As usual, we’ve compiled this guide to things to do and places to go in the Mansfield and Ashfield area over the next few days.
The highlight is the return of the Cleaner Greener Festival and a vegan market in Mansfield on Sunday after the huge success of the inaugural event last year.
Memories of that hit TV comedy show from the 1980s, ‘Hi-de-Hi!’, are stirred at Mansfield’s Palace Theatre, which also hosts a special Easter panto, ‘Aladdin’.
It’s a big weekend too at the Creswell Crags Museum and Heritage Centre at Welbeck, where a series of events mark the 20th anniversary of the discovery of Ice Age rock art in Church Hole Cove.
Elsewhere, there are plenty of activities for the kids, while Southwell Minster hits the national spotlight as it stages the BBC Radio 4 ‘Any Questions’ programme.
Before you set off to your chosen venue, please check its website for opening times and admission prices. Have a great weekend!
1. Clean, green and vegan on Market Place
The Cleaner Greener Festival and vegan market are back for a second year on Mansfield Market on Sunday (10.30 am to 4 pm). The event features up to 30 vegan stalls, plus special activities and entertainment that includes live music, recycling games, a 'nature trail', stilt-walkers, group workouts, storytelling, giveaways, demonstrations, input by local schools and a whole host of information about how you can make Mansfield cleaner and greener. Photo: Submitted
2. Easter panto time
Oh yes it is! It's time for the annual Easter panto at Mansfield's Palace Theatre on Saturday and Sunday when Made To Measure Productions return to the town with 'Aladdin', starring Jamie Jones as Widow Twankey and Lee Redwood as Wishee Washee. With stunning scenery, colourful costumes, toe-tapping tunes, comedy by the bucketload and eye-popping special effects, it's an ideal treat for the kids before they go back to school. Photo: Submitted
3. Archaeology fun for the family
There's fun for all the family with a hands-on archaeology event at the Creswell Crags Museum and Heritage Centre in Welbeck on Saturday. Discover how archaeologists learn about life in the Ice Age and have a go in the museum's dig-boxes to find replicas of the bones and tools that were found in the caves at Creswell. With the help of experts, you can even try creating some portable art. Photo: Submitted
4. Hello campers! Rise and shine!
It's more than 40 years now since the much-loved comedy 'Hi-de-Hi!' first graced our TV screens. But memories are sure to be stirred by a show adapted from the BBC sitcom at Mansfield's Palace Theatre from tonight (Wednesday) until Saturday. Masque Productions promise a laugh a minute as they re-create Maplin's holiday camp from the 1950s and its host of colourful characters. Hello campers! Rise and shine! (As Gladys Pugh might have said!) Photo: Submitted