Events

Saturday Kitchen – Sat 18 Oct 2025

Date: Saturday 18 October 2025, All Day
Venue: York Castle Museum

Saturday 18 October 2025 | Throughout the day | Included in general admission

Watch live cooking demonstrations throughout the day in our studio kitchen.

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Art for Wellbeing – Sun 19 Oct 2025

Date: Sunday 19 October 2025, 10:30 am-12:30 pm
Venue: York Art Gallery

10.30am – 12.30pm, free

Art activities to release your creative energy!

Set in the beautiful surroundings of York Art Gallery’s Studio space, this 2 hour workshop gives opportunity for discovery and time to explore a variety of art materials and inspiring themes designed to promote wellbeing.

Enjoy the company of others, creating art with gentle guidance from artist Griselda Goldsbrough. For adults (16+ only) and running one Sunday each month, there is no need to book for this workshop, session will start at 10:30am and run for approximately 2 hours, it is a practical art session which is suitable for all abilities.

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Curious and Creative Gardening Tour: Wildlife-Friendly Museum Gardens – Tue 21 Oct 2025

Date: Tuesday 21 October 2025, 12:00 pm-1:00 pm
Venue: York Museum Gardens

Free | Donations welcome | Book now

Curious and Creative Gardening Tour: Wildlife-Friendly Museum Gardens

Join the Gardens Team to learn about the initiatives and interventions made to make York Museum Gardens more wildlife friendly. Take a tour around over 10 acres of grounds, discovering inspiration for your own garden or workplace green spaces.

You’ll learn about climate change and biodiversity, discover the importance of insects for the food chain and how to manage your green space throughout the seasons to create wildlife habitat, and adopt a new perspective with some native weeds.

The tour will take an accessible route around the Museum Gardens.

Please note: This event is weather dependent. If we need to cancel the tour due to adverse weather conditions, ticket holders will be notified.

Recommended for ages 12+, under 16’s must be accompanied by an adult.

This tour is one of 60+ free events taking place across the city for York Environment Festival. #yorkenvironmentfestival2025

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Sketchbook Circle at York Art Gallery – Wed 22 Oct 2025

Date: Wednesday 22 October 2025, 1:30 pm-3:30 pm
Venue: York Art Gallery

1:30pm-3:30pm, £5 per person (capacity: 20)

(Tickets will be available to book soon)

Pick up a pencil – draw and discover!

Give yourself time to sharpen and share your drawing skills in this two-hour sketching workshop with artist Griselda Goldsbrough.

Enjoy working in sketchbooks in a relaxed and friendly group, taking inspiration from the collections at York Art Gallery. Materials provided.

These informal practical art sessions are for adults only (16+) and are suitable for absolute beginners or those who create regularly.

Sessions will run on one Wednesday each month (Please book separately for each session).

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Echoes of Yorkshire: The Museum Illuminated – Fri 24 Oct 2025

Dates: Friday 24 October 2025–Sunday 2 November 2025, 5:00 pm-9:00 pm
Venue: York Museum Gardens

Echoes of Yorkshire: The Museum Illuminated
24 October – 2 November 2025
Book now

Light, colour and music surround you at the extraordinary light and sound installation created by internationally acclaimed Luxmuralis in the York Museum Gardens this autumn. Immerse yourself in the story of the historic site with contemporary light and music showcasing the Yorkshire Museum’s age-defining artefacts and extraordinary exhibits. Join us to celebrate all that the museum and its gardens bring to our city and the wider north of England.

Perfect for the whole family, experience the gardens’ history from the Roman period to its time as an Abbey, and discover the Yorkshire Museum collection spanning 60 million years from the Jurassic, the Mesolithic, through to the Romans, Viking, Anglo-Saxon and Medieval. Luxmuralis is all about fine art, light and sound reflecting closely on the history and heritage of places and weaves together the contemporary and the ancient, making York Museum Gardens the perfect location for such a show!

