NORTH EAST
Stockton International Riverside Festival celebrates its 30th year on August 3-6 with a programme of dancers, comedians and street theatre acts. Most events are free, including the event finale of Cirque Bijou, a fire-wire spectacle. sirf.co.uk Top pop tribute acts will perform against a backdrop of spectacular aerial displays at the launch night of Sunderland International Airshow, which takes place July 21-23. www.sunderland.gov.uk/airshow Goats, guinea pigs, Tamworth pigs and chinchillas are among the animals you can meet at Ouseburn Farm near Byker, Newcastle. Open daily, 9.30am-4.30pm. ouseburnfarm.org.uk Explore Shipley Art Gallery with your baby or toddler on a magic carpet. Made by artists, these special bags fold out into creative playmats, complete with a selection of toys, treasures and creative activity ideas. Open Tuesday-Saturday, 10am-4pm. shipleyartgallery.org.uk Your Thomas the Tank Engine fans will be in their element at Stephenson Railway Museum in North Shields, where they can explore the vintage trains. On August 17 they can join a craft session to make their own driver cap and guard flag. 11am-3pm. stephensonrailwaymuseum.org.uk Perfect your pingball skills and find out your fortune at Discovery Museum in Newcastle. Its All The Fun Of The Fair exhibition features 50 vintage coin-operated amusement machines. Open daily 10am-4pm (11am on weekends), until October 1. discoverymuseum.org.uk Explore the home of the Roman garrison that guarded the Tyne at Arbeia Roman Fort. The South Shields museum has a mixture of excavated remains and reconstructed buildings to give you a feel of what life was like. Open daily until October 1, various times. arbeiaromanfort.org.uk Northumberlandia is a human landform sculpture of a reclining lady, scaling 100ft high and a quarter of a mile wide. You can explore her on four miles of trails set in a 19-hectare community park near Cramlington. thelandtrust.org.uk/space/northumberlandia away to mark the end of the harvest. September 15-17. egremontcrabfair.com Meet the ponies at Penny Farm near Blackpool, which has 65 animals rescued by World Horse Welfare, plus trails around the farm to explore. Open Wednesdays, weekends and bank holidays. worldhorsewelfare.org See the likes of Fleur East and Corinne Bailey Rae without paying a penny at Summer Jam. The festival takes place in Liverpool’s Sefton Park from July 21-23 and attracts around 50,000 people a day. limfestival.com The Bolton Food and Drink Festival features a free stage of live music from 10am to 10pm daily, plus a dazzling array of stalls to browse, food and drink to sample, as well as cooking demos for you to take home some skills. August 25-28. boltonfoodanddrinkfestival.com Ride the miniature railway, tackle the adventure playground and explore the hedge maze at Worden Park near Leyland. visitleyland.co.uk You can take your pick of free attractions at Salford Quays, which is home to the Imperial War Museum North, The Lowry and Ordsall Hall. MediaCityUK’s Piazza