden figures. We invite you to take inspiration from this impressive exhibition as we focus on sculpting portraiture from playdough and Modroc.
Daily Activities:
Saturday 10, Monday 12 & Tuesday 13 February
Portrait Playful Heads – Experiment with various techniques and tools to form portraiture play dough heads and bring your sculptures to life.
Wednesday 14 & Thursday 15, Friday 16 & Saturday 17 February
Marvelous Modroc Sculptures – Get messy with Modroc! Use this versatile material with newspaper, tape, wire and foil to sculpt your favourite person’s head and shoulders. Who will you decide to sculpt? Perhaps a personal hero? Or a friend? Or even a self-portrait. Take home and admire your fantastic artwork; if desired, you can paint when dry.
https://www.theherbert.org/whats-on/1787/portrait-heads
World Book Day: The Tiger Who Came To Tea
• Thursday 7 March |
• 10.30am-11.00am, 11.30am-12.00pm & 1.00pm-1.30pm
• Drop In | Pay on the Day
• Suitable for ages 0 – 4
Join us for a sensory storytelling experience as we celebrate World Book Day with a retelling of Judith Kerr’s story ‘The Tiger Who Came to Tea’. This activity will lead your little ones through an immersive sensory experience exploring colour, sound and song to bring the story to life. Make the most of this annual event by participating in our Mini Makers and Mini Museum Engineer sessions on the same day themed on this story.
https://www.theherbert.org/whats-on/1785/world-book-day-the-tiger-who-came-to-tea
World Book Day: Mini Museum Engineers On Tour At The Herbert
• Thursday 7 March
• 10.30am – 12.00am & 1.30am – 3.00pm
• Drop in | FREE
Ready, steady, engineer! We invite you and your mini museum engineers to get problem solving and building in this exciting family session coming to the Herbert, from Coventry Transport Museum, especially for World Book Day.
You and your engineers will enjoy experimenting with a variety of building materials and having a go at the different construction challenges with a train theme.
https://www.theherbert.org/whats-on/1786/world-book-day-mini-museum-engineers-on-tour-at-the-herbert
Family Museum Engineers Play: Saturday Play Days
• Saturdays | 3 February, 2 March, 4 May, 8 June, 6 July, 7 September, 5 October, 9 November, 7 December 2024
• 10.30am – 3.00pm
• FREE with admission | Drop in
• Suitable for ALL AGES!
Explore an open-ended play environment using unique STEM-based resources that encourage engineering skills, problem-solving, imagination and, of course, quality family fun!
Learn More at https://www.transport-museum.com/events/1522/family-museum-engineers-play-saturday-play-days
Sensory Stories And Rhymes
• Tuesdays | 16, 23 & 30 January, 6, 20 & 27 February, 5, 12 & 19 March, 9, 16, 23 & 30 April, 7, 14 & 21 May, 4, 11, 18 & 25 June, 2, 9 & 16 July
• 10.30am – 11am and 11.30am – 12pm
• Book online | £1.50
• Designed for ages 0 – 4
Explore our collections through songs, stories, movement and sensory play. These sessions provide an opportunity for our youngest visitors to engage with our collections in a way that is meaningful to them.
The hands-on nature of these sessions appeal to their imaginations and above all else is fun. Each child will receive a sensory play bag, containing freshly cleaned sensory resources, which helps to keep them engaged for the duration of the session; adds context by using a physical object to give words meaning; extends learning through play and increases their opportunities to develop good listening and language skills.
https://www.theherbert.org/whats-on/1713/sensory-stories-and-rhymes
Sensory Play Days
• 25 & 26 January, 22 & 23 February, 14 & 15 March, 25 & 26 April, 16 & 17 May, 20 & 21 June 2024
• 10.30am – 11.30am & 1.00pm – 2.00pm
• Drop in | £2 per child, including babies
• Designed for ages 0 – 4.
Let imaginations soar as your child learns to play creatively in this interactive space. Explore and grow using inspiring sensory materials, where the possibilities are endless!
Through the use of open-ended items, babies and young children are free to use their imaginations and take their play experience in the direction that they wish to.
This session is hands-on, suitable for even the youngest of children, and designed to support with the development of motor skills, hand-eye coordination, problem-solving and social interaction. Above all else it is fun and offers you a wonderful opportunity to play with your child in a relaxed and engaging environment.
https://www.theherbert.org/whats-on/1624/sensory-play-days