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Stories Alive in the Cells – Sat 25 Oct 2025

Date: Saturday 25 October 2025, All Day
Venue: York Castle Musuem

Included in entry- No pre booking required

Brand new for October 2025, get involved with immersive performances inviting visitors to play judge and jury, deciding the fate of some of York Castle Prison’s most famous historical felons such as Dick Turpin and Mary Bateman. Join Eden from Stories Alive in York Castle Prison to hear mystifying and peculiar real-life stories in the authentic prison cells.

Drop in performances throughout the day.

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York Museums Trust Fundraising Dinner 2025 – Sat 25 Oct 2025

Date: Saturday 25 October 2025, 6:00 pm-9:00 pm
Venue: The Hospitium

Join us for York Museums Trust’s Fundraising Dinner 2025

Experience Echoes of Yorkshire: The Museum Illuminated in York Museum Gardens, a captivating new light show created by Luxmuralis. Afterwards let us welcome you into the beautiful and historic Hospitium for an evening celebrating the vital work of York Museums Trust.

Following the recent announcement that we’ve successfully acquired the Melsonby Hoard, join us for a truly special evening at York Museums Trust’s Fundraising Dinner 2025, dedicated to raising funds for the preservation of the hoard’s remarkable objects.

Experience ‘Echoes of Yorkshire: The Museum Illuminated’ in York Museum Gardens, a captivating new light show created by Luxmuralis. Afterwards let us welcome you into the beautiful and historic Hospitium for an evening of entertainment and delicious food as we celebrate the vital work of York Museums Trust.

Your presence will help support the conservation and exhibition of the Melsonby Hoard and we look forward to sharing this memorable evening with you!

Tickets include: Canapes and welcome drink on arrival, a two-course dinner, entertainment, and exciting fundraising opportunities.

Timings: Light Show 6pm – 7pm, Drinks 7pm – 7.30pm, Dinner 8pm

Location: The Hospitium, York Museum Gardens

Price: £100 per person, or £900 for a table of ten

Find out more and book now.

York Museums Trust is a registered charity that cares for York Castle Museum, York Art Gallery, the Yorkshire Museum, York Museum Gardens and York St Mary’s. As an independent charity, we rely on the generosity of our supporters to continue sharing our spaces, art, stories, and history for learning, enjoyment, and wellbeing.

Charity number: 1092466.

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Sunday Sounds: Live Music at the Castle Museum – Sun 26 Oct 2025

Date: Sunday 26 October 2025, All Day
Venue: York Castle Museum

Included in entry- Pre Booking is not required

Join us on Sunday at York Castle Museum for live music from the past. This summer:

The Ran Tanners are a pair of roving miscreants who (when not doing hard labour in chokey or dodging the pressgang), play the traditional music of Georgian and Victorian England using Fiddles, Bagpipes and Squeezeboxes.

Performances will occur throughout the day.

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Meet me at the Yorkshire Museum: Viking North – Sun 26 Oct 2025

Date: Sunday 26 October 2025, 11:00 am-4:00 pm
Venue: Yorkshire Museum

Meet me at the Yorkshire Museum: Viking North
26 October 2025
11am – 4pm | Included in general admission | Suitable for all ages
Book now

There are only two seasons in the Viking world.

Summer and Winter.

It is winter.

Night and day are dark and the air is cold. Raids must stop. Longboats are pulled out of the freezing river onto land, and the Great Army must shelter from the harsh weather.

In the dark, fire meets ice and crackles. A story can be heard on the wind. A tune is played. A laugh rings out!

This summer, visit the Winter… as the camp dwellers bring the dark season to life with stories, music, games and laughter.

Meet characters from the Winter camp and discover more from the Viking North exhibition through live performance and interactive interpretation with History Riot.

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Tales from the Trail – Mon 27 Oct 2025

Date: Monday 27 October 2025, All Day
Venue: York Castle Musuem

Included in museum general admission

Pre-booking not required

Do you know your grocer’s from your greengrocer’s?

Hardware from haberdasher’s?

Confectioner’s from chemist’s? ……. ( hope so!)

Prepare for silliness, stories and urgent shopping all with a touch of mystery this October.

Two slightly madcap Victorian characters will be on Kirkgate. Short scenes will be performed, each concerning a story or a bit of fun about objects to be purchased from the shops of Kirkgate.

Times will be advertised at the museum on the day.

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