By Tom Jones
There’s plenty going on up and down the Five Valleys this week, with children off school and lots of extra activities for the term holiday, Halloween celebrations taking place on Thursday, and also the start of fireworks season with various displays on offer.
Local tourist attractions are also taking advantage of the season with special events and family activities at local favourites like Westonbirt Arboretum and Slimbridge Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust.
Find out more in our weekly look at things coming up in Stroud and the wider district.
Regular and one off events
- Attend the Five Valleys Fireworks – Mon 28 Oct, 6pm
Stroud Rotary once again take over Marling School playing fields, organsing one of the area’s biggest firework displays and continuing a tradition that goes back more than 50 years. You don’t get a bonfire nowadays, but they have laid on a fun fair, a punch and judy show, and stalls offering food and drink.
- Unweave and Reweave the Commons – Tue 29 Oct, 3pm
Local artists Emily Joy, Nicola Builder and Deborah Roberts invite you to join a public participatory ‘unweaving’ and reweaving workshop exploring connections to local landscapes. Participants are invited to gradually and collaboratively pull threads from a large, printed textile piece, in an exercise designed to evoke erosion in the local grassland environments of Stroud’s commons.
- Visit Rodborough’s haunted alleyway – Thu 31 Oct – 6:30 – 8:30pm
Rodborough’s haunted alleyway off Field Road returns for another year, and if it’s anything like as scary as last year – when a ghostly horseriding robotic skeleton sent shivers down the spines of local children – it’s certainly worth a look-in for thosein the area looking for a fright.
- Raise the spirits of the Heavens at the Trinity Rooms, Fri 1 Nov, 6:30pm
This special fundraiser for the campaign to buy the Heavens takes over the Trinity Rooms for what is set to be a night to remember. The event features dancing from Boss Morris, poetry from Jonny Fluffypunk, Adam Horovitz and Alun Hughes, and local history from Heavens Valley archaeologist Neil Baker and Radical Stroud’s Stuart Butler. Plus, music from the rousing Red Band – who lead a procession from the Crown and Sceptre just after 6pm – folk tunes from Ordinary Folk and a DJ set from the Donnelly Sisters.
- Join a fancy dress family bike ride – Sat 2 Nov, 10:30am
Cargo Bikes of Stroud and Access Bike lead their semi-regular family friendly bike ride from Brimscombe Mill to Stroud Farmers’ Market. This month’s ride is a Halloween special, featuring spooky tunes and fancy dress, ending outside the Access Bike project shop in John Street around 11:30am.
- Mark the Dia de los Muertos at the Prince Albert – Sat 2 November, 1pm
Community treasures Ritu Sood and Carlos Grijalva Eternod once again bring this traditional Mexican event to the Prince Albert, offering an opportunity to celebrate those who are no longer with us. Bring a picture or memory of a loved one to add to the temporary altar, and create calavera poetry, tissue paper marigolds and papel picardo.
- Watch the fireworks at Miserden – Sat 2 Nov, Gates 4.30pm.
If a big fire is central to your ideal bonfire night, head up the hill to Miserden for a family friendly evening with a firework display and a decent sized bonfire. This event in aid of Miserden School also promises a selection of food options, mulled wine, beer, cider and hot chocolate, and even a glow in the dark disco.
Continuing this week
- Take the Slimbridge Halloween Light Trail – Until Sun 3 Nov, 5.30pm – 8pm
Slimbridge Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust’s special Halloween Light Trail takes visitors on a seasonal journey around the Severn Vale site, encountering the Marsh Witch and her potions, as well as pumpkins, shipwrecks, scarecrows, bats and broomsticks. We learn that attendees will be offered the chance to make a wish in the pond zone, get creative in the arts and craft zone, and toast marshmallows in the firepit.
Further afield
- Plant trees for the future at Westonbirt – Mon 28 October – Fri 1 November – 10:30am – 3:30pm
Not content to offer a spectacular display of autumn colour to the half term crowds, the team at Westonbirt Arboretum have laid of some special events. Sieze the opportunity to collect and sow some tree seeds to take home, or embark on a ‘Tree Guardians’ trail and learn how Westonbirt’s trees are cared for, and how they are working with tree experts around the world to look after theirs.
- For a full month of art, music, theatre, literature, film and comedy events, pick up a copy of Stroud’s popular listings magazine, Good on Paper.
