2 April 2024—31 December 2027

Highlights Tour: Bristol Museum & Art Gallery

TOUR: Welcome to Bristol Museum & Art Gallery! Our welcome tour offers you a captivating introduction to the magnificent building and extensive collections housed within our walls.

• Talks, tours and workshops

2 April 2024—31 December 2027

Highlights Tour: M Shed

TOUR: Join us for a tour of M Shed! Let us introduce you to our museum, share some stories you won’t find on the labels and tell you how we came to be.

• Talks, tours and workshops

2 April 2024—31 December 2027

Highlights Tour: Difficult Conversations at Bristol Museum & Art Gallery

TOUR: Our Difficult Conversations tour offers you a different view of our collections and an insight into the complex ethics of museums in the modern world.

• Talks, tours and workshops

2 April 2025—31 March 2027

Highlights Tour: Hidden Histories, Women Artists, Muses and Rebels

TOUR: This tour guides you through Bristol Museum’s Art Galleries, focusing on women’s stories from our art collection and highlighting work by women artists.

• Talks, tours and workshops

1 June 2025—31 March 2027

Highlight Tours: Bristol’s Dinosaurs

TOUR: Let us take you on an imaginary trip back in time to meet the dinosaurs of Bristol Museum & Art Gallery!

• Talks, tours and workshops

1 January 2026—31 December 2027

Behind the scenes tours

TOUR: Join a tour of M Shed’s collection stores and get up close to the city’s industrial and maritime past.

• Talks, tours and workshops

1 January 2026—31 December 2027

Heritage Open Days: Behind the scenes tours

TOUR: Join a tour of M Shed’s collection stores and get up close to the city’s industrial and maritime past.

• Talks, tours and workshops

10 January—31 December 2026

Highlights Tour: Treasures of Bristol Museum and Art Gallery

TOUR: Bristol Museum and Art Gallery is a treasure house of beautiful things!

• Talks, tours and workshops

13 February—1 November 2026

Mini-museum hunt! 50 years of Aardman

ACTIVITY: Families and curious explorers of all ages can pick up a detective map and track down all the Aardman secret treasures.

• Families
• Special events

1 April—31 December 2026

Blaise 100: Museum Highlight Tours

TOUR: Let us introduce you to our grand historic house and its impressive estate.

• Talks, tours and workshops

1 April—31 December 2026

The Red Lodge Museum Highlight Tours

TOUR: Let us introduce you to our historic house and share some stories you won’t find on the labels!

• Talks, tours and workshops

1 April—31 December 2026

The Georgian House Museum Highlight Tours

TOUR: Join us on an exploratory tour of the Georgian House Museum, learning about the history of the house and the people who lived there. 

• Talks, tours and workshops

19 June—27 September 2026

The Lost Paintings: A Prelude to Return اللوحات المفقودة: تمهيد للعودة

EXHIBITION: Discover a remarkable story of art reclaimed and reimagined from a group of Palestinian artists.

• Exhibitions

18 July—1 November 2026

1000 Years of Fashion History – an exhibition in miniature

EXHIBITION: A timeline in miniature, with more than 100 hand-made costumes modelled by fashion dolls.

• Exhibitions

12 September—14 November 2026

Blaise 100: Blaise Community Garden Special Events

EVENT: Join the Blaise Community Gardeners for a season of Café Days, special events and community gatherings.

• Special events

16 September 2026

In Conversation: Ancestral Land, Colonialism and Palestinian Resistance.

PANEL DISCUSSION: This panel will explore the connections between landscape, history, identity, and displacement.

• Online
• Talks, tours and workshops

17 September—19 November 2026

Historical Walk: Bristol Abolition

WALK: Discover the names and places associated with Bristol’s thousand-year fight to end the city’s involvement in slavery.

• Outdoors (walks, trains, boats, cranes)
• Talks, tours and workshops

17 September—17 December 2026

Historical Walk: Old City

WALK: Discover a millennium of history on this 1.8 mile walk around the old city of Bristol.

• Outdoors (walks, trains, boats, cranes)
• Talks, tours and workshops

17 September 2026

Home Educator activity: Discover Arts Award (Poetry)

LEARNING: Join us and have fun with words during our Home Educator activity Discover Arts Award – poetry.

