Free fun for all ages in Stratford as the Fun Palace returns

A DAY of free fun featuring hands-on activities, crafts and live experiences will be taking place across Stratford this Saturday (4th October).

Escape Arts, the Royal Shakespeare Company, the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust, Warwickshire Libraries and Stratford Town Trust will each run their own Fun Palace - an annual day which sees a huge range of community events organised, covering everything from arts and crafts to science, heritage and Lego building

Head to the Rother Street Arts House (10am-2pm) where the town trust will have ‘give-it-a-go’ sessions for all ages, offered by a range of local groups.

At Stratford Library (10am-3pm) the Brook Arts Hub and River Hope will have drop-in activities for all ages themed on water, including a community photography and video installation, a reading of Twelfth Night (10.15am), bridge building in Lego, crafts, and poems and stories about water.

Create a mini Royal Shakespeare Theatre while in the Welcome Space at the real thing using paper craft folding (11am-3pm).

At Shakespeare’s New Place (11am-4pm) there will be activities, talks and more. People can bring a picnic and relax beneath the mulberry trees.

And between 1.30pm and 4.30pm Escape Arts will be offering people the chance to make junk boats from Lego, paper, card, empty plastic containers and other junk materials. They will also be collecting memories and stories of the river for a heritage project and serving fresh coffee and teas, plus an assortment of sweet treats (for a small fee).

Fran Nibbs, Community Hub manager at Stratford Town Trust, said: “This Fun Palace is about Stratford coming together, sharing our talents and learning in a way that celebrates what makes our community shine. It is great to be running this in partnership with a range of wonderful local organisations. Most of all, it’s going to be a lot of fun.”

For more information, visit https://tinyurl.com/ms8nmrdm