Museums will be unrolling an imaginative array of activities across the country. From candle-lit readings, paranormal investigations, sleepovers, night-time tours, musical events and much, much more.

This year’s programme sees the return of firm favourites, like Cabinet War Rooms sleepover and the Old Operating Theatre at St Thomas Church, plus exciting new additions such as the; Helicopter Museum’s ‘Back to the Blitz’ experience, follow a night shift at Cornwall’s Geevor Tin Mine and the chance to see a ‘Light in the Night’ at Cromer’s Lifeboat Museum.

You can find up to date listings at the Culture 24 Website

The Festival opens with the Children’s Parade at 10.30am on Saturday 1st May and then a whole range of theatre, puppet shows, activities follow over the next few weeks. Events to look out for are:

* Jacqueline Wilson, the children’s author famous for Tracey Beaker, will be doing a book signing
* Mr Toad’s Children’s Book Quiz for over 7s with tea, sandwiches, cake and plenty of prizes for all
* The Big Splash down by the Marina with an array of weird and wacky street entertainers alongside hands-on activities like make-and-take workshops for kid
* Comedy 4 Kids at Komedia which will have lots of funny gags without any rude bits
* The Magnificent Flying Machine and Penguin puppet shows at Freerange
* Baby Loves Disco at Komedia for kids who like to boogie woogie
* Moscow State Circus at Preston Park

If the kids still have lots of energy, you can let them run around on the beach to burn it off.

For more information visit their website and be sure to book ahead!

A NEW DAY OUT Bewilderwood, Norfolk
ADRENALINE RUSH Dalby Forest biking trails, Yorkshire
ALFRESCO BATH The Samling, Cumbria
ANIMAL ENCOUNTER Monkey Forest, Staffordshire
BANDSTAND Birmingham Botanical Gardens, Birmingham
BEACH CAFE East Beach Café, Littlehampton, Sussex
BEACH FOR KIDS Crantock, Cornwall

BOATING The Thames at Richmond, Surrey
BREEZY HILLTOP Great Hetha, Northumberland
CAMP SITE Budemeadows Holiday Park, Cornwall
CLIFFTOP COTTAGE Whitby lighthouse, Yorkshire
COASTAL WALK Giant’s Causeway, County Antrim, Ireland
CREAM TEA Southern Cross tearoom, Devon

DEGUSTATION Valley Farm Vineyards, Suffolk
DONKEY RIDE Maggie’s beach donkeys, Weymouth, Dorset
DRIFT DOWNSTREAM River Wye, Wales
FAMILY CYCLE Loch Katrine, Trossachs, Scotland
FAMILY HOTEL Fowey Hall, Cornwall
FISH AND CHIPS Ben Ledi Cafe, Callander, Stirling, Scotland
FLYING International Kite Festival, Portsmouth, Hampshire
ICE CREAM Morelli’s, Broadstairs, Kent
LAKESIDE PICNIC Buttermere, Cumbria

MOONLIT WALK Seven Sisters, East Sussex
PICNIC CONCERT Battle Abbey, East Sussex
PUNCH AND JUDY MAN Codman’s, Llandudno, Wales
RIVERSIDE PUB The King’s Head, Northamptonshire
ROCKPOOLING Kimmeridge Bay, Dorset
SAFARI Cairngorms, Highlands, Scotland
SEA BREEZE Yachting on the Solent, Isle of Wight
SEAKAYAKING Beara Peninsula, Co Cork, Ireland

SEAL BOAT TRIP Searles, Hunstanton, Norfolk
SEASIDE PIER Southwold Pier, Suffolk
SEA-VIEW ROOM Mullion Cove Hotel, Cornwall
SECRET GARDEN Hawkstone Park Follies, Shropshire
SOLAR-POWERED STAY Mesmear, Cornwall

SOLITUDE Sandwood Bay, Sutherland, Scotland
STRIP Morfa Dyffryn Beach, Snowdonia, Wales
TOPLESS DRIVE A686, Penrith to Haydon Bridge, Cumbria
VILLAGE CRICKET Hambledon, Hampshire
WOODIE Oakwood Theme Park, Pembrokeshire, Wales
WILD SWIM Angle Tarn, Cumbria