2 April 2024—31 December 2026

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 2024—31 December 2026

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.

2 April 2024—31 December 2026

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 January—31 December 2025

Behind the scenes tours

TOUR: Join a tour of M Shed’s collection stores and encounter treasures from the city’s industrial and maritime past.

• Talks, tours and workshops

22 February—27 July 2025

Jessica Ashman ‘Those that do not smile will kill me’: Decolonising Jamaican Flora

EXHIBITION: This exhibition challenges perceptions around nature, botanical knowledge and who owns the rich natural resources on Earth.

• Exhibitions

2 April 2025—25 March 2026

Highlight Tours: 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

26 April—20 July 2025

Erased from the Face of the Earth: A powerful testimony of Ukraine’s devastation

EXHIBITION: A photographic exhibition that highlights the impact of the ongoing war in Ukraine following the Russian invasion in February 2022.

• Exhibitions

27 May—23 November 2025

Bristol Pride x Martin Parr

EXHIBITION: Legendary photographer Martin Parr teams up with Bristol Pride and Bristol Museums to showcase a retrospective of his photos of the city’s annual Pride festival.

• Exhibitions

31 May—12 October 2025

Gender Stories

EXHIBITION: Challenging rigid definitions and binary narratives, investigate the connections between sex, gender, sexuality, and identity.

• Exhibitions

1 June 2025—31 March 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 June 2025—31 March 2026

Blaise Museum Highlight Tours

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

• Talks, tours and workshops

1 June 2025—31 March 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

12 July 2025

Illustrated Talk: Troopers Hill and Crews Hole by Rob Acton-Campbell

TALK: Learn about the much loved nature reserve Trooper’s Hill.

• Talks, tours and workshops

12 July—2 November 2025

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)

14 July 2025

Museum Explorers: M Shed for Under 4s

ACTIVITY: Join us at M Shed for these fun sessions, designed especially for the under 4s, and become confident museum explorers!

• Families
• Talks, tours and workshops

17 July—18 December 2025

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)

19 July 2025

M Shed Summer Sessions

EVENT: Get the VIP experience at Bristol Harbour Fest from our rooftop bar, listen to the summer party soundtrack and relax!

• Special events

19 July—31 August 2025

Pyronaut trips

BOAT: Take a boat trip with a difference! Watch the powerful water cannon at work on Bristol’s former fire boat, during a trip around the docks that she was built to protect.

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

20 July 2025

Drawing Class at The Red Lodge Museum

WORKSHOP: An introduction to sketching at the Red Lodge Museum!

• Talks, tours and workshops

20 July 2025

Drawing Class at The Georgian House Museum

WORKSHOP: An introduction to sketching at The Georgian House Museum!

• Talks, tours and workshops

23—25 July 2025

Festival of Archaeology Fun at Kings Weston Roman Villa

HOLIDAY SESSIONS: Visit the Villa for our school holiday sessions during the Festival of Archaeology.

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

24—31 July 2025

Blaise of Glory! – A Tabletop Roleplay Experience

EVENT: Tabletop roleplay games for experienced and new players

• Special events

25 July—19 December 2025

Historical Walk: Redcliffe and Temple

WALK: Venture on our guided walk into the once-autonomous township of Redcliffe, where you will find some of the most impressive remains of historical Bristol.

• Outdoors (walks, trains, boats, cranes)

26 July—5 October 2025

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)

27 July—4 October 2025

LGBTQIAP+ tour of the museum

TOUR: Discover incredible LGBTQIAP+ stories and connections in our rich and surprising collections with queer historian Jack Shoulder.

• Talks, tours and workshops

3 August—7 December 2025

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)

5 August—2 December 2025

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)

5—26 August 2025

Family activity: Railway 200

All aboard for our family activity celebrating Railway 200! Join us for badge making, crafts and create your own stories with our wooden train layout.

• Families
• Talks, tours and workshops

6—27 August 2025

Family activity: Story Box

We’re opening the Story Box at Bristol Museum & Art Gallery on Wednesdays in August! Join us for these interactive story time sessions.

• Families
• Talks, tours and workshops

7—28 August 2025

Family activity: M Shed Story Box

Join us this summer when we open the Story Box every Thursday in August for themed stories that are perfect for young visitors! These interactive story time sessions, led by museum staff and volunteers, include cuddly toys, puppets, costume and beautifu…

• Families
• Talks, tours and workshops

9 August 2025

Family Fun Sealed Knot

EVENT: Travel back in time to the summer of 1646 and join us for family fun at The Red Lodge Museum!

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

9—26 August 2025

Summer Family Fun at The Georgian House Museum

EVENT: Are you ready to celebrate summer at The Georgian House Museum?

• Families
• Special events

9 August—19 October 2025

John King trips

BOAT: Take a trip on the harbour on this 1935 diesel tug – built to tow cargo ships from Bristol City Docks to the mouth of the River Avon.

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

16 August 2025

Celebrate South Asian Heritage Month!

SPECIAL EVENT: Join us for South Asian Heritage Month with a vibrant celebration showcasing the rich cultures of Pakistan, Bangladesh, and India.

• Special events

16—30 August 2025

Summer Family Fun at Blaise Museum

EVENT: Are you ready to celebrate summer in the beautiful Blaise Museum house?

• Families
• Special events

18 August 2025

Summer Family Fun at The Red Lodge Museum

EVENT: Are you ready to celebrate summer at The Red Lodge Museum?

• Families
• Special events

30 August 2025

Illustrated Talk: Ellen Sharples by Alison Bevan

TALK: Alison Bevan, former Director of the RWA, will describe the story of painter Ellen Sharples.

• Talks, tours and workshops

30 August 2025

Visit the Villa

OPEN EVENT: Visit the villa for a day of family friendly fun with students from the University of Bristol

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

23 September 2025

Kings Weston Roman Villa Open Evening

OPEN EVENT: Visit the villa in the evening and explore this amazing archaeological site

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

25 September—27 November 2025

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

27 September 2025

Film screening: Bristol – 100 years in Music and Film by David Parker

SPECIAL EVENT: Join us at M Shed to celebrate the centenary of Bristol Archives through music and film. 

• Special events

27 September 2025

Visit the Villa

OPEN EVENT: Visit the villa for a day of family friendly fun with students from the University of Bristol

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

13—17 October 2025

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