Easter in England 2023
ShareMarch 2023 – From eggs hunts with a twist, to new experiences and foodie delights, we’ve curated some of the top ways to spend the Easter break.
For those mindful of getting the most value from their springtime outings, the VisitBritain Shop is giving away £20 vouchers to spend on over 300 participating attractions and experiences; from the British Music Experience in Liverpool to Legoland Windsor Resort. Simply sign up to the newsletter and redeem your voucher code by 31 March 2023.
Enchanting egg hunts and adventures
Easter Quest at Leeds Castle, Kent
1 – 16 April 2023
This Easter guests of Leeds Castle are invited to join Lady Baillie’s dogs, Danny and Boots on an egg-citing quest through the great outdoors as they hunt for their favourite treats through the spring-filled estate. Crack clues and find golden eggs to be rewarded with a delicious Easter treat.
Save with a £20 VisitBritain Shop voucher www.visitbritainshop.com/gb/en/leeds-castle
Giant Egg Hunt at RHS Gardens, Nationwide
Selected dates from 1 – 17 April 2023
Enjoy a supersized family adventure at the five Royal Horticultural Society (RHS) Gardens this Easter, as dozens of larger-than-life eggs await discovery on the Giant Egg Hunt. This year’s event features colourful designs by local artists and schoolchildren whose artwork has been recreated on the giant eggs. Explorers of all ages can hunt down the giant eggs at RHS Garden Bridgewater, Salford; RHS Harlow Carr, North Yorkshire; RHS Hyde Hall, Essex; RHS Rosemoor, North Devon; and RHS Wisley, Surrey. Additional activities on offer throughout the Easter holidays include storytelling sessions, arts and crafts workshops and family-friendly planting.
Save with a £20 VisitBritain Shop voucher www.visitbritainshop.com/gb/en
Easter with English Heritage, Nationwide
7 – 10 April 2023
This Easter, English Heritage is hosting an array of traditional games and adventure challenges to kick off the spring season at historic sites from Bolsover Castle to Audley End House and Gardens. Visitors will have fun searching for clues at 26 castles, forts and abbeys nationwide to receive a certificate and a chocolate egg reward, alongside historical performers and traditional games such as egg and spoon races at brand-new Easter Escapade events.
www.english-heritage.org.uk/easter
Peter Rabbit Easter Adventure, London
21 March – 16 April 2023
Peter Rabbit, Benjamin Bunny and Mrs. Tiggy-Winkle have left the countryside and are heading to London’s most iconic piazza this spring. Offering a mix of live performance and puppetry, Peter Rabbit Easter Adventure promises to transport visitors back to a Covent Garden of old. During this brand-new 50-minute interactive outdoor experience, families will experience Peter Rabbit’s adventures in person as they accompany Beatrix Potter to search for secret notes, maps, and other clues. Alongside the experience, The Easter Adventure Shop will open in Covent Garden’s iconic Market Building on 5 March as well as an activity area featuring a programme of fun-filled Easter activities for all of the family.
www.peterrabbiteasteradventure.com
Blackpool Brick Festival, Lancashire
8 April 2023
For the first time in Blackpool, the Winter Gardens are playing host to a LEGO fan event this Easter weekend dedicated to all things LEGO bricks. This festival for all ages will include competitions, large displays, traders selling sets of all kinds and a dedicated building area.
www.brickfestivalevents.com/event/blackpool-brick-festival
Golden Bunny Hunt at Hampton Court Palace
1 – 16 April 2023
It wouldn’t be a palace Easter hunt without the shiniest of bunnies at the heart of it, and once again Hampton Court has teamed up with Lindt to hide Gold Bunny statues in the 60-acre gardens of Henry VIII. Match up the name of the important palace character on the trail to the red ribbon on the bunny statue at each location and uncover a fascinating story, before being rewarded with a chocolate bunny to take away.
Save with a £20 VisitBritain Shop voucher www.visitbritainshop.com/gb/en/hampton-court-palace
New experiences for the Easter period
Mystery at the Museum: The Case of the Titanosaur Egg, Natural History Museum, London
31 March 2023
Visit the Natural History Museum for a new after-hours egg-hunt with a difference and put your detective skills to the test with an immersive, fictional mystery-solving quest. Arriving at the museum, guests will discover that not only is a key specimen missing but that a dead body has been found. The brief states that someone has stolen a fossilised titanosaur egg from the new exhibition and that a scientist has been murdered in the process. Entrance to the new ‘Titanosaur: Life as the Biggest Dinosaur’ is included in the ticket price.
www.nhm.ac.uk/events/the-case-of-the-titanosaur-egg.html
The Wildest Wizard of Oz, Yorkshire Wildlife Park
1 – 3 April 2023
‘Lions, Tigers and Bears oh my’! is the fitting chant heard from Yorkshire Wildlife Park this Easter as it is transformed into the magical Land of Oz, hosting live shows featuring our favourite ruby-slippered character and friends.
Save with a £20 VisitBritain Shop voucher: www.visitbritainshop.com/gb/en/yorkshire-wildlife-park-general-admission
Star Wars Celebration 2023, London
7 – 10 April 2023
Star Wars Celebration returns to ExCeL London this April, where fans of all ages from all over the world will come together to celebrate the cultural phenomenon. Star Wars Celebration has something for every kind of Star Wars fan, from immersive exhibits, an interactive show floor, screenings, exclusive merchandise, celebrity guests and panels, to autograph sessions and fan-inspired activities.
www.excel.london/news/star-wars-celebration-to-come-to-excel-london-in-2023
Trebuchet is Back, Warwick Castle
From 1 April 2023
Britain’s biggest siege machine returns to Warwick Castle in a brand-new show ready for the Easter period. Join the castle’s most unlikely heroes as they unleash the Legend of the Trebuchet right before the audience’s eyes – the castle is under attack, and all hope is lost… It’s up to Sam, who knows the trebuchet like the back of their hand, to get this rag-tag group together and mount a defence before it’s too late.
