More Days Out News
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Severn Valley Railway launches short film to celebrate 60th anniversary
Posted on Thu 08 May
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Serendipity Arts Festival takes place in Birmingham this May
Posted on Thu 08 May
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New late-night jazz bar opens at Grand Hotel Birmingham
Posted on Thu 08 May
Check out our selection of things to do in the Midlands during the next few weeks.
FIND THE FLOCK: SHAUN THE SHEEP TRAIL
Trentham Gardens is this month launching an art installation featuring 12 supersized Shaun the Sheep sculptures.
Presented in collaboration with public-art experts Wild In Art and Academy Award-winning animation company Aardman - the creators of Shaun the Sheep - the family-friendly Find The Flock trail is included with standard garden admission. Trentham members can enjoy the installation for free.
Trentham Gardens, Staffordshire, until Sunday 18 May
DIGBETH DINING CLUB SUMMER TOUR
Digbeth Dining Club is back on the road, with the award-winning street-food operator touring local parks, fields and beauty spots across the region over the next few months.
Hawker Dan, Original Patty Men, Beef On The Block, Cofton Pizza, Urban Spice Box and Bournville Waffle Co are just a few of the 100-plus street-food traders taking part in the summer tour.
Chilled DJ sets, family-friendly activities and drinks stations - such as cocktail caravans and fizz bars - all add to the experience for diners, whose dogs (if they have any) are very welcome, too.
Warwick Castle, Friday 2 May; Beacon Park, Lichfield, Saturday 3 May; Brueton Park Lake, Solihull,
Sunday 4 May; Bromsgrove Recreation Ground, Monday 5 May; Waterfront, Brierley Hill, Friday 9 May; Sutton Coldfield Rugby Club, Saturday 10 May; Lightwoods Park, Smethwick, Sunday 11 May; Tamworth Castle Grounds, Saturday 17 May; Codsall Village Hall, Sunday 18 May; Compton Verney, Saturday 31 May; Barton Marina, Burton-on-Trent, Saturday 31 May
AJ BELL GREAT BIRMINGHAM RUN
The Midlands’ biggest running event returns across the first weekend of the month. Saturday the 3rd sees the junior and mini Great Birmingham Runs taking place at the Alexander Stadium in Perry Barr.
On Sunday the 4th, the city hosts the 10k and half marathon races. Participants will be running past some of Birmingham’s best-known landmarks and areas, including the Jewellery Quarter, St Paul’s Square, the Mailbox and Grand Central. The event begins in Centenary Square, with both runs ending at Smithfield in Southside, where there will be food stalls and a party to enjoy.
Birmingham City Centre, Saturday 3 & Sunday 4 May
RHS MALVERN SPRING FESTIVAL
Opening the door into the summer season in the Malvern Hills. Taking the theme Plants & People, the RHS Malvern Spring Festival is this year encouraging visitors to explore the numerous ways in which plants bring a positive impact to their lives.
As well as showcasing new attractions - including the first RHS-judged Indoor Plant Gardens and the Give It A Grow Theatre - the festival also boasts contributions from Alan Titchmarsh and BBC Gardeners’ World regulars Adam Frost, Frances Tophill and Rachel de Thame.
Numerous well-established elements of the popular event also make a return, including show and feature gardens, the floral marquee and the Tips & Tricks Theatre.
Three Counties Showground, Malvern, Thursday 8 - Sunday 11 May
GIFFORDS CIRCUS
This year celebrating their 25th anniversary, Giffords Circus return to Sudeley Castle with brand-new offering Laguna Bay.
Set in the ‘buoyant and sunny era’ of 1950s America, the show features a cast of top-rated acrobats, magicians, musicians and clowns.
Sudeley Castle, Cheltenham, Friday 9 - Monday 19 May
LAITHWAITES WINE FESTIVAL
Glasses at the ready - the Laithwaites Wine Festival is on its way to Birmingham. Dozens of producers from around the world will be gathering at the city’s Custard Factory venue this month to serve their wines and share the stories behind them. The event also includes a selection of fun and informative masterclasses - including cocktail winemaking and a cheese & wine pairing session.
The Custard Factory, Birmingham, Saturday 10 May
VE80 ANNIVERSARY CELEBRATIONS
Tamworth Castle is marking the 80th anniversary of Victory in Europe with a weekend of activities and entertainment. Visitors can try their hand at sending Morse Code and decoding secret messages, see if they can pass the army medical, and take the air raid shelter survival test.
Tamworth Games Club will also be contributing to the weekend by reenacting some of World War Two’s most significant battles.
Tamworth Castle, Staffordshire, Saturday 10 & Sunday 11 May
SPRING DIESEL FESTIVAL
Severn Valley Railway’s four-day festival of traction is back this month and features both guest and home locomotives operating a busy timetable between Kidderminster and Hampton Loade.
Guest locomotives include the Freightliner Class 66, Freightliner Class 70, Rail Adventure Powercars 43468 and 43480 and Colas Class 56 x 2 (expected to be 56090 and 56094).
The Kidderminster Diesel Depot & Carriage Shed will be open for tours, which can be booked on the day.
