Events for Children and Young People

Share dreams about possible impossibilities with Joseph Coelho, award-winning poet and author, in his final festival appearance as UK Waterstones Children’s Laureate. Joseph talks about how he has travelled all over the country (and beyond!) as the Children’s Laureate to inspire everyone in becoming poets and storytellers. Joseph’s poetry creates all sorts of other worlds, with wild ideas and unforgettable images. He shares tips for writing your own stories and performs some of his own humorous and inventive poems.

Please bring your own notebook and pen or pencil to this event.

Join “everyone’s favourite pantomime dame” (Metro), Mama G, on a magical panto adventure, as she tries to discover why inclusive stories are so important. All she needs is your help, and some of the best picture books on the market. Get ready for a morning of singing, dancing and laughing that the whole family will love. Oh yes, they will!

Get your Hay day off to a brilliant start with our daily Ready, Steady, Music workshops! With different activities each day, these interactive, fun-filled sessions for mini musicians will have you tapping sticks, roaring like dinosaurs, flying with unicorns, dancing with scarves, playing with parachutes and much more. Come and meet our puppets, explore our instruments and be accompanied by the beautiful sound of the cello.

Come to the Family Garden for a pizza masterclass with Kitchen Garden Pizza. In this one-hour session your imagination and creativity will be fed along with your belly! You’ll get your hands messy with freshly grown and foraged ingredients, make and top your own dough and observe the pizzaioli at work at the wood-fired oven. And while you wait for your pizza to cook, you can decorate your own pizza box!
Dairy-free and gluten-free options available.

An opportunity to get crafting! Activities differ every day, including everything from print-making to junk modelling with recycled materials. Get messy and creative: your imagination is the limit.

Book for the session and you can drop in at any point during the 1.5 hour duration. Accompanying adults: please stay in attendance at all times, but you do not require a ticket.

Come to the Family Garden for a pizza masterclass with Kitchen Garden Pizza. In this one-hour session your imagination and creativity will be fed along with your belly! You’ll get your hands messy with freshly grown and foraged ingredients, make and top your own dough and observe the pizzaioli at work at the wood-fired oven. And while you wait for your pizza to cook, you can decorate your own pizza box!
Dairy-free and gluten-free options available.

There’s a place where all the strangest stories began… Prepare to be swept away to a land beyond your wildest imagination by master storyteller Katherine Rundell (The Explorer) as she unveils her epic new fantasy series Impossible Creatures.

Follow Christopher, Mal and a baby griffin on their urgent quest across the wild splendour of the Archipelago, a secret place in our world where all the creatures of myth still live and thrive. Discover dragons small enough to perch on your thumb, winged horses, gold-horned hares that salute the brave, and chaotic green talking squirrels. Imagine pitting your wits against sphinxes, swooping out over the sea in a flying coat – and uncover the secret at the heart of the islands that threatens the creatures’ survival, and the world itself.

In a world filled with vibrant colours, a young child feels a different shade – grey. Despite the joyous orange balloon, the huge yellow sun and the bright green trees, the child still feels grey. But when a reassuring hand reaches out and shares words of kindness, the child begins to see the warmth of colour again, and knows that they will always be loved, whether they feel grey or sunshine yellow. Delve into a heart-warming and powerful story of emotions with these two cherished creators.

Discover how to make amazing art with materials found in nature, in this inspiring session with experienced artist and educator Pippa Pixley. Pippa’s creative and exciting workshop draws on her wonderful new book Make Art With Nature. You’ll learn to sketch woodland creatures using burnt wood, twigs and coloured rocks and stones, and come away with a fresh enthusiasm for nature craft.

An opportunity to get crafting! Activities differ every day, including everything from print-making to junk modelling with recycled materials. Get messy and creative: your imagination is the limit.

Book for the session and you can drop in at any point during the 1.5 hour duration. Accompanying adults: please stay in attendance at all times, but you do not require a ticket.

Find out everything you ever wanted to know about life on a farm with the Countryfile farmer. How do you know when your animals are happy or sad? How does milk get from a cow to my cereal bowl? Can children drive tractors too? From noisy machines to hungry cows, blooming flowers and crowing cockerels, the farm is a very busy place – and there’s so much to discover. From the fascinating to the funny, the author of A Year on Adam’s Farm has all the answers. Adam runs Cotswold Farm Park in Gloucestershire, which pioneers rare breed conservation.

