What's on across Cirencester and the Cotswolds: 20 July to 3 August 2026
Schools broke up on Friday, so this is the first proper fortnight of the summer holidays and the diary has filled up accordingly. Plenty of it is aimed at keeping children occupied, which if you are reading this on a wet Tuesday with two bored kids in the kitchen, may be exactly what you needed.
The first week is a steady one. A comedy hypnotist at Odd Socks on the Thursday, an open garden over at Tetbury the same day, and a free talk at Watermoor Church Hall on the Saturday morning about planning for later life. That last one is not the most exciting thing on the list, but I have sat with enough customers who wished they had sorted it sooner. Then Sunday afternoon the Frampton Silver Band are on at the Abbey Grounds bandstand, free, from half two.
The back end of the fortnight is where it gets busy. South Cerney Airfield hosts the Gloucestershire Vintage and Country Extravaganza across three days from the Friday, and it is a proper day out even if old engines are not usually your thing. Then Sunday the second gives you a choice: the antiques fair over at Bibury, or more free brass back in the Abbey Grounds. Or both, if you are quick and the traffic behaves.
Running underneath all of that are the things that just keep going through the holidays. Craft workshops at New Brewery Arts for the eight to twelve year olds, meditation at Berry Farm on Wednesday evenings, Pram Fit on Monday mornings, and the Charter Market twice a week in the Market Place. Handy to have in your back pocket when a day needs filling.
If I have missed something obvious, drop me a line and it will go in the next one. And if all this time at home has you noticing a door that sticks or a fence panel leaning further than it did in the spring, well, you know where I am.
This fortnight's highlights
Dylan Lovegrove, comedy hypnotist
Twelve pounds for a night of comedy and hypnosis in a coffee shop. His party trick was convincing KSI he supported Tottenham, which tells you roughly what you are in for. Tickets are on Eventbrite and a room that size will not hold many.
More info →Charlton Down House, open garden for the NGS
Formal terraces, deep perennial borders and a walled topiary garden, all sat in a 180 acre equestrian estate. Open for the National Garden Scheme, so there will be tea and a slice of something on a trestle table somewhere. There always is.
More info →Planning for later life, a free talk
Not the cheeriest listing on here, but a genuinely useful one. Care options, staying independent at home, and the money side of it, explained by people who do it for a living. Free, and everyone goes home with a checklist. If you have been putting off that conversation with your mum and dad, this is a gentle way into it.
More info →Bands in the Park, Frampton Silver Band
Free brass in the Abbey Grounds, which is about as Cirencester as a Sunday afternoon gets. Take a rug and a picnic and let the kids run about. It is an outdoor event so it does get pulled if the weather turns, worth a quick check before you load the car.
More info →Gloucestershire Vintage and Country Extravaganza
The big one this fortnight. The South West's largest festival of vintage transport, spread across the airfield for three days. Tractors, steam, old commercials, the lot. I lose a good hour every year to engines I have no business being interested in, and I regret none of it.
More info →Bibury Antiques and Vintage Fair
A small, well run fair in one of the prettiest villages in the country. The dealers are a friendly lot and the drive over is half the day out on its own.
More info →Bands in the Park, Jazz Friday
The band is called Jazz Friday and they are playing on a Sunday, which I have decided not to worry about. Free, outdoors, same bandstand, same picnic rules as the week before.
More info →Summer craft workshops for children
Full days for eight to twelve year olds, sixty pounds, all materials found and all mess cleared up by somebody who is not you. Themes run from Under the Sea to Sweet Treats. Worth knowing about for the week the weather breaks.
More info →Guided meditation at Berry Farm
Drop ins welcome and the mats and blankets are provided, so there is no kit to buy before you find out whether you like it. A quiet hour in the middle of the school holidays might be exactly the right idea.
More info →Pram Fit in the Abbey Grounds
Six pounds fifty, pay as you go, buggies and small people welcome. The organiser cheerfully admits her own two are unlikely to stay in the pram, which struck me as an honest bit of advertising.
More info →Charter Market
The award winning one that has been going for centuries. Easy to walk past when you see it every week, but on a decent summer morning it is still one of the better reasons to be in town.
More info →Summer holidays showing up the jobs you have been ignoring?
Six weeks at home has a way of revealing things. The gate that never did shut properly, the garden tap that drips, the shelf you promised the kids in February. Give me a shout and I will fit you in around the chaos.
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