With Bank Holidays falling on Good Friday and Easter Monday, there is a packed programme of events and activities in the Mansfield and Ashfield area. And here is our bumper guide to things to do and places to go.
With the school holidays in full swing, the emphasis is on entertaining the kids, and a host of venues have lined up Easter treats, such as egg trails, egg hunts, egg and spoon races, bonnet parades and the chance to meet the Easter bunny and Peter Rabbit.
Ashfield even has its own Easter Festival on Saturday, while the list of venues ready to lay on some Easter fun includes Mansfield Museum, Mansfield’s Palace Theatre, White Post Farm, Robin Hood’s Wheelgate theme park, Papplewick Pumping Station, Mansfield’s parks, Rufford Country Park, Creswell Crags, Bolsover Castle and Southwell Workhouse.
Mansfield even maintains an age-old tradition on Good Friday of handing out hot cross buns to the children of the town.
Find out all the details by browsing through our guide. But before you set off this weekend, please visit the websites of the individual venues to check admission prices and opening times.
Happy Easter, and have a great weekend!
1. An Easter eggs-pedition at White Post Farm
It's time for an Easter eggs-pedition at the White Post Farm Centre in Farnsfield. Every day between now and Sunday, April 16, simply search the farm to find the eggs and win a chocolate treat. It's also the lambing and kidding seasons on the farm, so don't be surprised to see some baby lambs and baby goats during your visit. You can meet the meerkats and the armadillos too, and watch sheep racing and falcons taking to the sky. Photo: Submitted
2. Peter Rabbit at Easter Festival
Peter Rabbit is the special VIP guest at the first Easter Festival run by the Ashfield Voluntary Action group on Saturday (10 am to 3 pm) at the Cricketers Arms pub in Nuncargate, Kirkby.. He will be on hand to judge an Easter bonnet parade at a free event that will also feature craft stalls, a barbecue, bouncy castle, disco, refreshments and an Easter egg hunt, with prizes galore. Photo: Submitted
3. Family-friendly fun at the park
Yeoman Hill Park in Mansfield Woodhouse is one of three parks hosting Easter Xplorer events to coincide with the school holidays. They are family-friendly navigation challenges that are educational and fun, and involve a healthy mix of physical activity and decision-making as you explore the parks to find the markers. All three events run from 1.30 pm to 3.30 pm, with Yeoman Hill's next Tuesday and similar ones at Titchfield Park, Mansfield next Wednesday and The Carrs at Warsop next Thursday (April 13) Photo: Submitted
4. Dinosaur show at the Palace
Never mind the Easter bunnies, what about the Easter dinosaurs? Mansfield's Palace Theatre stages an awe-inspiring, interactive stage show next Wednesday afternoon that immerses the young and the young at heart in the enthralling world of the prehistoric creatures. 'Dinosaur Adventure Live' is an unforgettable Jurassic experience for the whole family. Meet the dinosaurs, feed them and come face to face with a T.rex! Photo: Submitted