• Families
• Talks, tours and workshops

17 September—19 November 2026

William Hogarth’s Altarpiece

SPECIAL EVENT: See Hogarth’s vast triptych and learn about its remarkable journey around Bristol since it was painted for St Mary Redcliffe in 1755/56.

• Talks, tours and workshops

19—20 September 2026

Docks Heritage Weekend

SPECIAL EVENT: Celebrate Bristol’s rich maritime heritage at the Docks Heritage Weekend!

• Special events

19 September—4 October 2026

Crane visits

CRANE: Experience a working crane on the dockside with visits inside the electric cranes, M Shed’s biggest exhibits!

• Families
• Outdoors (walks, trains, boats, cranes)

19 September—22 October 2026

Blaise 100: Explore the Estate

WALKS: A special programme of walks designed to explore the Blaise Estate and celebrate 100 years of public ownership.

• Outdoors (walks, trains, boats, cranes)
• Special events

19 September—25 October 2026

Boat trips

WORKING EXHIBITS: Take a boat ride with a difference! All three of our historic working boats offer scenic trips around Bristol Harbour.

• Outdoors (walks, trains, boats, cranes)

20 September—20 December 2026

Bristol Museum Morning Yoga

EXPERIENCE: Join us for Sunday morning yoga in the Enlightenment Gallery this year. 

• Special events

23 September 2026

In Conversation: Sumud (Palestinian Steadfastness), Creativity and Political Imagination

PANEL DISCUSSION: The panel will discuss how art can be used to express experiences, preserve memories, and explore ideas about the past, present, and future.

• Online
• Talks, tours and workshops

24 September 2026

Home Educator workshop: All about Bumble Bees

LEARNING: Join zoologist Dr Sara Frears to discover the fascinating lives of Bumble Bees in this special workshop.

• Families
• Talks, tours and workshops

26 September 2026

Visit the Villa

VILLA: Visit Kings Weston Roman Villa for some family friendly fun.

• Families

26 September 2026

Back to the 90s: Silent School Disco

EVENT: Get ready for your favourite school yard anthems at our spectacular silent disco night!

• Special events

26 September—1 November 2026

Train rides

TRAIN: Take a train trip on Britain’s only dockside steam railway behind one of our Bristol-built locomotives.

• Families
• Outdoors (walks, trains, boats, cranes)

29 September 2026

Fashion designer Jean- Luc and the Deputy Editor of ELLE UK in conversation with Fashion Britain

TALK: Join the British Fashion Council at M Shed for a conversation with Bristolian designer Jean- Luc, J.L_A.L and Lena De Casparis the Deputy Editor of ELLE UK.

• Talks, tours and workshops

1 October—5 November 2026

Historical Walk: Pirates and Prejudice

WALK: Explore Bristol’s old dockside on this Pirates and Prejudice walk, shattering the myths around Bristol’s literary and piratical past

• Outdoors (walks, trains, boats, cranes)
• Talks, tours and workshops

2 October 2026

Home Educator activity: Geology Store tours

LEARNING: Home Educated students can join us for a special behind-the-scenes tour of the Geology stores, followed by a hand-on investigation of museum specimens.

• Families
• Talks, tours and workshops

2 October—4 December 2026

The Bristol Tapestry Talk

TALK: Explore the story of how The Bristol Tapestry came to be made at this talk.

• Talks, tours and workshops

4 October 2026

Blaise 100: Castle Open Afternoons

EVENT: Explore Blaise Castle with the Friends of Blaise and climb the battlements for a fine view of the surrounding landscape.

• Outdoors (walks, trains, boats, cranes)
• Special events

4 October—6 December 2026

Historical Walk: 1831 Riots

WALK: Our knowledegable guides will vividly retell the history of this tragic episode, exploring some of the sites that played a prominent role in the unrest.

• Outdoors (walks, trains, boats, cranes)
• Talks, tours and workshops

6 October—1 December 2026

Historical Walk: Floating Harbour

WALK: Join our guides for a tour of Bristol docklands, exploring the maritime heritage of the harbour and its modern regeneration.

• Outdoors (walks, trains, boats, cranes)

10 October 2026

Space Week: Immersed in Starlight

EVENT: See Bristol’s night sky as never before, as the museum transforms into a canvas for distant nebulae, star clusters and galaxies.

