What’s on in Stroud this week: 5 – 11 May
Spring continues to spring this week, gardens and countryside are bursting back into life, and we are blessed with a bank holiday Monday.
The result is clusters of exciting events at each end of the week, with a plant swap and VE day celebrations in Coaley and Uley on Monday, and weekend springtime celebrations including the Randwick Wap, Horsley Open Gardens and Stroud Arts Festival.
Plus a continuing exhibition at the Chapels of Rest in Stroud Cemetery and a festival of Ukranian culture in Gloucester.
Find out more in our regular look at things coming up in Stroud and the wider district. To suggest an event for inclusion, use this form.
Regular and one off events
- Visit the Coaley Plant Swap & Trail – Continues Mon 5 May
A key event in the Coaley calendar, the village produce show’s plant swap & trail sees residents host stalls of reasonably-priced plants at locations around the village, from Westend to Far Green. It usually leads to a pleasant rural wander, amassing seedlings for planting out in the garden, with tea and cakes from Coaley WI at the village hall.
- Celebrate VE Day in Uley – Mon 5 May, from 12 noon
Uley villagers mark the 80th anniversary of VE Day with a special celebration featuring a blessing of the memorial trees, a village fete, a tug of war, welly wanging, a bouncy castle, a memorabilia exhibition and a bar and food trucks. Plus a special award for the attendee in the best 1940s dress.
- Attend the Randwick Wap – Sat 10 May, from 12:30pm
Randwick’s ancient spring festival returns for another year, with the newly-elected Wap Queen and Mayor cried in at the war memorial before being processed to the well in ordee to be anointed and sung at. From there, it’s off for a traditional rolling of the bless-ed cheese by the church, and a fayre on the village green.
- See the Forgotten Garden of Shadows – Continues Sat 10 – Sun 11 May, 11am – 5pm
This free collaborative show by artist Matthew Robert Hughes and floral designer Emma Thistlethwaite is the first exhibition to take place at the Chapels of Rest since the Stroud Preservation Trust signed a seven year lease in February 2025. The centrepiece of the exhibition is a diorama of a haunted garden where ceramic ghosts walk among living flowers evoking memory, myth, and mischief.
- Visit Horsley’s Open Gardens – Sat 10 – Sun 11 May
Horsley’s annual open gardens event sees 17 gardens around the village open to the public, including cottage gardens, smallholdings and allotments. Open gardens HQ is at St Martin’s Church, along with refreshments and a plant stall. Tickets are £7.50 and are valid for both days.
- Attend the Stroud Arts Festival – Sat 10 – Sun 11 May
Stroud’s two-day spring festival has been taking place since 1946, bringing music, theatre, dance, poetry and art to venues around Stroud. Highlights this year include Autin Dance Theatre’s Out of the Deep Blue, which will see a 13ft sea giant, Eko, explore the town centre during Saturday’s farmers market, leading people to St Laurence’s Church.
Beginning this week
- See Dan Guthrie’s Empty Alcove – Fri 9 – Sat 17 May
As part of a new commission on show at the SVA’s John St Gallery, Stroud artist Dan Guthrie continues his exploration of the clock on Blackboy House in Castle Street. The clock was originally assembled by a local watchmaker in 1774, before being relocated to the front of the former schoolhouse in 1844.
Further afield
- Celebrate Ukranian culture in Gloucester – Continues until Sun 18 May
Gloucester Ukraine Festival returns to the Folk of Gloucester #for a second year, with two weeks of Ukranian cultural offerings continuing until 18 May. Expect a range of activities and performances from Ukrainian and British artists, dancers, musicians and singers.
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.
