A Homemade Rocket Laboratory is just one of the fantastic new events for families to enjoy at Castle Kennedy Gardens this year.
A fun packed programme of events and activities will begin this Easter when Castle Kennedy Gardens opens daily from Good Friday (25 March), kicking off with a fantastic Easter Eggs-ploration!
Look out for launching rockets, flying kites, whirling wind socks and marathons of millipedes as a new programme of exciting Garden Ranger events offers events themed around Science, Adventure, Wildlife and Create/Art.
Homemade Rocket Laboratory, Create Kites, Design a Dream Catcher, Making a Heart Shaped Bird Feeder, Building a Bug Hotel, Nature Weaving, Making Toy Rafts, Star Gazing and Millipede Marathon are NEW events taking place throughout 2016, and join firm favourites such as Pond Dipping, Tepee and Den Building and Lighting a Campfire with Campfire Treats.
Special Events include an Easter Eggs-ploration (25 March-3 April) around the fabulous Gardens where visitors can indulge in the delicious variety of beautiful Spring blooms. Children can follow an eggs-citing Easter Trail setting their imaginations on fire as they search for riddles and jokes in amongst some fascinating parts of the Gardens and win a scrumptious chocolate Easter Egg.
A Kids Take Over Day (15 June) will bring a whole new look and feel to the management of the Gardens as mini managers from Castle Kennedy Primary School take control, adopting roles such as Head Gardener, Garden Ranger, Tearoom and Shop Assistant.
Quality Open Air Theatre productions bring an enchanting adaptation of William Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream, to the stunning outdoor venue (26 July) with Roald Dahl’s thrilling adventure, Danny The Champion of the World (21 August) entertaining audiences with the formidable tale of a young boy’s love for his father who is caught poaching pheasants on an estate.
Families will be buzzing with The Wonders of Honey Bees (14 August) in association with Western Galloway Beekeepers Association, which offers a fascinating insight into the life of a honeybee, essential for the eco-system, identifying which plants are bee-friendly and providing tips on how to help them.
Awesome after-dark experiences are expected to be popular this year with brand new evening events bringing the Gardens alive with all sorts of gruesome goings on around Halloween. Children can creep carefully on crispy Autumn leaves as they hunt for hidden pumpkin clues around the gardens to win a treat on a special A Pumpkin Trail (15-30 October) and spine-tingling storytelling of ghostly apparitions, dastardly deeds and ghoulish get-togethers will take place in association with Stranraer Drama Club when visitors encounter ancient Castle Kennedy during new Ghostly Halloween Tours (29, 30 & 31 October).
Tickets and information for this year’s events can be found on www.castlekennedygardens.com and an A5, glossy, printed copy of the 2016 Event Guide will be available soon and distributed in key outlets throughout Ayrshire, Lanarkshire, Dumfries & Galloway and Cumbria.
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