Lyme Regis Fossil Festival
The UK's largest palaeontology festival spreads talks, palaeoart workshops and hands-on science across a Jurassic Coast town where Mary Anning once hunted fossils.
A genuinely exceptional small coastal town: the medieval Cobb, fossil-rich UNESCO shoreline, a well-regarded bakery-cafe, real ale options with a CAMRA-awarded pub, and narrow winding streets packed with listed buildings make Lyme Regis one of the most rewarding day destinations on the English south coast.
Cottages, B&Bs and hotels near Lyme Regis, Dorset.
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"A two-day Dorset show on the August hillsides above Blackmore Vale, where the landscape itself is the argument for attending: old breeds in the ring, and Thomas Hardy countryside rolling away on every side."
Gillingham and Shaftesbury Show
"A working farm field below the silhouette of Corfe Castle. Five stages, four days, and the particular quiet of the Dorset hills when the music stops between sets."
Purbeck Valley Folk Festival
"One of the South West's premier agricultural exhibitions, held at the West Bay showground near Bridport with livestock, horses, homecrafts, horticulture and over 400 trade stands."
Melplash Agricultural Show
"A long-running west Dorset agricultural show on the coast near Bridport with livestock and food halls."
Melplash Show
"Free live folk, shanty singing and ceilidh dancing tumble along the seafront of a Jurassic Coast town, anchored by headline concerts at the Marine Theatre."
Lyme Folk Weekend
"A small and cherished late-August fete in one of Dorset's quietest hill villages, combining the Gardening Club's annual show with stalls, homemade teas and the particular peace of a village afternoon that has barely changed in decades."
Halstock Fete
"A cliff-top open-air theatre carved from Cornish granite above Porthcurno Bay, where productions from Shakespeare to musicals run each summer with the Atlantic as backdrop and Rowena Cade's extraordinary creation as the stage."
Minack Theatre Season
"Young world-class singers and players perform vocal and chamber music in the ancient parish churches of the Dartmoor villages around Chagford, with free entry for the under-25s."
Whiddon Autumn Festival
"The world's oldest literary festival fills Cheltenham's Regency venues for ten October days with 500 events, from Booker Prize winners to children's authors, making it the essential autumn gathering for book lovers."
Cheltenham Literature Festival
"A small Exmoor town on the banks of the River Barle draws the likes of Michael Morpurgo and Patrick Gale for an intimate four-day celebration of reading."
Dulverton Exmoor Literary Festival
"Six days of talks, debates, demonstrations and interactive events bringing together Nobel laureates, astronauts and leading scientists to Cheltenham Racecourse each June in the UK's premier science festival."
Cheltenham Science Festival
"A small volunteer-run seaside festival spills Morris sides, ceilidhs and folk music across the back beach and seafront of a Devon estuary town."
Teignmouth Folk Festival