FEBRUARY
Make-do and Mend Fun
Saturday 14th – Sunday 22nd February
How did the Victorians recycle? Help make our giant Forest rag rug, and weave your own recycled rug to take home. Make a peg doll in the Forester's cottage.
Recycle Roadshow
Sunday 15th February
The "3 Rs" - Reduce, Reuse, and Recycle - from the Recycle for Gloucestershire Team. Make your own paper and take it home with you! Get composting in your own home.
MARCH
Family History Day
Sunday 22nd March
Discover your roots with the Forest of Dean Family History Society.
APRIL
Special offer: buy a family day ticket and visit as many times as you like during the Easter School Holidays.
Mask Making
Saturday 4th – Thursday 9th April - 1.30pm
Will you be a party animal or a super hero? Potions, plagues and 'pothecaries Sunday 5th April Meet an 18th century doctor! Learn about some slimy, messy and gory Gloucestershire medicines and medical practices of past times.
Fly Your Kite
Good Friday 10th - Easter Monday 13th April - 1.30pm
Join us to make your own kite to fly and take home with you.
Fashion from 1837 - 1914
Easter Monday 13th April - 11am
Our very own Victorian lady takes us on a journey through fashion in all its glory including an exhibition of part of our collection.
Crazy Chicks
Tuesday 14th to Sunday 19th April - 1.30pm
Make your own Easter chick - let your creativity run riot.
Dennis Potter - Voices and Memories from the Forest
Sunday 19th April - 2pm
Jason Griffiths and Jo Garde-Hansen from the University of Gloucestershire host a talk on Forest playwright Dennis Potter.
Early Bird
Sunday 26th April - 8am
An early start to catch sight of the most birds and birdsong. Returns to museum at 10am for a cup of tea and museum visit. A walking event with local expert Barry Embling of the RSPB.
MAY
Spring Foray Days
Saturday 2nd May – Bank Holiday Monday 4th May - 2pm
Join us as we go out into the woodland to find the natural bounty that the Forest has to offer. Find out about collecting saps to ferment, making wine from young oak leaves, and other edible delights of the Forest.
Organ Grinders' Gathering
Tuesday 12th May - Sunday 17th May
The British Organ Grinders' Association hold their spring gathering, with a wide variety of hand-turned street organs playing for your entertainment!
Fire & Wood
Saturday 23rd – Bank Holiday Monday 25th May
Following a hugely successful event last year, this is the second annual Fire & Wood event - a fantastic celebration of our charcoal burn, chainsaw carving, and a host of skilled wood crafts.
Chainsaw carvers Clayton Ryder & Gil Parham, along with Forest personality Dave Harvey, will all be donating items to a charity auction after Fire & Wood. Click here for more info (pdf file)
Massive Moth Mural
Tuesday 26th – Sunday 31st May - 1.30pm
Make a marvellous moth to add to our massive moth mural!
Moth Morning
Sunday 31st May - 10am
Join the county Moth Recorder, Roger Gaunt, as he shows us the results of a night's moth trapping, and demonstrates how he catches and records them.
JUNE
Forest of Dean Morris Men
Sunday 14th June - 11am
Part of the Forest of Dean Morris Dancing Festival.
Trace your House History
Sunday 21st June - 2pm
With Forest historian, Averil Kear.
JULY
Special offer: Summer Saver family ticket, £20 for the whole holiday.
Victorian Garden Weekend
Saturday 18th – Sunday 19th July
Meet Ma Meek and her family in the Victorian Foresters' cottage. See the wonderful work of our volunteer gardeners. Meet the Gloucestershire Beekeepers and look at the bees in their observation hive. Plant your own seeds to take home with you and watch them grow.
Victorian Gardens Talk
Sunday 19th July - 2pm
Jane Bradney from Gloucestershire Garden & Landscape Trust talks on Victorian gardens, from garden technology, the role of the Head Gardener, plant hunting, Victorian carpet bedding, and kitchen gardens.
Seed Planting
Monday 20th – Friday 24th July - 1.30pm
Make your own paper pots, and plant seeds in them to take home with you and watch them grow.
Rock & Fossil Roadshow
Saturday 25th & Sunday 26th July
Gloucestershire Geology Trust bring their fantastic touring event to the Forest. Weather permitting a geologist will lead a walk along the Soudley Trail at 12.30pm each day.
