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- Throughout the summer holidays, the Gruffalo will be stomping his way through all the major forests in England. If you’re brave enough to meet him and want to learn all about the furry friends of the woodlands, you'll want to head to England's forests from 12 July to 18 August. Some of the forests where your little ones can meet the Gruffalo include Forest of Dean in Gloucestershire, Dalby Forest in Yorkshire and Bedgebury Pinetum and Forest in Kent.
- What better to chill out than by watching a movie at the beach? Brighton’s Big Screen is a free outdoor beach cinema that is showcasing a mixture of movie classics and recent box office hits on the gigantic 40sqm screen this summer including: The Hunger Games Catching Fire, The Lego Movie, Dirty Dancing and Jaws, plus top live sporting events including the World Cup, Wimbledon and the British Grand Prix. There is a fully licenced cantina-style bar as well as frozen margarita machines, popcorn and a selection of great food.
- Every Saturday throughout July and August, Chester Amphitheatren will host Family Saturdays, a free day out which sees the amphitheatre transformed into an arena of gigantic games, epic storytelling and... the beach. Find out the answer to that burning question – just why is a raven like a writing desk? – at the Mad Hatter’s Tea Party, or mark the centenary of WW1 with themed activities and workshops. You may even spot a re-enacted Roman soldier or two as Chester’s ancient history is brought marching into the 21st century.
- Fell Foot Park, nestling at the southern end of Windermere, offers the perfect family day out. You can canoe down river, skim stones, build a den, hunt for bugs, let the children loose on the adventure playground or simply enjoy the wide open spaces and relax with a picnic. Whether you like to take to the water or keep your feet on dry land, there are activities to fill a whole day at Fell Foot Park.
- The Sutton Harbour Classic Boat Rally showcases a wide range of more than 70 classic boats spanning the past century. The event, from 25 to 28 July, is hosted at Sutton Harbour Marina in Plymouth and sees boats sail into the Harbour on the Friday, and remain there for the weekend for visitors to come and see. Among the boats attending this year’s rally will be two Dunkirk Little Ships, a WW1 Motor Torpedo Boat, seven boats on the National Register of Historic Ships and six boats more than 100 years old.
- From 28 to 31 August 2014, the historic town of Falmouth is set to host renowned Tall Ships Regatta, welcoming over 47 ships, including 12 of the magnificent and mighty square-rigged Tall Ships, from a myriad of nationalities including Spain, Holland, Portugal and Russia. The event will make maritime history as for the first time ever the race will take place solely in English waters. For the first three days, the ships will open to the public for a unique opportunity to explore on deck and learn about life on board these giants of the sea where fortunes were won and lost. Expect a swathe of swash-buckling pirates marauding and seasoned sailors dancing the hornpipe in the streets.
Get down to the beach in the heart of Nottingham this summer, when the Nottingham Riviera returns to beautiful Old Market Square from 19 July to 2 September. Pull up a deckchair on the sand, enjoy popular seaside rides and entertainment, chill in the beach bar over a cocktail or splash about in the paddling pool area on site. There is also a live music line-up to keep the whole family entertained.
- Sherwood Forest comes alive with the spirit of Robin Hood from 4 to 10 August, when the annual Robin Hood Festival returns to the infamous forest in Nottinghamshire. Every year, visitors come to experience the ancient forest come alive with music, theatre and free fun for all the family. Try your hand at archery, see falconry displays and watch Robin Hood himself as he takes part in skirmishes and jousting displays around the forest. Don’t miss this special opportunity to see Robin Hood and his legend come to life in the heart of his homeland Sherwood Forest.
- From 28 to 31 August, there will be four days of incredible aircraft, jets and display teams, including the Red Arrows and historic Canadian Lancaster flying with the Battle of Britain Memorial Flight, at Bournemouth Air Festival. There will be on the ground interactive Forces villages, 1.5 miles of county show trading and Night Air entertainment with dusk displays, live music and fireworks.
