COMING UP · FRI 9 - SUN 11 OCTOBER
56 reasons this weekend is sorted
Every event, opening and one-off across Derby this weekend, plus where to eat when everyone's flagging. Your only problem now is choosing.
Dementia Carers' Café
A free monthly get-together at Derby Theatre for unpaid carers and people living with dementia.
FRI 9 OCTOBER
Friday
SAT 10 OCTOBER
Saturday
ALL DAYPumpkin Paint & Sip
White Post Farm & Zoo · all day
ALL DAYHaunted Heritage
Cromford Mills · all day
- ALL DAY
Connections Company
Derby Theatre · all day
from £390
MORNINGChorister Experience 2026
Southwell Minster · 10:00
free
ALL DAYCapturing Water in Oil Painting
Chatsworth · all day
- ALL DAY
Rapunzel
Derby Theatre · all day
ALL DAYMonthly observing session
Flamsteed Observatory · all day
free
ALL DAYThe Wollaton Hall Organ
Wollaton Hall & Deer Park · all day
EVENINGHalloween Farm After Dark 2026
The Halloween Farm (at Cattows Farm) · 17:00
from £24.99
EVENINGGhosts of the Gaol
National Justice Museum · 18:00 & 19:00
from £15
EVENINGMotown by Candlelight
Leicester Cathedral · 18:30
from £10
EVENINGAn Evening with Hannah Brine
Century Theatre · 19:30
from £20
SUN 11 OCTOBER
Sunday
- ALL DAY
Saucebox!
Derby Theatre · all day
- ALL DAY
Steaming Days at Nottingham Industrial Museum
Wollaton Hall & Deer Park · all day
- ALL DAY
The Comedy Store 2026
Derby Theatre · all day
ALL DAYWellbeing at Newstead
Newstead Abbey · all day
AFTERNOONSunday Countryman
Ecclesbourne Valley Railway · 12:45
from £67
- EVENING
Music in the State Chamber 2026
Southwell Minster · 19:30
free
NO ALARM CLOCK NEEDED
Running all weekend
- FRI + SAT + SUN
Autumn at Chatsworth
Chatsworth
from £10
FRI + SATCricketer & Stockinger: Exploring the Relationship Between Cricket & Framework Knitting
Framework Knitters Museum · 09:00
free
- FRI + SAT + SUN
Hidden History Tours
Wollaton Hall & Deer Park
FRI + SAT + SUNBlazing Halloween
Drayton Manor
FRI + SAT + SUNMeerkat Talk
Twycross Zoo · 10:00
FRI + SAT + SUNRoom on the Broom Corn Maze
Twycross Zoo · 10:00
from £5
FRI + SAT + SUNLagosPhoto: Stories of Movement and Belonging
Lakeside Arts
free
FRI + SAT + SUNThe Very Hungry Caterpillar™ trail
The Children's Country House at Sudbury · 10:00
from £11
- FRI + SAT + SUN
Prehistoric Lives in the Trent Valley
Lakeside Arts
FRI + SAT + SUNCheer Up Chuckaboo Trail
The Workhouse and Infirmary · 10:30
- FRI + SAT + SUN
Amazing Adaptations Talk
Twycross Zoo · 10:30
FRI + SAT + SUNSeptember SpudFest
Manor Farm Park & Woodlands · 11:00
from £3.95
FRI + SAT + SUNHow Did We Get Here? Exhibition at Kedleston Hall
Kedleston Hall · 11:00
FRI + SAT + SUNAnimal Cuddles
Floralands Farm Park · 11:00
from £1
- FRI + SAT + SUN
Gorilla Ranger Chat
Twycross Zoo · 11:30
- FRI + SAT + SUN
Giraffe Talk
Twycross Zoo · 11:30
- FRI + SAT + SUN
Kitchen Garden Tour
The Workhouse and Infirmary · 12:00
free
- FRI + SAT + SUN
Humbolt Penguin Talk & Feed
Twycross Zoo · 12:15
free
- FRI + SAT + SUN
Butterfly House: Meet the Keeper
Twycross Zoo · 12:30
- FRI + SAT + SUN
Ape Feed - Meet the Keeper
Twycross Zoo · 12:40
- FRI + SAT + SUN
Lemur Feed and Keeper Q&A
Twycross Zoo · 12:45
- FRI + SAT + SUN
Aldabra Tortoise Talk and Feed
Twycross Zoo · 14:30
- FRI + SAT + SUN
Big Cat Talk & Feed
Twycross Zoo · 15:15
- FRI + SAT + SUN
Lemur Talk
Twycross Zoo · 15:45
SAT + SUNP..P..Pick Up A Pumpkin 2026
Maxeys Pick Up A Pumpkin · 09:00
from £2.50
SAT + SUNPick Your Own Pumpkins Oxton
Nottinghamshire Pick Your Own Pumpkins · 09:30
from £3
SAT + SUNFright Fiesta
Gulliver's Kingdom
from £19
SAT + SUNMr Pumpkin PYO 2026
Mr Pumpkin · 10:00
from £2.50
SAT + SUNHalloween Farm Daytime 2026
The Halloween Farm (at Cattows Farm) · 10:00
from £24.99
SAT + SUNCarols by Candlelight
Treak Cliff Cavern · 14:00
FOOD & FUEL
Where to refuel when everyone's flagging
VEGETARIAN OPTIONSAangan
Willington
Indian and Nepalese dining in Willington with Sunday kids-eat-free and family tables worth booking ahead.
Amad Indian Restaurant Derby
Derby
Family Indian on Burton Road with brunch through late dinner, free parking and room for bigger groups.
Anoki Derby
Derby
Flagship Anoki Indian in Derby Old Picture Hall - vaulted ceiling, evening dining and room for bigger parties.
And if none of that lands, the bankers
Open most weekends, no booking needed. Check hours on the listing before you set off.
8 of the 56 are completely free 👏
Nothing to pay on the door. Some still want a booking, so check the listing.
- Cricketer & Stockinger: Exploring the Relationship Between Cricket & Framework KnittingFramework Knitters Museum · Fri + Sat
- Dementia Carers' CaféDerby Theatre · Fri
- LagosPhoto: Stories of Movement and BelongingLakeside Arts · Fri + Sun
- Kitchen Garden TourThe Workhouse and Infirmary · Fri + Sun
- Humbolt Penguin Talk & FeedTwycross Zoo · Fri + Sun
- Chorister Experience 2026Southwell Minster · Sat 10:00
- Monthly observing sessionFlamsteed Observatory · Sat
- Music in the State Chamber 2026Southwell Minster · Sun 19:30
PLAN A DIFFERENT DAY
What's on, when you need it
Everything open and on in Derby today, with times and prices.
TOP PICKCricketer & Stockinger: Exploring the Relationship Between Cricket & Framework Knitting · free- Fri30 things · Autumn at Chatsworth
- Sat28 things · Autumn at Chatsworth
THE WEEKENDER
Next weekend, sorted. Every Thursday, free.
The best family things happening around Derby, one hidden gem, and a rainy-day backup plan, from a dad who's been there with a bored seven-year-old.
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