Events for Children and Young People

Discover the joy of dancing and the importance of family, whatever your culture, ability or style with Luna, brought to life by author Joseph Coelho and illustrator Fiona Lumbers. When Luna dances, she feels like the world’s volume turns up, like all colours brighten, like sunlight sparkles behind every cloud. But when she takes her dance exam she ducks, dives, spins and... falls. Luna thinks she can’t be a real dancer now. Can Luna’s family convince her otherwise?

Join Fiona Danks and Jo Schofield, authors of The Stick Book and many other outdoor adventure favourites, for a fun interactive workshop. Try some wild activities taken from their new book to make a creative scrapbook. Cut things out, doodle, stick in natural materials. How wild can you make yours?

How best can we support children and young people with their mental health and wellbeing? Join the Strong Young Minds champions and wellbeing ambassadors for a panel discussion about ways we can provide support to our young people.

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 2.5 hour duration. An accompanying adult must attend at all times but does not require a ticket.

Actor and award-winning writer Manjeet grew up in a house where there were no books. She was put on the ‘slow readers’ table in junior school and in secondary school was told ‘not to get her hopes up’ for her English GCSE. In this interactive workshop, Manjeet uses her own story to help liberate you from your fears around writing and open up a space for creativity, while supporting you to find your unique storytelling voice.

Award-winning poet Alex Wharton leads an event full of rhythm, rhyme and free verse as he reads from his poetry collection Daydreams and Jellybeans. Escape into beautiful daydreams but watch out for any hairy jellybeans... or mischievous hedgehogs. Follow Alex’s hints and tips to make poetry of your own.

Come and join the CLD Trust and Strong Young Minds champions and wellbeing ambassadors to hear how everyone can improve their mental health and emotional wellbeing.

Authors and award-winning young climate activists Amy and Ella Meek discuss their latest book Be Climate Clever. These two passionate changemakers answer all your burning questions about climate change. This is a ‘don’t miss’ event for all children interested in the environment.

Author of When the Sky Falls Phil Earle’s latest book sees Noah on an unforgettable wartime mission to save his beloved dog Winn, in a remarkable story inspired by true events. In September 1939, as Noah’s dad marches off to war, he asks Noah to keep the family dog safe. But Noah’s hopes of doing that are crushed when the government advises people to take their pets to the vet to have them put down as part of the war preparations. Noah refuses to let that happen to Winn. With his two friends in tow, he makes a pledge to go on the run and save as many animals as he can, no matter what.

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 2.5 hour duration. An accompanying adult must attend at all times but does not require a ticket.

Get ready to meet Cookie, who is funny, science-obsessed and ready to take on the world! Blue Peter presenter and children’s book author Konnie Huq explores the world of her popular Cookie! series with science experiments and a science quiz, tips on how to save the planet and a look at computer programming.

Award-winning Welsh author Manon Steffan Ros leads an informal writing workshop about how to write about the things that matter to us. How can we use stories as a way of making us feel a bit better, or to better understand the world? Manon guides us into the world of creative writing with tasks that aim to open up a new way of interpreting the world.