Save with a £20 VisitBritain Shop voucher: www.visitbritainshop.com/gb/en/warwick-castle
Easter garden at Blackpool Pleasure Beach FY4, Lancashire
9 – 7 April 2023
Blackpool Pleasure Beach’s FY4 area will be transformed into a magical Easter garden for 2023. Join Bradley and Bella Beaver as they host a range of fun Easter activities including egg and spoon races, Easter egg hunts and sack races. In addition to the Easter-themed fun, the Pleasure Beach’s newest and slickest rollercoaster ride is due to get twisted this Easter with ENSŌ. In a first for Europe, ICON’s rear seats have been adapted so that riders can spin and twist freely during the ride. Guests can enjoy preview rides on ENSŌ now.
www.blackpoolpleasurebeach.com
Gladstone Pottery Museum, Stoke-on-Trent
From 1 April 2023
For anyone inspired by the amazing clay creations from the TV show, The Great Pottery Throw Down (which is back for a sixth season), Gladstone Pottery Museum, which re-opens on 1 April, is a must visit this Easter break. It is the country’s only complete Victorian pottery factory and the spiritual home of British ceramics where visitors can follow in the footsteps of the TV contestants and have a go at the wheel themselves at the very same historic pottery.
It’s not all about chocolate…
Holkham Easter Market, Norfolk
8 – 9 April 2023
This Easter the seasonal fair will return to the Lady Elizabeth Wing of Holkham Estate showcasing produce, gifts and crafts from over 50 local artisan producers. Treats to sample include homemade jams, chutneys and cheeses, to fresh bread, cakes and a selection of beers, ciders and spirits. The fair will also play host to a selection of local street food vendors in the grounds.
www.holkham.co.uk/whats-on/easter-food-drink-and-gift-market
Broadstairs Spring Food Festival, Kent
7 – 9 April 2023
Combining great food and drink with some of the county's most loved producers, the Broadstairs Easter food festival offers 100 stalls of produce and street food. The food festival takes place in Victoria Gardens, overlooking Broadstairs' horse-shoe shaped, Viking Bay. It is next to Broadstairs Bandstand where there will be an eclectic line-up of live music.
www.broadstairsfoodfestival.org.uk/easter-2023-festival
Taste Cheshire Food & Drink Festival, Chester Racecourse
8 – 10 April 2023
With headliners including Simon Rimmer and John Torode, this is the 22nd edition of the Chester event. The festival includes over 100 exhibitors of food, drink and lifestyle items plus free adult cooking classes for those who want to brush up on their culinary skills. Kids cooking workshops remain a feature of the festival and entry to the festival for children under 12 is entirely free. This family friendly festival is also dog friendly.
Ad Gefrin Anglo-Saxon Museum and Whisky Distillery, Northumberland
Opening 25 March 2023
Open in time for Easter, the £10.5m Ad Gefrin visitor centre and distillery, inspired by the Anglo-Saxon Royal Court of Ad Gefrin, has been sustainably built. The immersive museum uses AV technology, locally uncovered artefacts and objects loaned by national institutions to explore the landscape, archaeology and stories of Northumberland’s unique Anglo-Saxon heritage. The same landscape that those Anglo Saxons chose to settle on still offers fine malting barley and spring water; the launch of a whisky distillery re-awakens a 200-year-old local tradition. Visitors will be able to tour the distillery alongside the other offerings, which include exhibitions and events, a bistro, a bar and a shop.
Staycay for an Easter vacay
New Lodge Retreat, Blenheim Palace Estate
From Easter 2023, visitors will be able to stay on a new, luxury lodge retreat set in the Blenheim Palace Estate. Situated in Woodstock, Oxfordshire and set beside the Estate’s vast 2000-acre grounds, the lodges have been designed with couples, friends and families in mind. Each environmentally conscious lodge will contain a fully equipped kitchen, dining and living space and will offer the perfect home-away-from-home to enjoy a break in the Oxfordshire countryside. The annual Eggstravaganza (7-10 April) also once again invites guests to ‘hop along’ to the Walled Garden for a host of egg-citing activities including circus skills, balloon modelling, bubble performances, bungee trampolines and a travelling vintage variety show, plus a special visit from the main rabbit of the season, the Easter Bunny.
www.blenheim.org/news/luxury-retreat-lodges
www.blenheimpalace.com/whats-on/events/easter
Camp at the Wave, Bristol
Catch some spring time surf at The Wave inland surfing lake in Bristol, just in time as The Camp at The Wave reopens – expect luxurious, accessible safari tents, just metres from the most consistent surf break in the country, perfectly placed for dawn patrols or sunset sessions. As well as surf lessons and sessions, the Play in the Bay park, with swings, climbing frame, slide and sandpit is a great Easter weekend option, alongside on-site skateboarding, scooting, boules and table tennis.
www.thewave.com/the-camp-at-the-wave
ENDS
Notes to editors:
VisitEngland’s comprehensive What’s New in England 2023 overview can be downloaded here. Password is England2023.
Accompanying images can be downloaded here. Registration to the from the VisitBritain asset library is required to download images. Register here.
For more Easter news visit the Visit England website.
Until 31 March 2023, the VisitBritain Shop is giving away £20 vouchers to anyone who signs up to its newsletter to spend on participating attractions and experiences across the country (applies to UK residents only, terms and conditions apply).
For more detail and to receive our latest What’s New and What’s On in 2023 press materials please contact the VisitEngland PR team:
Louise Ferrall / Josie Self
Email: vepr@visitengland.org or visit www.media.visitengland.com / www.visitengland.com