Your summer of fun starts here, with everything you need to make the most of what’s on our doorstep.
From superstar DJs to family-friendly film screenings, river cruises to walking tours, live music to kids’ craft workshops, there is something for everyone to discover in Bedford this summer.
Enjoy!
Every Thursday in August 2022
Family Fun: Crafty Thursdays 2022
John Bunyan Museum & Library Mill Street, Bedford, MK40 3EU @ 11:30am – 3:30pm
Tickets: £2 per child (no need to book)
Craft activities are running on Thursdays throughout August for children aged 4+, accompanied.
Have a go at printmaking inspired by the Bunyan Buildings, create ‘message seeds’ to add to our summer exhibition, help nature by creating bug hotels, or use natural material to create stunning woven spirals to hang up at home!
Thursday 18 August 2022
Science Fun: Sun Prints with Little Science Lab
The Higgins Bedford @ 11:15am, 12:45pm, 2:15pm – (lasts for about an hour)
£5 per child, Booking Essential
Discover the science of using light to print images before cameras were invented and create stunning prints inspired by nature.
Thursday 18 August 2022
Eat: Thali Tandoor Curry Cruise
John Bunyan Boat, Priory Marina @ 6.30pm
Tickets £25
Enjoy a relaxing evening cruise as the sun goes down along The Embankment, past the 12th century Castle Mound, and under the historic town bridge – all whilst enjoying a traditional thali curry supper.
Sunday 21 August 2022
Guided walk: The Jewel in Bedford’s Crown
Meet at the gold letterbox in St Paul’s Square at 11am
Tickets: £3/£150
The Jewel in Bedford’s Crown is undoubtedly the River Great Ouse and its Embankment. Find out how the construction of this part of the town came about and hear about the many important features which stand on either side of the river and which can easily be overlooked.
Join Bedford’s knowledgeable tour guides to find out more.
Book in advance at their website.
Sunday 21 August 2022
Live music: Music in the Meadows
Mill Meadows, Bedford Embankment @ 3pm – 5pm
Free
A free-to-attend open-air concert on the newly-refurbished bandstand in Mill Meadows, featuring Fynnius Fogg.
Pull up a deckchair or bring along a picnic blanket to enjoy the music.
Monday 22 – Friday 26 August 2022
Summer workshop: Ma-Game-Zine: Workshops for Young Imaginators
The Place Theatre @ 10am
Tickets: £10 per day or £45 for the whole week
Tuesday 23 August 2022
Family crafts: Repeat Pattern Prints with Katie Allen
The Higgins Bedford @ 11:15am, 12:45pm, 2:15pm – (lasts for about an hour)
£5 per child, Booking Essential
Create pattern prints inspired by the gorgeous plates in the Design gallery.
Wednesday 24 August 2022
Relax: Anchor Lunch Cruise
John Bunyan Boat, Priory Marina @ 10am
Tickets: £39
Enjoy a three-hour relaxing and picturesque cruise on the River Great Ouse to Great Barford, departing from Priory Marina at 10.00am. You will arrive at Great Barford for lunch at 1.30 pm and return by coach at 3pm back to Priory Marina.
Thursday 25 August 2022
Family crafts: Star Gazing
The Higgins Bedford @ 11:15am, 2:15pm – (lasts for about an hour)
£3.05 per child, Booking Essential
Discover the patterns we find in the stars and make a constellation projector.
Thursday 25 August 2022
Relax: Thursday Afternoon Cruise
John Bunyan Boat, Sovereigns Quay @2.30pm
Tickets: from £10
Enjoy a relaxing cruise under the historic Town Bridge past Bedford Castle mound and then through the Town lock and along the tranquil river to Cardington Lock.
Thursday 25 August 2022
Relax: Motown Cruise
John Bunyan Boat, Newnham Steps @7.30pm
Tickets: £20
Get your dancing shoes on as it is party time on the John Bunyan Boat’s Motown and Soul cruise featuring DJ Keith Stewart. Dance the night away to your favourite Motown and soul tracks on this two-hour cruise.
Saturday 27 August 2022
Live music: Ruts DC
Bedford Esquires @ 7pm
Tickets: £20
Ruts DC play their first-ever gig in Bedford. This is not part of their tour, it’s a one-off exclusive club show which is bound to sell out fast. Get your tickets now!
Sunday 28 August 2022
Live music: Music in the Meadows
Mill Meadows, Bedford Embankment @ 3pm – 5pm
Free
A free-to-attend open-air concert on the newly-refurbished bandstand in Mill Meadows, featuring Milton Keynes Brass.
Pull up a deckchair or bring along a picnic blanket to enjoy the music.
Sunday 28 August 2022
Live music: Ural Thomas & The Pain + Afreine + The Miller Collective DJs
Bedford Esquires @ 7.30pm
Tickets: £15
Universally recognised as one of the most exciting singers remaining from the original soul era, 82-year-old Ural Thomas and his band The Pain released their third LP “Dancing Dimensions” on the uber cool Brighton-based ‘Bella Union’ records earlier this year.
Thomas initially made his name in the 1960s with stone-cold soul classic releases like “Pain Is The Name of Your Game,” “Can You Dig It,” “Deep Soul,” and his 1964 recording debut with The Monterays “Push – Em Up.”
After a musical journey that commenced in his native Portland, Oregon, and led to Los Angeles, Cincinnati, and New York, Ural shared stages with everyone from James Brown to Stevie Wonder to Otis Redding to Etta James.
He became disillusioned with the music business and returned home where he continues to reign as Portland’s uncontested Soul Brother Number One.