• Special events

12 October 2026

Family activity: Toddler Takeover at M Shed

LEARNING: Under 4s can join us for a transport-themed Toddler Takeover at M Shed!

• Families
• Special events

12—16 October 2026

Steam engine and crane driving experiences

SPECIAL EVENT: Have a go at driving the steam engine, Henbury and one of the iconic electric cranes outside M Shed.

• Outdoors (walks, trains, boats, cranes)
• Special events

13 October 2026

Home Educator activity: Drawing British wildlife

LEARNING: An opportunity for Home Educators to get up close to bird and animal specimens and make observational drawings.

• Families
• Talks, tours and workshops

14 October 2026—9 May 2027

Bristol Photo Festival 2026: Time Machine

EXHIBITION: We are showing two shows at Bristol Museum & Art Gallery as part of Bristol Photo Festival.

• Exhibitions

16 October 2026

Black History Month: Inherited Rhythms with DJ Style & Friends 

SPECIAL EVENT: Join Bris-Story for a special Black History Month event exploring Bristol’s vibrant music culture of the 1980s and its lasting influence on the city’s creative identity.

• Special events

20 October 2026

Home Educator workshop: Ancient Egypt

LEARNING: This Home Educator workshop about Ancient Egypt explores life, beliefs, and mummification, inspired by our fantastic Egypt gallery.

• Families
• Talks, tours and workshops

24 October 2026—31 January 2027

The Secret Life of Colour

EXHIBITION: An exhibition exploring the powerful role colour plays in our lives featuring objects from across the globe.

• Exhibitions

24 October—1 November 2026

Spooky Week at The Red Lodge Museum

FAMILIES: These spooky activity days will investigate the past at The Red Lodge Museum with something to do for all the family.

• Families
• Special events

24 October 2026

Black History Month Family Fun: ‘Wear your story’ (upcycling with Adire)

FAMILY FUN: Celebrate Black History Month through the colour, creativity and rich textile traditions of the Yoruba people of Nigeria.

• Families

24 October—1 November 2026

Autumn Week at Blaise Museum

FAMILIES: These autumn activity days will celebrate the season at Blaise Museum with something to do for all the family.

• Families
• Special events

29 October 2026

Curator talk: Colour in Nature

TALK: Join natural history expert Ray Barnett to discover how animals and plants generate colours and how they use them for different purposes.

• Talks, tours and workshops

29 October 2026—28 January 2027

The Secret Life of Colour – Lates

SPECIAL EVENT: Join us after hours for a chilled-out evening of art, music, and good vibes at The Secret Life of Colour Lates.

• Special events

11 November 2026

Home Educator workshop: World War One

LEARNING: Our Home Educator workshop explores how World War One affected the lives of people living in Bristol at the time.

• Families
• Talks, tours and workshops

19 November 2026

Curator talk: Kevin de Choisy’s ceramic glaze experiments

TALK: Join our Curator of Applied Art in discussing the glaze experiments Kevin de Choisy and how artists test and refine glazes.

• Talks, tours and workshops

26 November 2026

Conserving Colour with the Conservation team

TALK: Hear our Conservators discuss some of the challenges and rewards presented by colour in conserving and treating historic objects.

• Talks, tours and workshops

2 December 2026

Home Educator activity: Brass rubbing and medieval handling

LEARNING: Home Educators 12-16 years can join us and make rubbings of our replica church brasses, and handle medieval artefacts.

• Families
• Talks, tours and workshops

10 December 2026

Curator talk: Colour in Chinese ceramics and glass

TALK: Our Senior Curator of Visual Arts will explore some of the meanings behind Chinese ceramic and glass colours.

• Talks, tours and workshops

14 January 2027

Curator talk: Minerals of the Bristol Region

TALK: Focusing on examples in the exhibition and from the museum’s geological collections, this talk will explore the history, uses and beauty of minerals.

• Talks, tours and workshops

19 June—19 September 2027

British Art Show 10: A Chorus of Strangers

EXHIBITION: The British Art Show is the largest and most significant recurring exhibition of contemporary art in the UK.  

• Exhibitions

1 June—30 September 2028

David Bowie: On Tour

EXHIBITION: Over 100 highlights from the V&A’s David Bowie’s archive are coming to Bristol in Summer 2028. 

• Exhibitions