With the weather promising to improve - finally - during this Easter school break, families will be keen to make the most of every opportunity to get out and about.
Attractions around the North East are just as eager to see them, particularly as so many have missed out on their usual flood of holiday visitors during the past two years because of the pandemic restrictions. Several in Newcastle recently joined together in a plea to encourage people back through their doors, following a huge 50% drop in numbers due to Covid.
Throughout the region, most venues have packed spring programmes and Easter activities now in place so families really have no excuse not to remind themselves of what they have been missing. Here are just a few ideas of where to go this Easter to enjoy events and activities on the doorstep.
Read more: 56 free things to do with kids in the North East
There are Easter egg hunts pretty much everywhere and locations ideal for a day out include National Trust properties which offer the perfect opportunity to explore their beautiful grounds while getting some family exercise. English Heritage properties also have adventure quest events on for Easter which tick those boxes too. Read about both those here.
Families getting out and about might also like to know that there are free travel options for children on public transport around Tyne and Wear, Northumberland and Durham. See here for more about that.
Magical fun at Alnwick Castle
It's been closed for winter but visitors can now make a return to the Northumberland castle this Easter as its huge medieval gates are swinging open for the start of its 2022 season. Easter events include an egg hunt around the castle grounds to find eggs laid by its own dragon and school of magic entertainment involving an alchemist mixing explosive potions.
There also will be cannon fire courtesy of the Newcastle garrison and falconry displays adding to the atmosphere. In addition, the usual castle attractions will be on offer, including the popular broomstick training in the very spot used for the Harry Potter film scene when the boy wizard took his own first flight.
Location tours taking in the castle's many on-screen roles on TV and film are also on the new season programme alongside guided tours of the State Rooms and a chance to try medieval crafts such as soap-making. Activities are free save for archery sessions. For information and entry costs see www.alnwickcastle.com.
Easter folklore at Newcastle Castle
An Easter-theme talk at this historic city attraction at 5pm on Good Friday will answer some of those questions you never thought to ask about the origins of Easter's links to the likes of eggs, bunnies and bonnets. Revealing all will be Icy Sedgwick, of the Fabulous Folklore podcast. See here for ticket details.
Getting creative at Seven Stories
Newcastle's national centre for children's books in the Ouseburn is now free to enter. After lifting the admission fee for a trial period, which resulted in record visitor numbers, this now has been made permanent to ensure the Ouseburn venue is as accessible as it can be.
Special events there include a creative workshop for under-fives on April 22 with Caryl Hart, author of the new picture book Thank You for the Little Things, which will include games, stories and creation heart-shape seed sheets to plant in the garden. See here.
It's panto time - oh yes it is!
Pantomime is no longer just a Christmas tradition as you may have noticed from the emergence of Easter-theme storylines and dames dressed in new spring frocks.
The Wizard of Oz is this year's Easter panto at Tyne Theatre and Opera House in Newcastle and joining Dorothy (Ellena Bacon) will be Bobby Davro as the Scarecrow; The X-Factor and Celebrity Big Brother contestant Stevi Ritchie as Tin Man and Karen the Mam's Lewis Denny as Lion. Presented by Enchanted Entertainment, its rescheduled dates are April 16 and 17: see here.
Other panto options include Peter Plank in…It’s Bearly Easter in South Shields where Chloe Millar, who has played The Customs House, will this time take to the stage at the town's Brinkburn CIO club in the lead role of Peter who is out to stop the show's villain taking advantage of a troupe of dancing bears. She'll be joined in the cast by performing arts students from Walton-Gunn Performing Arts in South Shields. The show can be seen at 11.30am and 2.30pm on April 13 and 14. For tickets, £9, see here.
Egg and Spoon racing at Beamish
The County Durham museum is hosting all sorts of extra Easter-theme activities from April 15-18 which are more about old-style fun so that includes - besides an egg hunt- the likes of egg painting at Pockerley Old Hall and egg and spoon races too at the Welfare Hall. There also will be Easter puppet-making; traditional food displays at the Land Girls’ cottage at The 1940s Farm; Easter wreath and card-making plus the making of traditional dishes including fish pie, tarts and hot cross buns.
Look out too on the weekend of April 23-24 for a Tractor Gathering event which is basically exactly what it says on the tin: a get-together of traditional tractors of all shapes and sizes in the Events Fields. See here.
