THEATRE

shitfaced shakespeare a midsummer nights dream

If you fancy some Shakespearean with a side order of booze-filled hilarity – like, always – try Sh!t-faced Shakespeare: A Midsummer Night’s Dream at Lawrence Batley Theatre, Huddersfield (16 Oct). Each night, one cast member gets drunk and you can watch as chaos ensues. What happens if one member of the audience does the same? We’ll leave you to experiment with that one.

York Theatre Royal offers a gripping night as Ian Rankin’s new Rebus (15-19 Oct) tale hits the stage with A Game Called Malice. Set at a glamorous Edinburgh dinner party, the fun turns deadly, and Rebus is in the thick of it. Secrets, suspense, and twists lead to a jaw-dropping finale.

Over at Sheffield Arena, Les Misérables: The Arena Spectacular (10-12 Oct) is going big with its dramatic take on the beloved musical to celebrate the 40th year of the musical, with Michael Ball, Alfie Bow and Bonnie Langford. For gripping theatre, the Crucible Theatre is hosting The Crucible, adapted by Chris Bush, for a haunting production of Iben’s classic (til 12 Oct).

Near Hull, at Burton Constable Hall (31 Oct) you can catch The Room Upstairs – A Ghost Story which tells the tale of a young woman who becomes a house-sitter for a secluded mansion with one rule: don’t enter the room upstairs. It’s a black comedy by BAFTA-nominated writer Tom Needham and for 12+ kids, and sounds much more fun than pretending you’re not in when the trick and treaters knock your door.

ots aged three and over should love daytime performances of Boris Johnson’s favourite Peppa Pig’s Fun Day Out at Leeds Playhouse on 11-12 Oct as well as The Glass Slippers on 26 Oct, when Tutti Frutti Productions re-imagines this classic story in a sparkling stage performance. The hauntingly romantic musical Ghost makes a timely apparition at The Alhambra Bradford over the bewitching weekend from 29 Oct – 2 No, while Jurassic Earth will be roaring into The Dome, Doncaster, on 27 Oct to make a larger-than-life, interactive appearance and scare the beejezus out of everyone even before Hallowe’en.

East Riding Theatre in Beverley is presenting John Godber’s The Highwayman, bringing Dick Turpin’s legendary tale to life in a brand new play that looks (25 Oct-7 Nov).

Feeling old? You needn’t as Jane Austen is about to mark her 250th milestone in 2025 and as an early celebration, historian and TV presenter Lucy Worsley will be bringing the classic authoress to life in An Audience With show at York Barbican on 14 Oct before going on a UK tour including Sheffield’s Octagon Centre in May next year. I’ll check whether it ends before the 10 o’clock news and feed back.

MUSIC

Opera North’s latest season kicks off at Leeds Grand Theatre this Autumm and it’s serving up serious magic. Top of the bill is a revival of The Magic Flute on Fri 11 Oct, with Mozart’s stunning score setting the scene. Next up, Britten’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream sprinkles Shakespearean charm on Sat 12, Sat 19 Thurs 24 and Thurs 31 Oct; and to round things off, Gilbert and Sullivan’s Gothic comedy Ruddigore returns from Sat 26 Oct – Sat 2 Nov. Families? Don’t miss The Big Opera Adventure (20 Oct-16 Nov) an interactive, kid-friendly show playing at Leeds, Huddersfield and Manchester.

If you’re in Hull, Paul Weller (31st Oct) is playing at Connexin Live as part of his UK tour.Will Young is bringing his acoustic set to Sheffield City Hall (15 Oct), an intimate chance to hear this pop icon’s latest work and stories. Across in Whitby, Musicport 2024 (Oct 25-27) returns with an eclectic mix of world-class and local performers. Expect five stages of international music, a DJ Hub, workshops, wellness and family-friendly activities.

The fourth great year of Leyburn Jazz Festival, 17 – 20 Oct brings four days of music to the Yorkshire Dales with artists like Hejira celebrating Joni Mitchell. For some blasts from the past (ask your parents if unsure of the century) there’s 10cc in concert at Scarborough Spa Grand Hall on 15 Oct, the 50^th anniversary tour of Squeeze at York Barbican on 18 Oct; Peter Hook & The Light on 10 Oct at the same venue or at Bradford’s Saint George’s Hall on 1 Nov when the band will play the Substance albums by Joy Division and New Order in full. Finally, dig out your turtle neck and cigarillo for the Marsden Jazz Festival (11-13 Oct) which includes various indoor and outdoor stages, and a jazzy street parade.

