By Kate Hodges
10th May 2023
EVENT, DO VISION ON
It’s the big Eurovision weekend! And this year, as it’s being hosted in the UK, the competition is more exciting than ever for British fans. It’s camp, silly, colourful, and a whole lot of fun. Will you swot up on the songs beforehand and pick your favourites? Or let it come as a glorious surprise on the night? Download your scoresheets in advance and see if you agree with the public.
It’s a brilliant opportunity to make different foods from around Europe; try Spanish tapas, Greek dips, Italian pizza and Polish dumplings (if you can’t face an all-day kitchen bender, Lidl is your friend). Theme your dishes with the appropriate flags and munch through the contest!
Home educating a 7-11 year-old? Join the BBC’s live lesson this Friday morning. Hosted by YolanDa Brown, you’ll create your own Eurovision song and big names from the contest will be dropping by to share tips.
And if you’re lucky enough to live near the host city Liverpool, you might like to join Eurofestival, where 24 art and music commissions, 19 of which are collaborative projects between UK and Ukrainian musicians, are in full swing. Enjoy a mini-film festival, Storyville Live, join the Big Eurovision Read, or follow the Soloveiko Songbird map to discover the songs and stories of Ukraine. Find more colourful Eurovision events in Liverpool here.
EVENT MAKING WAVES
Brighton is alive this week. Not only are there still spectacular events to enjoy courtesy of the main festival, but the excellent Fringe festival is still in full swing. Find out about the Puddle at the end of the World in the Spiegeltent, or make pots on a wheel at Liberation Art Gallery. This weekend, join a free wicked faerie print-making workshop or aerial workshop with Caravanserai, or make a kite in the Afghan tradition at the Spiegeltent. Find the full line-up of events here.
In addition to the Fringe, music festival The Great Escape hits town. Head to the free stage in Jubilee Square for family friendly fun, including shows from DWN, Aggrasoppar, and – our favourite – Daniel Wakeford. Plus a live, big-screen showing of Eurovision!
EVENT QUESTION EVERYTHING
Be Curious is Leeds University’s annual open event, which takes place on Saturday and showcases how research is making a difference to people’s lives. Find out more about the world-changing work being done with a day of free, fun activities including a maker space, maker kits, performances, workshops and tours. Find out how to spot a witch and make your own DIY spell book, make new pictures from old, damaged photographs, meet a Homr Care Robot and see wearable technologies, and join the crew of Expedition 399 to hear about the research ship, the JOIDES Resolution! Find the full programme here. Free.
EVENT AND DO PEDAL POWER
The Clean Cities Campaign fights for the right of kids to walk, cycle and scoot safely to school. They run the Streets for Kids events, which mobilise parents, teachers and children across Europe to call for more School Streets - roads around schools that are closed to traffic. School Streets reduce air pollution, encourage families to switch to walking, cycling or public transport, and make the areas surrounding schools lovelier.
This Saturday, the campaign is organising the first Kiddical Mass bike ride, which will weave through Manchester from St Peter’s Square to Whitworth Park. There will be flags and music, and a picnic in the park at the end. Find out more about the ride here and find a Kidical Mass group near you here - they’re all across the UK!
EVENT TOP OF THE DOCS
Next Tuesday sees the much-anticipated reopening of the Hunterian Museum. The London collection of anatomical models, instruments, equipment and extraordinary archive material that includes the country’s largest public display of human anatomy, has been closed for five years for redevelopment. Children with a taste for the morbid will love the dissected blood vessels and nerves, gloriously displayed parts of bodies, and weird specimens, while the tales of tranformative surgery, scientific advances and glimpses into the future of medicine will transfix everyone. Free.
WHAT WE’RE EATING Eight Ways With Cherries: Make the most of cherry season by trying some of these recipes, including cherry jam and chutney recipes that enable you to enjoy the taste throughout the year. Find the recipes here
WHAT WE’RE READING The secret to raising happy kids: Don’t focus on happiness: “I realised that maybe my child’s “happiness” shouldn’t even be my goal in parenting. I slowly started to realize that there were some bigger emotional goals I had for my children than just happiness.” Read more here