Dinosaur Days
Monday 27th – Friday 31st July - 1.30pm
Make your own terrifying tyrannosaurus to take home!
Geology of the Forest of Dean
Thursday 30th July - 2pm
An introductory talk on the unique geology of the Forest.
AUGUST
Can You Dig It?
Saturday 1st & Sunday 2nd August - 11am til 3pm
Dig into an archaeological excavation, brought to you by Gloucestershire County Council Archaeology Service as part of the Festival of British Archaeology.
Mosaic Marvels!
Monday 3rd – Friday 7th August - 1.30pm
Add to our giant Roman mosaic of the Forest and its fantastic creatures.
Bat Walk & Talk
Thursday 6th August - 7.45pm
Join expert David Priddis of the Gloucestershire Bat Group for bat spotting.
A Child in the Forest
Friday 7th August, 7pm - tickets £8 (£6 concessions)
Open-air theatre based on Winifred Foley’s true story. Performed by Jenny Wren Productions. Grounds open from 6pm for picnics
Talk to the Trees
Saturday 8th August - 2pm
Explore the Forest with our expert, Pete Ralph.
Wildlife Weekend
Saturday 8th & Sunday 9th August
Gloucestershire Wildlife Trust bring a weekend of wildlife activities and games, and knowledge of animals, plants and composting to the Heritage Centre. Have your face painted with wonderful wildlife. Buy one get one free admission for GWT members.
Butterfly Talk & Walk
Sunday 9th August - 2pm
Join Simon Glover, from Gloucestershire Butterfly Conservation on a ramble into the Forest to search for beautiful butterflies.
Woodland Treasures
Monday 10th – Friday 14th August - 1.30pm
Make your own woodland mobile from materials collected in our beautiful grounds.
Find us in the Forest
Tuesday 11th August, 3pm
A performance by Found in the Forest youth theatre bringing the history of the Heritage Centre to life.
Fish, Fykes, and Ferries
Thursday 13th August
Unearth the secrets of the Severn with Gloucestershire Archives
Wildfowl & Wetlands Trust Weekend
Saturday 15th & Sunday 16th August
The team from WWT bring us a fabulous weekend of games, pond-dipping and wonderful wildfowl.
Wonderful Wildfowl Wall
Monday 17th – Saturday 22nd August - 1.30pm
Spot mallards, mandarins, moorhens, and perhaps even a kingfisher on our pond, and create an artwork inspired by these wonderful creatures.
Victorian School Day
Sunday 23rd August
Come and dress up in Victorian school clothes - mop caps and aprons for girls and flat caps and waistcoats for boys. Have a lesson with scary Miss Wright, and learn to write in Victorian copperplate script.
Victorian Schooling
Monday 24th – Friday 28th August - 1.30pm
Write in Victorian copperplate script, whilst dressed up in our school room.
Traditional Charcoal Burn
Saturday 29th – Monday 31st August
Meet the charcoal burners, discover an ancient Forest craft and the traditions that have grown up around it.
Have-a-go Rural Skills Day
Bank Holiday Monday 31st August
Meet craftspeople and artists, and learn about felt-making, batik silk painting, and beekeeping from Gloucestershire Beekeepers.
SEPTEMBER
Forest Fair
Saturday 12th & Sunday 13th September
Traditional games, dressing up, and prizes to be won!
Fungi Weekend
Saturday 26th – Sunday 27th September
Experts from the Dean Fungus Group bring their encyclopaedic knowledge of the Forest's mushrooms and fungi, and take visitors out on daily forays to hunt for mushrooms. Forays 2pm each day.
OCTOBER
Autumn Foray Days
Saturday 10th & Sunday 11th October - 2pm
See the products of our Spring Foray Days, and then join us on a walk out into the woodland to see what the Autumn's harvest has to offer.
Drawing the Forest
Thursday 22nd October – Sunday 1st November
Take part in our week-long event as part of the national Big Draw.
Spooky Storytelling
Saturday 31st October - 4.30pm
Join Jess Wilson for some atmospheric tales at dusk.
For confirmation and details of events listed, please call the Centre direct on: 01594 822170.
Alternatively, you can e-mail us. Events are usually inclusive of the normal admission prices.
If you are interested in performing at one of our events or would like to demonstrate a craft skill or activity, please call 01594 822170.
The Heritage Centre reserves the right to vary the programme of activities and special events - please call in advance