The 2017 May bank holiday weekend is here and there are lots of free and affordable fun on offer for children and families in and around Bristol!
There are scarecrow trails, steam train rides, Maypole dancing, free family fun afternoons, grottos to explore, horses to meet, May fairs and much more – here’s my list of what’s on from Saturday 29th April to Monday 1st May.
Hope you find it useful – if so, do give the Bristol Mum Facebook page a like to keep up with even more family friendly events coming up soon!
Free Family Fun Afternoons all over Bristol with The Noise 2017
There will be 11 FREE Family Fun Afternoons taking place all over Bristol every day of this May bank holiday weekend with The Noise 2017! Inflatable games, face painting, craft zone, café area and much more – all ages and backgrounds welcome!
- Saturday, Sunday & Monday
- FREE
- Easton, Horfield, Sea Mills, St Werburghs, Fishponds, Lawrence Weston, Barton Hill, Brentry, Southmead, Lockleaze, Knowle West
- More details
Miniature Train Rides: Ashton Court Railway
Take a train ride or two on a miniature train. Great for all ages.
- 1 – 5pm (weather permitting – if in doubt phone 0117 946 7110 on the day)
- Tickets: 90p for one ride, 5 tickets for £4, 10 tickets for £8
- More details
Gardens & Grottos event at Kingswood Heritage Museum
Explore the museum’s gardens and discover its amazing features such as grottoes, Windmill Tower, Ice House, Echo Pond, Clocktower building and more. See this map of the garden for more things to discover!
- Sunday and Monday, 11am – 5pm
- £1.50 per adult, under 12s go free
- Kingswood Heritage Museum, Tower Lane, Warmley, BS30 8XT
- More details
Redland May Fair: Redland Green
Free annual event with about 120 stalls offering toys, clothes, books, bric-a-brac and more. Children’s entertainment, local choirs and music groups, plus delicious food on offer from foreign foods to delicious home-made cakes. Teas, cakes and other refreshments will also be available to buy in the church hall.
- Monday, 1 – 5pm
- FREE entry
- Redland Green, Redland BS6 7EH
Train Rides on Bristol Harbour Railway
Take a steam train ride on Bristol Harbour Railway from M Shed. The train will be pulled by the locomotive Portbury.
- Saturday, Sunday & Monday 1st May, 11am – 4pm (buy tickets on board on the day)
- Single £2 / Return £3 (M Shed to ss Great Britain) / Under 6s travel free
- M Shed, Princes Wharf, Wapping Rd, BS1 4RN
- More details
An opportunity to see what goes on at HorseWorld’s Welfare Department which is not normally open to the public. You will be able to meet some of the horses and there will be talks and tours throughout the day, including a nature walk. If you don’t already adopt an animal, there will be the opportunity to do so.
- Saturday, 10.30am – 4pm
- FREE entry (donations welcome)
- Keynes Farm, Staunton Lane, Whitchurch, BS14 0QL
- More details
Winterbourne Down May Day Carnival
The theme of the annual Winterbourne Down Carnival this year is Marvel Characters! The procession leaves Bradley Avenue shops at 10.15am and finishes at the grounds of the Methodist Church. There’ll also be lots of stalls, crafts and produce on offer throughout the day.
- Monday 1st May, from 10.15am
- FREE
- Starts from Bradley Avenue shops, Winterbourne Down
- More details
A chance for children and families to make your own film collages. Draw on, dye and scratch film to create your own abstract animations and watch your short film loops projected onto the wall. Play with shapes, collage and optical toys to make changing pictures and experiment with light and colour.
Ideal for children aged 5+ nut all ages welcome.
- Saturday, 1 – 4pm (drop-in)
- FREE
- Arnolfini, 16 Narrow Quay, BS1 4QA
- More details
Pucklechurch Scarecrow Competition & Trail
Come along to discover a whole host of amazing scarecrows! Pick up your scarecrow trail map and clue sheet from St Thomas a Becket Church, explore the village, guessing the names of the scarecrows as you do so. Return your clue sheet with answers by 4pm on Monday 1st to be in with a chance of winning a £50 prize for most correctly guessed scarecrow names.
- Sunday 11.30am – 4.30pm & Monday 10.30am – 4.30pm
- Family ticket £5, children £1 and adults £2
- Pucklechurch, BS16 9RB
- More details
Skeletons: our Buried Bones at M Shed
A new free exhibition at M Shed revealing how Bristolians lived thousands of years ago. ‘Skeletons: Our Buried Bones’ displays six skeletons discovered in Bristol alongside six skeletons from the Museum of London’s collection, bringing to life stories long hidden beneath the ground.
- Saturday, Sunday and Monday 10am – 5pm
- FREE
- M Shed, princes Wharf, Wapping Rd, BS1 4RN
- More details
May Fayre at Hartcliffe Community Farm
Lots of stalls selling a variety of things, plus a bouncy castle, face painting, live music and fun for the kids. Home-made cakes and refreshments available to buy, plus delicious hot food too. Also be a plant sale with vegetable plants and bedding plants for sale from the farm’s own poly tunnel.
- Monday, 1 – 3.30pm
- FREE entry
- Hartcliffe Community Farm, BS13 0QH
- More details
May Day on the Green: Iron Acton
Iron Acton’s annual May Day event. Performances, stalls, activities, Maypole dancing, food, drink and all-round May Day fun.
- Monday, 10.30am – 4pm
- Aron Acton Village Green, BS37
- More details
Bristol Mum 