Imagine festival, London
There is a Nordic theme to this year’s Imagine at the Royal Festival Hall, in keeping with the wider Southbank Centre’s year-long look at the region’s art and culture, Nordic Matters. There will be performances by Hevisaurus, a Finnish dinosaur heavy metal band for children, and Oddjob, a Swedish jazz group also aimed at young people. There is a Swedish baby rave, an immersive Moominland exhibition, a free pedal-powered screening of The Little Mermaid, and Finnish circus for babies. Non-Nordic events include readings by Julian Clary, Chris Hoy and other children’s authors, and lots more theatre, dance, music and installations.
• 9-19 Feb, free and ticketed events, southbankcentre.co.uk
Jorvik Viking festival, York
Every February half-term, York holds a city-wide celebration of its Viking heritage and its last Viking king, Eric Bloodaxe. This year, kids can play with Viking toys and games, have a go at sword-fighting and archery, and make wire jewellery and clay pots. There is an encampment showing how the Norse settlers lived, a market and an animal area, plus storytelling, performances, singing and a drumming workshop. Sadly, the Viking banquet is sold out, but there are plenty of spaces for a special poo day (21 Feb): “Have a go at making your very own replica historic poo and discover how poo is used to solve ancient mysteries.” Saturday’s finale features a march to Coppergate, competitions for the strongest Viking and the best beard, and a live re-enactment of Bloodaxe’s last battle.
• 20-26 Feb, free and ticketed events, jorvik-viking-festival.co.uk
WayWord family festival, Chester
Arts producer Storyhouse has created a family festival in Chester town hall and libraries across Cheshire, with a diverse lineup of artists, scientists, coders and comedians. As well as readings, storytelling and shows – including a staging of The Lighthouse Keeper’s Lunch – there are plenty of hands-on activities. Children can try puppet making and bag printing, put on a play in a day, have a go at standup, write a theme tune, dance hip-hop-style, play the drums or try yoga. There is also a day dedicated to building dens. As well as these ticketed events, there are many free craft activities and workshops, including digital storytelling and lightbox animation.
• 20-24 Feb, £4, some events free, storyhouse.com
Showzam!, Blackpool
Blackpool’s four-day festival of circus, magic and performance is celebrating its 10th anniversary this year. The festival hub is Showzam! Central at the Winter Gardens, where there is free entertainment by the Magic Carpet Theatre, including Yvette the Headless Lady, a girl in a goldfish bowl, contortionist Pixie Le Knot and a fire king, plus free circus workshops. Elsewhere, there are street performers, a magic show at Viva Blackpool and behind-the-scene tours of Blackpool Pleasure Beach, plus kids’ masterclasses in dance, magic tricks and ice-dancing.
• 11-14 Feb, free and ticketed events, visitblackpool.com/showzam
Dark Skies festival, various
The second Dark Skies festival, this time taking place in three national parks – North York Moors, Yorkshire Dales and the South Downs – is celebrating not just stars and space but the entire nocturnal world. This means that as well as stargazing safaris, rocket making and moon-buggy races, there are events such as night running, mountain biking, caving, and nocturnal photography sessions. Kids will love the guided walks with a forest ranger, learning to navigate by the stars and looking for deer and owls through night-vision goggles.
• 18-26 Feb, free and ticketed events, darkskiesnationalparks.org.uk
Geek, Margate
This family-friendly event festival of play and games has relocated to Dreamland, Margate, this year. Highlights include a bumper-car tournament to mark the 25th anniversary of Mario Kart, and a 250-player game of Renga. There is an exhibition of covers and artwork for the 40th anniversary of Judge Dread’s 2000AD comic book, and workshops including robot-making and codingGames range from Cosplay and Larp (live action role play) to board games and traditional pub games, via eSports and a Minecraft cave.
• 17-19 Feb, from £9 adult, £4 fives and over, dreamland.co.uk/geek
Storyfest, Cornwall
The Eden Project is celebrating children’s books this half-term. Storyfest’s highlight is daily shows by the Imagination Seekers, who perform interactive theatre inspired by Roald Dahl. There are Dare to Write workshops by Paper Nations for budding authors, plus stories, craft workshops and games. Guests include illustrators Rebecca Cobb and Martin Brown, and author John Dougherty.
• 11-19 Feb, included in admission price (from £22.50 adults/£12.60 children/£62 family/under-5s free), edenproject.com
NI Science festival, various
This festival devoted to science, technology, engineering and maths has more than 100 events in 25 venues across Northern Ireland. During the day, there are workshops, talks and activities for children, while the evening is devoted to scientific debate for adults. Numerous kid-friendly sessions range from a sensory space adventure for babies to an app boot camp for teens, plus an ugly animals roadshow, an experiment in the Marble Arch caves in County Fermanagh, and a tutorial on surviving a zombie outbreak.
• 16-26 Feb, free and ticketed events, nisciencefestival.com
Brilliant Light, Winchester
Winchester Science Centre’s festival of light is based on four daily live, interactive family shows with lots of lasers and experiments with ultraviolet light. There are roving scientists and busking stands devoted to topics such as fluorescence, spectroscopy and invisibility. The Invention Studio has challenges relating to programming, aerodynamics, engineering and electronics, and there is a programme of shows and films in the planetarium.
• 10-27 Feb, from £9.82 adult, £6.88 over-three winchestersciencecentre.org
Play the Gallery, London
Tate Britain’s two-day festival will see artists liven up the gallery with performance, music and dance. Children can join in a giant game of catch, chat with a DJ from outer space, make sculptures and take part in a talk show moderated by a 12-year-old. It’s just a shame the Turner prize exhibition ended last month, so Anthea Hamilton’s giant gold buttocks are no longer on display.
• 11-12 Feb, free, tate.org.uk
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