What’s On at the Museum in the Park displayed as a list of events in date order.
See below for our programme of displays, events, exhibitions and family activities.
For a quick preview of The Museum in the Park’s bookable events please see our TicketSource page.
Follow our Spooky Search! We’ve brought some special spooky objects out of storage and hidden them around the museum. Follow the clues to find them for a closer look. Great for family groups to enjoy together!
A free explorer trail for Half Term, ask at Museum Reception when you visit.
Have fun exploring the Museum with our fabulous selection of FREE explorer trails for all ages! Always available at reception, these are a great way for families to enjoy discovering the collections together, and you’ll learn about Stroud District’s fascinating history along the way. From fossils and dinosaur bones to childhood toys of the past, there’s always something curious and intriguing to take a closer look at.
Look out for new trails this half term including a Halloween themed trail and an outdoor Walled Garden trail!
Free, all ages welcome, donations appreciated.
Join Buzz Club this October as we celebrate being part of the Walled Garden in its special 10th Anniversary year!
We’ll be making clay flowers and pollinators and creating celebration posters for the garden.
At 12 noon we’ll take an Observation Walk, noticing the first signs of Winter and gathering inspiration to draw and create.
For adults and for children, free but donations welcome, come for all or part of the time. No need to book, just drop in, get creative and help us celebrate 10 years of the walled garden!
Carve a pumpkin lantern at home, bring it to the Museum and join our annual Autumn celebration, a family friendly Green Halloween event with Stroud Valleys Project.
Drop in between 2pm - 4.30pm to enjoy creative craft activities using natural materials, or the Museum’s Halloween spooky explorer trail.
Don your homemade or pre-loved costume and bring along your carved pumpkin lantern by 4.45pm to be part of the Lantern Trail and for a chance to win a prize. This year our guest judge will be Andy Hussey, local children’s author.
Between 4pm to 4.45pm, Andy will read one of his stories and will be available to sell and sign books.
At 5pm we’ll be screening ‘Room on The Broom’, a short animated film based on the much-loved book. Free for families who have brought carved pumpkins (suggested donation £3 per person for others).
The afternoon will end with a chance to view your carved lantern creations lit up outside the museum between 5.30pm - 6pm. Competition winners will be announced at 6pm.
This is a completely free event and is suitable for all ages. There is no need to book, just drop in anytime between 2.30pm and 5.30pm. Donations for the Museum in the Park and Stroud Valleys Project welcomed.
The full schedule for the day is:
2.30-4.45 – Drop off your carved pumpkins
2pm – 4.30 – Sustainable Willow Halloween Crafts
3pm - 6pm – Miss Daisy’s Pop Up Café Stall selling warming soup, homemade cakes & sweet treats
4pm - 4.45pm – Stories & Book Signing with Andy Hussey
5pm – Room on the Broom film screening
5pm – Judging – including Andy Hussey – local children’s author
5.30 – Trail Begins
6pm – Winners announced | collect your pumpkins
This event is part of SVP’s Ripple Effect Project, which is supported by Stroud District Council. A family friendly event for all ages. Free entry, donations welcome.
Photo by Wendy Budden
As part of our Green Halloween event with SVP we’ll once again be showing this much-loved animated film based on the wonderful children's picture book written by Julia Donaldson and illustrated by Axel Scheffler
A kind witch invites a surprising collection of animals to join her on her broom, much to the frustration of her cat. The gang ultimately saves the witch from a fearsome dragon, and in gratitude she rewards them with a magnificent new broom which has room for everyone. A magical tale about friendship and family from the producers of the hugely successful The Gruffalo and The Gruffalo's Child.
Featuring the voices of Gillian Anderson (Witch), Rob Brydon (Cat), Martin Clunes (Dog), Sally Hawkins (Bird), Simon Pegg (Narrator), Timothy Spall (Dragon) and David Walliams (Frog).
Free entry for all families and individuals who are taking part in the carved Pumpkin Lantern Trail which shows from 5.30pm to 6pm outside the Museum. £3 per person for others (pay on the door). No need to book, just drop off your carved pumpkin by 4.45pm, then head to the Meeting Room and enjoy the show. All ages welcome.
The bunnies of Hoppity Hill are hiding inside the Museum! Come and enjoy exploring with this free I Spy trail linked to Stroud Book Festival. Aimed at families with pre-school children but all ages welcome. Collect your trail sheet from Museum Reception!