Please bring your own notebook and pen or pencil to this event.

This lively poetry performance introduces you to dragons, large and small, high and low, and invites you to join them as they take flight! And I Hear Dragons, edited by Wales Poet Laureate Hanan Issa, is a joyous collection of children’s poetry from across Wales, with poems from Alex Wharton, Nia Morais and Casi Wyn, among others. Come and celebrate the diversity and energy of poetry from Wales for children and young people.

Discover how to make amazing art with materials found in nature, in this inspiring session with experienced artist and educator Pippa Pixley. Pippa’s creative and exciting workshop draws on her wonderful new book Make Art With Nature. You’ll learn to sketch woodland creatures using burnt wood, twigs and coloured rocks and stones, and come away with a fresh enthusiasm for nature craft.

“I wish I had better parents!” Barry said, a third time. And then suddenly the entire room started to shake… Indulge in some epic wish-fulfilment with acclaimed author, comedian and screenwriter David Baddiel as he celebrates the ten-year anniversary of his debut children’s book The Parent Agency. Imagine the perks of a world where children can choose their parents, and get a sneak peek into some new bonus chapters from The Parent Agency musical stage adaptation, which is currently in the making. David talks to actress and comedian Carrie Quinlan.

If you are thinking I’m too small to make a difference then remember the plankton – they are one of the tiniest creatures on the planet but without them where would we be? The award-winning author and former Children’s Laureate Lauren Child talks about Smile, the final novel in utterly the best series ever. Clarice Bean knows it’s not just the planet that needs help – there’s her whole family too… And if you want things to change for the better, it’s not just up to everyone else, it’s also up to you.

Please bring your own notebook and pen or pencil to this event.

You are enough. You are interesting. Tell your story. Everybody can write. In this creative writing workshop Laura Dockrill, celebrated author of You Are a Story, shows how creativity can be your most valuable tool in living life your way. She opens the way to self-care, imagination and finding the stories that only you can tell. Whether you want to write for yourself or put your work out into the world, writing is for everyone.

Please bring your own notebook and pen or pencil to this event.

An opportunity to get crafting! Activities differ every day, including everything from print-making to junk modelling with recycled materials. Get messy and creative: your imagination is the limit.

Book for the session and you can drop in at any point during the 1.5 hour duration. Accompanying adults: please stay in attendance at all times, but you do not require a ticket.

Come to the Family Garden for a pizza masterclass with Kitchen Garden Pizza. In this one-hour session your imagination and creativity will be fed along with your belly! You’ll get your hands messy with freshly grown and foraged ingredients, make and top your own dough and observe the pizzaioli at work at the wood-fired oven. And while you wait for your pizza to cook, you can decorate your own pizza box!
Dairy-free and gluten-free options available.

How did we get here, and where are we heading? Soak up some ideas from the globally-renowned artist and bestselling author Oliver Jeffers as he discusses his new picture book, Begin Again: The Story of How We Got Here and Where We Might Go. This powerful and thought-provoking visual examination of the state of the world builds upon Jeffers’ artistic exploration of humankind’s impact on itself and on our planet.

Please bring your own notebook and pen or pencil to this event.

Take a deep dive into your own imagination to find treasures and passions that only poetry and song can reveal. You’ll practise creating original lyrics in this interactive event with singer, author and songwriter Casi Wyn. Casi is a familiar face in Wales, having composed original musical and lyrical works for the BBC National Orchestra of Wales and Sinfonia Cymru. She was the previous Bardd Plant Cymru, and is Creative Director of Codi Pais, a magazine and independent publisher that platforms new and diverse voices in Wales.

Please bring your own notebook and pen or pencil to this event.

You are enough. You are interesting. Tell your story. Everybody can write. In this creative writing workshop Laura Dockrill, celebrated author of You Are a Story, shows how creativity can be your most valuable tool in living life your way. She opens the way to self-care, imagination and finding the stories that only you can tell. Whether you want to write for yourself or put your work out into the world, writing is for everyone.

Please bring your own notebook and pen or pencil to this event.

Come to the Family Garden for a pizza masterclass with Kitchen Garden Pizza. In this one-hour session your imagination and creativity will be fed along with your belly! You’ll get your hands messy with freshly grown and foraged ingredients, make and top your own dough and observe the pizzaioli at work at the wood-fired oven. And while you wait for your pizza to cook, you can decorate your own pizza box!
Dairy-free and gluten-free options available.