- T-Party, a free family fun day in the heart of Telford Town Park, Shropshire will have an action-packed programme of activities with something for everyone on 2 August. Expect to find strolling players, puppets, story-telling, games, arts and crafts, musical workshops and market stalls, plus a variety of food and drink for all to enjoy. Family entertainers will include street theatre, with the hilarious Granny Turismo and the Lovely Bugs, who will perform an interactive and aerial dance display within a six-metre-high rig and giant spider’s web.
- It's more than 120 years since Birmingham Museum & Art Gallery first opened its doors beneath the clock tower on Chamberlain Square. More than half a million objects fill the cabinets and walls of Birmingham’s museums. The perfect rainy day out, here you will find everything from Renaissance masterpieces to 9,000-year-old Middle-Eastern treasures. The museum is particularly admired for its Pre-Raphaelite paintings and drawings as the museum boasts the largest collection in the world. Bronze buddhas and Egyptian mummies also reside in this diverse and fascinating place. Best of all, it's completely free to visit!
No need to wait until 5 November to enjoy firework displays as this summer you can enjoy watching amazing pyrotechnics without your woollies at the British Firework Championships on Tuesday 12 and Wednesday 13 August in Plymouth. The event is believed to be Britain’s most spectacular fireworks display and features six top pyrotechnics companies who set off four tonnes of fireworks over Plymouth Sound as they battle it out to become the British Fireworks champion. Plymouth’s Hoe offers the perfect viewing platform for this truly incredible competition.
- Free to watch Ironbridge Coracle Regatta will be held between 12 and 4pm on Bank Holiday Monday 25 August, attracting coracle makers and paddlers from all over Britain to participate in an array of madcap races. Featuring team games, coracle polo matches and other fiercely contended competitions, the event takes place along the picturesque stretch of the River Severn at the Ironbridge Rowing Club. Novice paddlers can have a go in the water for free using traditional coracles handmade at the Green Wood Centre, or anyone with their own coracle can bring it along and join in the races (life jackets provided). Food and refreshments will be available plus a variety of shore-based activities and arts and crafts stalls to browse and buy. Used for thousands of years, coracles are flat-bottomed boats made from woven wood covered in animal skins, or more often nowadays, canvas sewn on and waterproofed with tar or bitumen. They were used for fishing, ferrying and - commonly in Ironbridge - for poaching.
- Blue Ribbon Village is two days of fantastic, free activities for tots to teenagers at Potters Fields Park in the shadow of Tower Bridge and beside City Hall, taking place from 13 to 14 September. It will include everything from festival music to arts and crafts. The annual event also brings together scores of voluntary and charitable organisations involved with the ecology, history and industries of the Thames.
- Scotland’s International Hot Air Balloon Spectacular takes place in John Hastie Park from 22 to 24 August. The annual event is the only one of its kind in Scotland and one of the largest in the UK. It combines hot air balloons launching and in flight (weather permitting), with fun days and the magnificent Saturday Evening Glow, where as darkness falls you can enjoy a magical scene of light and colour with balloons illuminating the night sky.
- This summer, you can experience an interactive farm walk at Lord Newborough’s organic farm, the Rhug Estate, in the beautiful Denbighshire countryside. By scanning QR codes on posts around the farm, you’ll discover the stories behind one of the most fascinating field to plate farming operations in the UK. Spot young calves, lambs and gosling roaming over the 7,000 acres of farm land - you may even see a Bison if you’re lucky.
- At this summer's Airbourne in Eastbourne, families can check out an RAF Chinook and historic Canberra cold war jet that will join the event's line-up from 14 to 17 August, along with the Optimus Prime Transformers truck, which will be on display on the ground. The international free airshow will also have a music stage on the beach with live singers, including Britain’s Got Talent boy band The Mend and X-Factor finalist Luke Friend. On Sunday night, the end of show party will close a fantastic four days with a Red Arrows-themed firework display at 10pm.
- The largest arts festival in the world returns to Edinburgh from 1 to 25 August, with 49,497 performances of 3,193 shows in 299 venues across Scotland’s capital city. While you may have to buy tickets for many shows, there are 825 free shows to enjoy and a few the kids will love too, including The Very Scariesome Tooth Fairy at The Free Sisters and Huggers at Gorgie City Farm. Find free shows at freefestival.co.uk