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Enjoy an Egg-citing Easter in Shakespeare’s England!

8th February 2016 Print
Mary Ardens Farm

Enjoy an egg-citing Easter with a host of fun activities for all the family in Shakespeare’s England from 18 March – 4 April. Search for clues to win chocolate prizes with Easter trails and egg hunts, decorate Easter biscuits, visit the pop up pub at Shakespeare’s Birthplace, re-create a sword fight from Hamlet, wander around spring flowers at Hill Close Gardens or simply enjoy a traditional Easter lunch with friends and family.

The Royal Shakespeare Company is offering families a number of activities to enjoy including re-creating a sword fight inspired by the final scene in Shakespeare’s Hamlet, using a traditional printing press to make a hand printed Shakespeare quote and joining the Head Chef at the Rooftop Restaurant to decorate Easter biscuits. The Great Shakespeare Egg Hunt, which takes place at the Royal Shakespeare Theatre from 25 - 28 March, is free of charge. Simply pick up a trail leaflet and follow the clues to find special Shakespeare egg heads hidden around the Theatre. Solve the puzzle to get an Easter treat!

Raise your glass at the pop-up pub at Shakespeare’s Birthplace and see the Swan and Maidenhead come back to life. Meet the innkeepers running the tavern’s drinking parlour and lodging rooms plus discover Tudor tavern food and ale brewing techniques. Learn how to bake the ‘old fashioned way’ at Anne Hathaway’s Cottage plus dress up as a Victorian and discover more about the characters who once lived in this beautiful cottage. Decorate an Easter egg like a character from Shakespeare’s plays at Mary Arden’s Farm when it reopens on 12 March. Try traditional crafts, see falconry displays, pet the animals, have a go at archery and explore the nature trails. Visit Hall’s Croft to learn about Tudor fashions and find out what your outfit said about you in Tudor times. At Harvard House design one of their favourite foods, marzipan and see the designs Tudors used to make marzipan fruits.

Great balls of fire will fly again at Warwick Castle as the world’s largest siege engine, the Mighty Trebuchet, returns to fire twice daily. At 19 metres high and weighing 22 tonnes, the Trebuchet has been fully restored with an investment of £40,000 and is the largest working example in the world of a mediaeval missile launcher. What’s more two new tours, the Devile Warwicke trail and Capability Brown debating tour will bring alive very different facets of Warwick Castle’s history in a surprising and contrasting way.

Take part in Mad Hatters Easter Crafts at The Old Slaughterhouse in Stratford-upon-Avon. Fantastical Hats & Wonderland Props takes place on 21 & 22 March and Cheshire Cats and Wondrous Wind Chimes on 28 & 29 March. Cost is £20 per place. The Family Mad Hatters Tea Party takes place on 25 March for children to enjoy a variety of ‘nonsense’ games, face painting and live music. Cost is £5 with refreshments. The Easter Egg Hunt takes place on 25 & 26 March and will take you around town in search of secret letters on each egg. Completed hunts will be put into a prize draw and the winner will win a giant Easter egg. Cost is £3 donation per entry or £5 per family.

The MAD Museum is holding a Mechanical Easter Egg Hunt with a typically MAD twist. Press buttons, turn handles and look in and around all the exhibits to find the hidden eggs. There are 12 mechanical eggs to locate in total. Find them all to be entered into the prize draw to win MAD goodies and tickets to the Museum.

Take part in the Big Batsford Chicken Hunt from 25 March - 10 April at Batsford Arboretum. Find the chickens that laid the eggs which are hiding in the Arboretum - simply mark their locations on the map to win a prize!

Wander around Hill Close Gardens and admire Heritage daffodils, primroses, cowslips and spring flowers dotted around the 16 individual plots. From 26 – 28 March enjoy a special Victorian Easter when the Cafe is transformed into a Victorian tearoom with staff in costume and themed displays that will bring to life how Victorians celebrated Easter. On Easter Sunday children can join in the Egg hunt and Bonnet Parade which is free to any child who attended the workshop on 24 March and brings their handmade bonnet/basket.

Enjoy Auto Science LIVE at the British Motor Museum with crafts, interactive workshops and MAD Science shows, as well as an Easter trail. Explore the newly refurbished Museum and discover cars that you may never have seen before. Family fun whatever the weather!

Visit Stoneleigh Abbey for its Easter Craft Fair on Sunday 20 March from 10am - 3pm with plenty of fun and crafts for all ages. Free admission and parking. The Abbey officially opens on Good Friday and all weekend until Easter Monday you can enjoy an Easter egg hunt picture trail, colouring competitions and general Easter fun!

At Leamington Spa Art Gallery & Museum spend the day with couture milliner and designer Bobbi Heath hand crafting your own fascinator or headpiece creation on 19 March from 11am – 4pm. Materials are provided. Adult workshops are £20 per person. For a chance to learn about object interpretation, join the Young Curators Club to create an animation of an object in the collections on 22 March from 2 – 3pm. Take part in a Matilda themed Easter Egg Hunt trail around the Royal Pump Rooms and collect a chocolate prize on 25 & 26 March from 11am – 4pm. Get your face painted and make a bunny shopping bag to take home. Or make an Easter card on 24 & 31 March. Half-hour sessions start at 11am, 2pm, 2.45pm & 3.30pm. Suitable for children up to 12 years. Entry is free.

Design your ideal garden and bring it alive by collage or by modelling it at Compton Verney from 25 – 28 March. Take your creation home or leave it in the giant patchwork garden. On 19 March attend the launch of the brand new Pond Dipping and Bird Hide activities with trails in the newly restored area at the south of the lake. See what you can find lurking in the lake and discover what is hiding among the reeds. From 19 March – 3 April take part in the Shakespeare Heart Trail around the park based on ‘A Mid Summers Night’s Dream’. Attend Forest Thursdays on 24 & 31 March to find out more about ‘Capability’ Brown with activities at the dedicated forest school site.

Enjoy traditional Morris dancing from 12noon – 2pm and folk music with award-winning musician, Andy Cutting from 7pm – 10pm at The Fleece Inn in Evesham on Sunday 27 March. Free entry daytime, £10 for the evening concert. Step back in time at the Sealed Knot re-enactment weekend on 2 & 3 April from 12noon. Entry is free!

Make your own perfume or cologne on 6 March from 10:30am -1:45pm with artisan distiller Judith from Shakespeare’s Sister’s Soap Company. Make a natural perfume using floral waters with essential oils, gums and resins to make an exclusive multi-layered scent. By the end of the day you will leave with a bottle of a unique perfume, plus a hand sized atomiser. Cost is £75 per person which includes cakes and refreshments

On Friday 25 March enjoy a special fish supper and a glass of wine or beer in the Waterside Brasserie at The Arden in Stratford-upon-Avon from £17.50 per person. Or enjoy a traditional lunch on Easter Sunday with treats for the whole party. Cost is £29.50 per person. Children under 12 dine for half price off the main menu.

Celebrate the start of the Easter weekend with a 3-course meal with coffee in The Brasserie at Mallory Court Hotel in Leamington Spa on Friday 25 March for £25 per person. Spend Easter weekend with the family and enjoy 3-courses and coffee in the Art Deco Brasserie on Sunday 27 March for £27.50 per person. Or dine in the Main House for £45 per person.

Start the weekend with a 4-course fish supper on Friday 25 March at The Kings Hotel in Chipping Campden for £32.50 per person or treat family and friends to an Easter Sunday lunch with an Easter egg hunt and chocolate treat for £23.50 per person

For more information and holiday ideas in Shakespeare’s England, visit shakespeares-england.co.uk.

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Mary Ardens Farm