Upcoming Events

A great festive activity to do with the whole family. Sessions run throughout the day and run for 45 minutes. Tickets include skate hire, along with a 45 minute skate. Children under 8 must be accompanied by an adult on the ice. Parent and Toddler tickets include one parent and one toddler ticket and either a Penguin or Banana skate aid. Child is 12 years and under.

Discover how Christmas traditions have come to be, from the elegant simplicity of the Georgians to the festive trees and cards of the Victorians; through the grim but hopeful wartime Christmases to the bright and colourful ones of today.

The interior decoration of No. 1 Royal Crescent shows a wealth of elegant botanical patterns including leaves and flowers. Use our nature themed collage decorations to create your own festive card to take away. Free with normal admission. Museum tickets can be bought online in advance or at the desk on the day.

Join the Avon Valley Railway this festive season for a ride on one of our steam-hauled trains and enjoy a special visit from Father Christmas! Tickets include an hour-long (six mile) trip in a heritage carriage behind one of our steam locomotives, visit from Father Christmas as he greets each family at their seat, a quality present for each child designed for their age, mince pie or festive biscuit for everyone. Once the train reaches Avon Riverside there will be the…

Discover over 400 animal species in the Zoo, explore the Christmas animal-shaped lights, take part in Christmas arts & crafts, colour in a letter to Santa and post it off to the North Pole, meet Santa in his grotto and receive a special gift. There will also be some tasty yuletide treats available from the café restaurant, including seasonal hot drinks and mince pies.

A landscape-wide advent calendar to discover at Prior Park. Open the doors to reveal some festive finds and challenges.

Help snow elves, Coco, Sprinkles, and Dave collect the magical Wonderberries, a wondrous fruit that helps the reindeer’s fly. If they aren’t collected, Christmas could be cancelled! Embark on a magical adventure through snowy snowball fields, over giant mountains and sail across the creaking lost ice beds to help find the Wonderberries! Can you help save Christmas? Help the snow elves collect the Wonderberries and receive a thank you gift from Father Christmas himself. Times and tickets available online.  

What if we could find ways to celebrate that use fewer of the Earth’s precious resources? This winter, LiveLab becomes a workshop for budding eco-elves, with craft activities running throughout the day including Design your own laser-cut snowflake, Make a beautiful decoration from Somerset-grown willow, Fold and decorate a paper house lantern, or Create your own greetings card design from recycled and re-used materials.

The day will be split into two 90 minute sessions to create Christmas card designs and in the afternoon light painting. Individual or both sessions can be booked, card workshop £26.50, light painting £15. Email info@thephotoclubco for booking and further information. Suitable for ages 7-16years.

The camps (U7-U14) will include a range of rugby skills, drills and activities as well as rugby related games and age group breakdown for specific sessions.

Tickets include a festive story read by Father Christmas, meeting with his Elves and real reindeer and a choice if gift, and mini Christmas tree.

Back for another year with 1000msq real ice. Tickets include skate hire for one hour on the ice. Pre-booking not necessary although evening and weekends are often busy.

The zoo will be decorated with elaborate recycled Christmas decorations made by our staff members. Take part in one of our educational festive trails on your journey around the zoo with a seasonal hot drink and get a selfie with our artistic animals! In addition, there will be special performances on Saturdays.

Enjoy a magical Christmas experience this festive season. Visit the Animal Park, walk among the fairy-lights and see the animals then jump on-board the festive Santa Train, to see the big man himself in his grotto. Booking in advance essential, tickets available online. Children's tickets include a gift, ride on train and entrance to the Animal Park. Adult tickets include entry to the Park and a ride on the train.

Join Dick Whittington as he seeks fame, fortune and happiness and becomes the Lord Mayor of London. An action-packed pantomime full of laughter, music and spectacular special effects, featuring dazzling sets and costumes from The London Palladium production.

Enjoy a visit to the Animal Park - walk among the fairy-lights and see our animals, then jump on-board the festive Santa Train, and make your way to see the big man himself in his grotto. Tickets are limited per group, and are pre-bookable only. Child tickets include a gift when visiting Santa. Further information on 01225 759075 or email hncinfo@ffc.ac.uk.

Step into the gallery and experience an interactive installation, exploring the boundaries between virtual and physical space. Using video game technology, the exhibition explores architectural designs, including Prior Park’s Palladian Bridge alongside other historical landmarks. Today, we spend much of our time living in virtual realms, looking at ideals through the screens of our personal devices. In the eighteenth century too, architects and artists became interested in picturing the ‘ideal’, designing towns and landscapes to be aesthetically pleasing and producing…

When out on the lawn there arose such a clatter…journey along the Winding Way to discover who’s making the noise in the garden on this family fun trail. Suitable for ages 5+

With lots of festive activities to inspire and entertain the whole family. Visit Mrs Klaus in her kitchen for kids crafts, make a Christmas wreath, find Santa in his grotto, plus all the animals will be here to wish you Happy Christmas. There will be some exciting storytelling and the café will be open selling festive treats.  

With dinosaurs, witches, time machines and a mighty gorilla this promises to be a pantomime unlike any you’ve ever seen. A funtastic mix of comedy, songs, sketches and, of course, audience participation from this talented local group.

Create fantastic Christmas decorations to take home in an opportunity for the whole family to discover origami craft and have some fun.

Packed with all of the traditional pantomime ingredients Swindon audiences have come to expect, Sleeping Beauty will be spectacularly brought to life with an abundance of dance, side-splitting comedy, sensational song and plenty of festive magic. Relaxed performance: 13 December; sign-language interpreted 13 & 14 December; audio described 4 January (all at 1pm).

Taking inspiration from contemporary physical companies, this is a fast-paced and physical theatre laden extravaganza, exploring the impact of violence and love among young people.  The timeless quality of Shakespeare’s tale will speak to a contemporary audience in these confusing times with disturbing clarity. Tickets available from KES box office at boxoffice@kesbath.com

Let your hair down at the egg this Christmas and join us for a shining musical version of the classic fairy-tale, Rapunzel! This is the story of an orphaned baby rescued by an eccentric herbalist who raises her as her own. However, this act of love comes with a price. When Rapunzel blossoms into an independent young woman, her mother confines her to a tower to protect her from the prying eyes of the world.  

A great festive activity to do with the whole family. Sessions run throughout the day and run for 45 minutes. Tickets include skate hire, along with a 45 minute skate. Children under 8 must be accompanied by an adult on the ice. Parent and Toddler tickets include one parent and one toddler ticket and either a Penguin or Banana skate aid. Child is 12 years and under.

A VIP playbarn session where you can meet Santa, play in the playbarn and have breakfast.

Squirrel loves a good acorn. But not all acorns are good. Some are downright second rate. And Squirrel is fussy like that. Under the light of the winter sun, between the houses and the offices, and the rivers and the factories, Squirrel has buried their favourite acorn collection. It’s easy to remember where; it’s under the third tree from the left. Or was it the right? A story of new growth,with a sprinkling of snowy magic and puppetry mayhem as…

Discover how Christmas traditions have come to be, from the elegant simplicity of the Georgians to the festive trees and cards of the Victorians; through the grim but hopeful wartime Christmases to the bright and colourful ones of today.