For the 10th anniversary of the opening of the walled garden, Periscope invite you to celebrate the garden as it is today, to look back at its history, and to imagine how it could be in the future. Share your garden memories, hopes and what this special place means to you. You can take part by looking, drawing, writing and making, exploring the cycle of the garden - from seed, to growth, to composting for future flourishing - while celebrating all the work done in the garden by both human volunteers and more than human helpers.
Join us to co-create a joyful celebration of the memories embedded in the garden, and the potential that it holds.
Free entry, donations welcome. Come for as long or as short a time as you wish.
Periscope are artist duo Alison Cockcroft and Emily Joy. They were some of the first artists to work in the Walled Garden, when it was still an abandoned wasteland.
Come and enjoy spinning, weaving and all things woolly with volunteers from Stroudwater Textile Trust (STT). Free creative craft activities for children aged 3–11 and their grown ups. See a spinning wheel in action, have a go at simple weaving and more!
You can also meet local Puppeteer Anthony who will be bringing three incredible handmade puppets called William Sheepspeare , Puck and the Wizard! Look out for pop up puppet shows at 11am, 12.30pm and 2pm (no need to book for these).
Book your places for weaving activities at 10am, 11.30am or 1pm via STT’s website.
Get creative and have fun crafting a paper pumpkin or creature (maybe a rat, bat, or frog?) for this special spooky time of year and get in the Hallowe’en spirit! For families with children of all ages, designed for parents/grandparents and children to enjoy together.
Drop in, £1 per child, please pay on the door. In the Museum’s Meeting Room.
If the room is too crowded for you when you arrive, why not try our Hallowe’en explorer trail first to find some spooky objects hidden around the Museum, or use our Autumnal Walled Garden trail and enjoy a breath of crisp Autumn air? You can always and join in the craft a bit later
Join Carnival of Cryptids for spooky songs and magic from the folk tradition, to welcome in the dark time of year.
A free pop-up concert featuring eerie harmonies, uncanny happenings and music for the Halloween season.
No need to book, just come along, everyone welcome. In the Garden Pavilion at the top of the Walled Garden. A free community event, donations welcome.
Join Gaynor from Stroudwater Textile Trust and have fun with Halloween-themed crafts, making spooky spiders or scary masks or maybe even a glow-in-the-dark trick or treat bag. All ages welcome, a free family drop-in workshop in our downstairs Meeting Room, for parents/carers and children to enjoy together.
Meet Blacksmith Simon Bushell and encounter the inspiring Nowhere Forge and see it in action - a self-sufficient, sustainably powered mobile blacksmithing workshop. After appearing in Stroud town centre outside St Laurence Church, it makes its way to the Museum’s Walled Garden in time for the half term holidays.
Free entry, no need to book, all ages welcome but children must be accompanied and supervised by a parent or carer. Come and be enchanted by the Blacksmith’s craft!
Part of the Earth Fire Iron programme.
Looking for a fun, creative family activity this half term? Join our Chasing Nature mini metalworker drop-in workshop! This interactive session introduces families to basic metal chasing techniques to create votive plaques inspired by native plants and creatures and our beautiful Walled Garden.
Guided by Artist Blacksmithing students, you'll transfer your designs onto metal plates and use hammers and punches to emboss them, crafting unique art pieces to take home with you. Don’t miss this chance to blend creativity with nature and learn new skills.
For families with children aged 5+. Children must be accompanied and supervised by a parent or carer.
Head to the Garden Pavilion and book a place a place in person - we’re now operating on a booking basis due to HUGE demand for this fantastic workshop!
If we’ve run out of spaces please enjoy a free museum explorer trail instead, or watch blacksmithing demos in the Garden - the Nowhere Forge will be in action between 10.30am - 3.30pm.
Part of the Earth Fire Iron programme, supported by Arts Council England
With thanks to Mark, Ren and the wonderful team from HCA
Enjoy a walk in the park collecting colourful fallen leaves and then come and join artist Corinne Hockley and make a gorgeous Autumn crown to wear!
For families with children of all ages, free but donations welcome to support the Museum.
Don’t forget to say hello to sculptor Natasha Houseago too - she’ll be showing visitors how to make charcoal with her mini forge.
Come and join Natasha Houseago who will be running an outdoor charcoal drawing workshop using her tiny Indian, jewellery making forge to make stick charcoal in old tobacco tin ovens.
Natasha will prepare ash drawing boards so you can make some ‘Earth Fire Iron’ exhibition inspired charcoal drawings on the boards.
