Summer Holiday Culture Highlights
School’s out for summer in Sheffield and it's time for six-weeks of creative fun across the city.
If you're in need of ideas to keep the kids entertained, Our Favourite Places have pulled together their cultural holiday highlights, featuring kids’ classics on the big screen, a family disco, drama sessions, videogames and lots more...
Creative activities
Sheffield Museums’ venues have a whole bunch of creative activities in store all summer long. Join artist Habiba Nabisubi to get hands-on with natural materials in her Collect a Collage workshop at Weston Park Museum (5 August). Have a go at Donkey Art at Millennium Gallery (22 August) and Circuits are Cool! at Kelham Island Museum (27 July). Head to Abbeydale Industrial Hamlet for Summer Saturdays with tours, demos and crafts.
Game fans can discover and create real and imaginary worlds at the National Videogame Museum’s Fast Travel exhibition or be entertained for hours at Treehouse Board Game Cafe. On Sundays, young palaeontology enthusiasts can join Fossil Club at Yorkshire Natural History Museum. National Emergency Services Museum are hosting free weekday activities, with RNLI lifeboat tours and celebrations of heroes from the NHS and RSPCA. They’ll also be taking a bunch of vehicles up to Norfolk Heritage Park for Sheffield Fayre (28 August). And up at Sheffield Manor Lodge, kick-start the holidays with Under the Sea activities.
Have a magical time among art and nature at the Storrs Woodland Makers Market (30 July), where there’ll be Wildlife Trust activities for kids alongside craft stalls. Join Amazelab for interactive science-y fun at Cutlery Works with their workshops on Weather (25 July), Robot Hands (1 August), Rock Pets (8 August), Space (15 August) and Slime (22 August). Tinker and test materials at the Ready, Set, Make! series of workshops at Sheffield’s libraries with Maker{Futures}. Explore Site Gallery through dance and movement in their Family-friendly Movement Workshop (2 September). And see a giant kitten come to life using your phone with the augmented reality Look Up trail.
Theatre & Music
Get everyone moving at the Summer Family Disco hosted by RivelinCo at Hillsborough Arena (1 August). And for the gamers out there, Sheffield Cathedral is hosting an evening of music from the Zelda games played by a pianist by candlelight (4 August).
Following performances at Sheffield Theatres’ Playhouse and The Montgomery, the much-loved African children's story of Anna Hibiscus' Song continues its tour of local community venues. Catch it at Zest Centre (29 – 30 July). The Montgomery Theatre are staging The Not So Big Bad Wolf (11 August) at Sheffield Amphitheatre and Reynard the Fox (1 September) at Endcliffe Park with.
Growtheatre are bringing Ecclesall Woods to life with Magical Woods (24 August) and Woodland Stick Olympics (31 August). And Slapstick Picnic are bringing an outdoor performance of Peter Pan to Hillsborough Park (17 August) and Heeley People’s Park (19 August).
Meanwhile at Sheffield Theatres’ Together Too will be a big two-day celebration of local creative groups (28–29 July). The mesmerising Life of Pi also returns to Sheffield Lyceum (from 29 August), complete with incredible puppetry. And there’s chance to hone your own performance skills at their creative Summer School (2–5 August) – for ages 9–11 or 15–17.
Films
Saturday morning is Family Time at the Showroom. Join them over summer for fantasy-adventure Jumanji, joyful Japanese seaside story Lu Over the Wall, slapstick fun in Mr Bean’s Holiday, 90s comedy with Kenan and Kel in Good Burger, the Muppets, and more. And over at Kommune’s Kids Cinema every Sunday afternoon there’ll be a classic family film plus a doughnut and special offers from the food traders.
The Light, meanwhile, is indulging in Disney joy for their Family Specials, with Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, Bambi and Cinderella taking you through the holidays, ending with Peter Pan. Belt out the tunes at a special Moana Sing-A-Long on 13 August too. Animated Ukrainian folklore fantasy Mavka: The Forest Song is also coming to their big screen – in English and in Ukrainian (with English subtitles).