Stonehenge
Salisbury Cathedral is running an action-packed free open evening Night Visions: An Evening at Salisbury Cathedral on Friday 17 May from 6.30pm – 10.00pm. The event is part of Culture 24’s nationwide ‘Museums at Night’ initiative, the annual festival of late night openings when hundreds of museums, galleries and heritage sites open their doors for special evening events.
David Coulthard, Director of Marketing and Visitor Services, said “Last year’s Night Visions was an extraordinary success with more than a thousand visitors enjoying a fabulous evening in the Cathedral with music, stories, special tours and ‘hands on’ activities. This year we’re doing even more and look forward to having a cathedral full of people joining in the fun. Starting at 6.30pm we’ve devised three and a half fast moving hours of different activities to entertain and appeal to families and our younger and older visitors alike. There are four elements to the evening: music, stories, tours and hands-on activities. Come along, we might just surprise you!”
Musical activities include a ‘come and sing’ workshop, a short performance by Salisbury Cathedral Junior Choir, and organ demonstrations. Outside, you can enjoy stories in the lantern-lit cloister garden, follow the special mystery object treasure hunts in both the cathedral and cloisters, and especially for children there’s a picture quiz on the medieval frieze in the Chapter House and historical costumes to try on – even have your photo taken with King John! There’s a quirky history ‘Things-you-never-knew’ trail of the Cathedral and exhibitions of embroidery and copes. ‘Hands-on’ activities include decorating beautiful illuminated letters and patterned candle-holders, or creating a collage using stone rubbings with a touch of gold leaf. Or there’s decorating biscuits, ‘Have-a-go’ stonemasonry and even some medieval games.
For the more energetic there are swift ‘tower tour whizzes’ to see the view over the city from the top of the cathedral tower as evening falls.”
And while you’re in the Cathedral Close, visit Salisbury & South Wiltshire Museum for their Museums at Night event ‘Music for All’ between 6.00pm – 9.00pm. There’s live music from local music groups, meet historical figures behind Salisbury’s musical past, see the museum collections come to life, enjoy story-telling with Lizzie Bryant and gallery activities with artist Susie Gutteridge.