It might be interesting to look at how nature has inspired Alan Evan's beautiful metal work, and work by young makers such as Neve Taylor-Bridges whose sculpture ‘Arachne’ is on display in the Walled Garden. From Spider's webs, to stalks and leaves there are so many natural references in the exhibition.
You will be able to take your drawing home after it's been spray varnished. All ages welcome, but please wear warm layers! Hot drinks and cakes available to buy inside.
Free, donations welcome, part of the Earth Fire Iron programme.
As part of SVP’s Green Halloween afternoon, Miss Daisy will be selling her delicious homemade soup, sausage rolls, yummy cakes and hot drinks outside the Museum. So if you get peckish while you wait to see your pumpkin lantern glowing in the dark, be sure to say hello and treat yourselves! Cash preferred if possible please.
Carve a pumpkin lantern at home, bring it to the Museum and join our annual Autumn celebration, a family friendly event with Stroud Valleys Project. This year our theme is a Green Halloween!
Drop in from 2.30pm to enjoy creative craft activities using recycled or natural materials, making flying bats and seasonal headdresses. Get money saving tips on how to source costumes and make decorations that are planet-friendly and fun.
Don your homemade or second hand costume and bring along your carved pumpkin, marrow or turnip by 4.45pm for a chance to win a prize. This year our judges are:
Melissa Mayer – local primary school teacher
Jim Pilston – well-known local artist who exhibited at the Museum last year
Shannon Newtown – Book Festival organiser and Museum Trustee
At 5pm, we’ll be screening ‘Room on The Broom’, a short animated film based on the much-loved book.
The afternoon will end with a chance to view your carved lantern creations lit up outside the museum between 5.30pm - 6pm.
A family friendly event for all ages. Free entry, cakes and drinks available to buy from the Museum and from Miss Daisy’s Pop Up Stall outside.
Looking for something fun, free and relaxed to enjoy with your children during the half term holiday? We have a variety of trails for families to enjoy together, exploring different themes and artefacts in the fascinating museum collections. From Amazing Animals to the Musical Museum, Woolly Wonders and more, these trails are always available from museum reception. Why not come and try them out? New trails are being added all the time. Ask at the front desk when you visit.
Free, but donations welcome to help support our work.
Explore the beautiful Autumn garden and see if you can spot some stone hedgehogs hiding here and there. Each one has a letter nearby … write down the letters, then unscramble them to reveal a secret word. An outdoor ‘I Spy’ trail for families to enjoy together. Free, donations welcome.
Join artists Emily Joy, Nicola Builder (Wayward Weaves) and Deborah Roberts for ‘Unweaving and Reweaving the Commons” – a public participatory ‘unweaving’ and reweaving workshop exploring our deep connections to local landscapes. You are invited to gradually and collaboratively pull threads from a large, printed textiles piece depicting the grassland environment on Rodborough Common, echoing the path erosion that is gradually reducing this rare wildflower habitat. Participants are then invited to reweave the pulled threads, working together to create a new collaborative fabric which carries traces of the printed image of the commons.
This is a free, drop-in workshop suitable for all ages, no previous weaving experience necessary. Do come and join us in the Walled Garden Pavilion. Drop in between 11am and 3pm.
Stroud Valleys Project and friends invite you to bring along your very own carved pumpkin lantern to the Museum and help create a magical trail to enjoy with your family at 5.30pm (drop off your pumpkin between 2.30pm and 5pm!). Celebrate Autumn with drop in craft activities - these will be running between 2.30pm and 5pm. Free, donations welcome, for further details click here.
Do ask for our special Awesome Autumn museum explorer trail too! You can enjoy this FREE indoor trail between 2pm and 4.30pm - ask at the Front Desk.
For centuries it has been customary to play games at Halloween, from apple-bobbing to divination rituals. In the seasonal spirit of Hallowmas, we invite you to examine our selection of spooky and mysterious objects. What are they and how might they be connected to Halloween? Come and see the display to find out the answers.
Staircase Hall
FREE, donations welcome
Website for the Museum in the Park, Stroud, Gloucestershire.
Opening Times:
Tuesday - 10am to 4.30pm
Wednesday - 10am to 4.30pm
Thursday - 10am to 4.30pm
Friday - 10am to 4.30pm
Saturday - 11am to 4.30pm
Sunday - 11am to 4.30pm
Bank Holidays - 11am to 4.30pm
Monday - Closed
Admission Free - donations welcomed
Stroud District (Cowle) Museum - a Stroud District Council Service
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