Severn Valley Railway, nr Kidderminster, Worcestershire, Thursday 15 - Sunday 18 May
CIRCUS EXTREME
Combining live rock music and ‘world-class’ circus stunts, Circus Extreme returns with brand-new show Rock It Out.
The two-hour extravaganza features, among other acts, the Extreme Freestyle Motocross Team, South American stunt legend Paulinho, and The Danguir Troupe’s Double Wheel Of Death (pictured).
NEC, Birmingham, opposite Resorts World, Friday 16 May - Sunday 1 June
90'S BABY BOTTOMLESS BRUNCH
Get ready to party like it’s 1999 as The Brunch Club bring their 90s-themed event to two Midlands venues this month. Guests can enjoy all their favourite 90s hits - courtesy of live performers and the resident DJ - whilst also tucking into their brunch dish and making the most of a not-to-be-missed 60-minute ‘bottomless booze’ option.
Gosta Green, Birmingham, Saturday 17 May; The Buttermarket, Shrewsbury, Saturday 17 May
MAKERS CENTRAL
Visitors young and old can get involved with a selection of interactive sessions, including woodworking, metalworking, electronics and leathercraft.
Everyone from experienced makers to families and first-time triers can have a go at making things with new technologies, along the way gaining a better understanding of the science behind how things are made. Numerous makers-community YouTube stars and social-media influencers will be putting in an appearance across the weekend, including Britain’s very own inventor & maker Colin Furze and the star of Netflix’s Making Fun, Jimmy Diresta.
NEC, Birmingham, Saturday 17 & Sunday 18 May
WHITCHURCH FOOD & DRINK FESTIVAL
Whitchurch Food & Drink Festival makes a welcome return after a five-year break. A celebration of local produce, the free one-day event features chef demonstrations, exhibitors from across the region, and hands-on food sustainability activities presented by local organisations.
Live entertainment takes place on the bandstand throughout the day, and a kids’ area will feature a host of free activities, including inflatables, vintage games, alpacas, and have-a-go circus skills and sports.
Jubilee Park, Whitchurch, Shropshire, Saturday 24 May
BIRMINGHAM PRIDE
Celebrating the Midlands’ LGBTQIA+ community, Birmingham Pride will once again be getting the city partying this month.
It’s expected that more than 40,000 revellers will attend the event across the weekend, with an impressive 75,000-plus people either participating in or watching the annual Pride parade through the city’s streets.
The festival’s Smithfield site is the centre of the action, featuring a main stage, the Cabaret Stage and Dance Arena.
Headline acts this year include Clean Bandit, Cascada and Bananarama.
Birmingham Gay Village & Smithfield, Birmingham, Saturday 24 & Sunday 25 May
WORLD WAR TWO WEEK
The RAF Museum Midlands is travelling back to the 1940s this half-term week, to highlight the importance of World War Two in terms of the development of technology, engineering and community.
Attractions include talks, make & take sessions, a selfie station, Lego racers, and the return of the popular Spy Hunter Trail.
RAF Museum Midlands, Cosford, Saturday 24 May - Sunday 1 June
WESTON'S SPRING FLING
Weston Park’s popular Spring Fling features unique crafts, a selection of street food, and a line-up of local artisan food producers. Live music is provided by the Dirty Rockin Scoundrels, with fairground rides available to keep visitors of all ages entertained.
The whole estate - including the house and its collection, the miniature railway and the woodland adventure playground - is open to explore across the two days.
Weston Park, Shropshire, Sunday 25 & Monday 26 May
HALF TERM FUN AT THINKTANK SCIENCE MUSEUM
Thinktank will be keeping youngsters entertained during the half-term holiday with daily events and activities.
Highlights include the return of the Roving Robots Family Show, during which kids (and adults) can learn how space rovers are powered, what they might be up to on other planets, and how they get there.
The venue’s line-up of entertainment also includes Lunar Lego Lab workshops, providing youngsters with the opportunity to build, program and customise their very own Science Rover.
Thinktank Birmingham Science Museum, Monday 26 - Friday 30 May
STAFFORDSHIRE COUNTY SHOW
The 2025 Staffordshire County Show offers something for visitors of all ages to enjoy. The Country Pursuits Area will host the West Lancs Dog Display Team, birds-of-prey presentations, a ferret roadshow, a sheep show and giant tortoises.
The Main Ring programme, meanwhile, includes the Bolddog Lings Motorcycle Display Team, the Mounted Games, show jumping, a parade of hounds, and young farmers’ floats.
There will also be a grand parade of livestock - the show features over a thousand cattle, sheep, pigs and goats - and more than 1,500 horses and ponies, some of which will be participating in various competitions across the two days.
Four hundred-plus trade stands and a food hall further add to the event’s appeal.
Staffordshire County Showground, Wednesday 28 & Thursday 29 May
BRICK DINOS
This new exhibition provides families with the opportunity to step back in time to the prehistoric world.
The show’s attractions include a range of Lego dinosaur sculptures - created in collaboration with palaeontologists - behind-the-scenes videos, photo opportunities, and the chance to uncover fossils at an interactive ‘dino dig’.
Visitors can also get creative with hands-on Lego and Duplo play, design their own dinosaurs on a graffiti wall, and take home dinosaur-themed colouring sheets.
Herbert Art Gallery & Museum, Coventry, Saturday 31 May - Sunday 7 September