Guest support comes from Afreine. Birthed from a gospel background, she has a style heavily influenced by blues and soul with a modern pop edge. Accompanied with jazz and blues musicians her music is open to all with heartfelt lyrics written from her life experiences.
Seamlessly keeping the night together will be the sounds of The Miller Collective who will be spinning the best in funk and soul cuts.
Monday 29 August 2022
Family Fun: Bank Holiday Cruise
John Bunyan Boat, Sovereigns Quay @ 12pm, 1.45pm, 3pm
Tickets: from £5
Enjoy a relaxing 45 minute Bank Holiday river cruise along the Embankment from Sovereign’s Quay. It’s the perfect way to try the John Bunyan Boat for the first time, and great for families with young children.
Tuesday 30 August 2022
Family crafts: Personalised Pencil Cases
The Higgins Bedford @ 11:15am & 2:15pm – (lasts for about an hour)
£3.05 per child, Booking Essential
Decorate your own bug-themed pencil case.
Wednesday 31 July 2022
Guided walk: Places and Faces of Bedford
Meet at the gold letterbox in St Paul’s Square at 11am
Tickets: £3/£150
Bedford has many impressive properties, often built as homes for the professional and the wealthy. Many survive though few are still family homes.
Join Bedford’s knowledgeable tour guides to find out who lived where and why these Bedfordians were important to the town.
Book in advance at their website.
Thursday 1 September 2022
Family crafts: Optical Illusions
The Higgins Bedford @ 11:15am, 2:15pm – (lasts for about an hour)
£3.05 per child, Booking Essential
Discover how the eye can be tricked and make Victorian-style optical illusion toys.
Friday 2 – Sunday 4 September 2022
Festival: Bedford Running Festival 2022
Russell Park
The festival also features live music, open air cinema, comedy club, yoga and wellness classes, street food stalls, running seminars, recovery zone and Kids Club.
Friday 2 September 2022
Film: Sundown Cinema presents Dirty Dancing
Russell Park @ 8pm (doors open at 7pm)
Tickets: £15
Friday night? Dirty Dancing? In Bedford’s Russell Park? Sundown Cinema are back in Bedford to round off the summer and they’re kicking off with a stone clod classic – Dirty Dancing.
Come and have the time of your life and start your weekend the Sundown way! This screening forms part of the Bedford Running Festival hosted by Active Training World.
Saturday 3 September 2022
Film: Sundown Cinema presents Encanto
Russell Park @ 3pm (doors open at 2pm)
Tickets: £5.50
The magic of the Encanto has blessed every child in the family with a unique gift – every child except Mirabel.
However, she soon may be their last hope when she discovers that the magic surrounding the Encanto is now in danger.
Saturday 3 September 2022
Film: Sundown Cinema presents Top Gun
Russell Park @ 3pm (doors open at 2pm)
Tickets: £15
Where it all began. Some people say it’s the best movie about volleyball, planes and aviator shades ever. Some people shout “Missile lock” (a lot), we just say Great Balls of Fire its the original Top Gun on the big screen in the middle of Bedford. Awesome!
This screening forms part of the amazing Bedford Running Festival hosted by Active Training World
Sunday 4 September 2022
Film: Sundown Cinema presents Sing 2
Turvey House @ 11am (doors open at 10am)
Tickets: £5.50/£11
This Before Sundown open-air screening of Sing 2 is perfect for families and sees Buster Moon reunite his singers for a trip to the big city.
This screening forms part of the amazing Bedford Running Festival hosted by Active Training World
Until 4 September 2022
Family fun: Future Bedford children’s art competition
The Higgins Bedford, Castle Lane
Free entry
Visions of the future of Bedford as imagined by local school children are on display at the Higgins Bedford as part of the Harpur Trust’s bi-annual art competition.
An exhibition of the prize-winning works has been curated by the team at the Higgins Bedford and is on display in the Sir William Harpur Gallery until 4 September. Entry is free.
Until January 2023
Exhibition: Edward Bawden: Artist Plantsman
Higgins Bedford
Free entry but timed tickets required
Every day, influential British artist and designer, Edward Bawden, would spend an hour in his garden at his home in Great Bardfield before starting work in his art studio. Plants and gardens were one of the most prominent and constant subjects of not only his work but also his life.
Drawn exclusively from the Edward Bawden archive, explore Bawden’s lifelong love of plants and gardens through a wide range of his work, including early wallpaper designs, well-known prints, advertising campaigns and private commissions.
From the grand gardens of Carthage and the botanical gardens at Kew, to Bawden’s own gardens at his parent’s home in Braintree and his beloved one-acre plot in Great Bardfield, discover Bawden’s passion for plants and gardens across decades of his work, featuring pieces that have never before been on public display.
Until October 2022
Exhibition: Body & Soul
The Higgins Bedford
Free entry
Edvard Munch (1863–1944), Woman with a Brooch (Madonna), 1903 © The Trustees of the Cecil Higgins Art Gallery
A new exhibition exploring how women have been represented in art over the past two centuries, opens at The Higgins Bedford on 2 April.
Read: Body & Soul: Higgins’ new exhibition explores the representation of women in art
Highlights in the Body & Soul exhibition – all drawn from the Cecil Higgins Art Gallery Collection – include artworks by Edgar Degas, Edvard Munch, Dora Carrington, Stanley Spencer, Henri Matisse, Gwen John, Roy Litchenstein, Lucian Freud and Chila Burman.
Theatre highlights by Paula Walker