FOOD & DRINK

Say ‘cheese’ as the Yorkshire Dales Cheese Festival rolls back to the land of Wallace and Gromit from 11-14 Oct to shout loud and proud about the unique flavours of locally-made cheddars to bries in a weekend of exciting events. Encouraging foodies to think outside the box, a bite of the action includes a Cheese and Climb on Yorkshire’s only via ferrata at How Stean Gorge on 13 Oct as well as farm-to-fork meetings with makers, chefs and retailers.

Melting at the thought of a Yorkshire Chocolate Festival at the Doubletree by Hilton in Sheffield on 19 Oct? You should be as there is so much more than free hotel choc chip cookies at the show with brownies, churros, hot chocolate and bars from some of the best bakers, chocolatiers and artisans. Even more of a feel-good factor, every penny raised will go to Roundabout, South Yorkshire’s homeless charity. Sweet!

The free-to-attend Filey Food Festival returns on 11 & 12 Oct where the produce is as appetising as the seaside air and views. Fill your boots on international street food and some of Yorkshire’s finest like seafood, cheese, home-made cakes and curry sauces all washed down with Prosecco or pints from the Real Ale Star Bar. Hosted by the Campaign for Real Ale in Sheffield, the annual Steel City Beer and Cider Festival returns from 16 – 19 Oct at Kelham Island Museum with pints, perry, live music and street food.

Awash with beer, bratwurst and all things Bavarian, it’s time to party like the Germans at Yorktoberfest, York Racecourse, on 18-19 and 25-26 Oct or at the stein-swilling Oktoberfests at Scarborough Spa Grand Hall on 12 Oct and Beverley Racecourse on 18 & 19 Oct. Getting steaming in possibly more ways than one, there is also a five-mile-long Beer & Music Festival on the Keighley & Worth Valley Railway, with bands at Oxenhope and Ingrow Stations.

HALLOWE’EN

Great British Bake Off star Helena Garcia has created a spooky Afternoon Tea just for Castle Howard on 13 Oct with some gorgeously gothic treats in the Grecian Hall, while from 25-27 Oct, there are screenings of Halloween films at the Outdoor Adventure Cinema suitable for U15. Littlies may prefer heading to the Garden Centre for some PYO pumpkins to carve and decorate during all of October or join the Great Pumpkin Adventure with the Skelves from 30 Oct to 3 Nov.

The popular Pumpkin Trail is back at Bolton Abbey Estate near Skipton from 19 Oct – 3 Nov where kids can pluck up the nerve to follow the giant pumpkins and solve the puzzle clues. Pre-booking is advised and trail sheets will be issued from Riverside car park kiosk.

The always surprising Forbidden Corner near Leyburn is stepping into the shadows this Hallowe’en from 6 Oct – 2 Nov. Dress up in your scariest costume (well, if you want to – but meant for children) to win various prizes. Follow Harrogate’s RHS Harlow Carr’s wicked Hallowe’en trail from 26 Oct – 3 Nov or Mother Shipton’s Hocus Pocus Hallowe’en at nearby Knaresborough from 28 Oct – 5 Nov, where teddies are terrifyingly turned to stone.

Sledmere Musical Fireworks Spectacular near Driffield on 26 Oct promises its best display yet (we like the confidence) with fun fair rides and attractions before the Big Bangs. Also in this neck of eerie woods, the Burton Agnes Hallowe’en Trail romps though an adventure playground in the gardens of the historic hall from 26 Oct – 3 Nov, while the Spooky Trail to the Stumpery at Burnby Hall Gardens in nearby Pocklington is open from 28 Oct – 3 Nov.

What, a Muddy-free Pumpkin Patch? Surely, they’re not excluding us, but that’s the keeping-it-clean promise of Boston Park Farm in Doncaster for their Hallowe’en Shriek Week, which is actually longer when you count the days on your crooked fingers from 12-31 Oct. Go on a pumpkin hunt and carve lanterns in the Maize Maze, then feel free to visit the farm, included in the ticket price. There is a Family Hallowe’en Disco too on 26 Oct, and a Spookysaurus Dinosaur Day on 1 Nov.

But Hallowe’en’s not just for children, my precious, and the Harvest Supper and Auction on 25 Oct and Floral Pumpkin Workshop with award-winning Free Spirit Flowers on 27 Oct, both at East Riding’s The Manor Rooms on the Drewton Estate at spell-binding South Cave, will give the littlies’ lanterns a run for their money! The free ‘Autumn Daze’ Festival in Peasholm Park on 30 Oct at Scarborough’s north side will also feature a whole range of themed activities set against the colourful seasonal backdrop of impressive woodland. From bush craft demos to storytelling, primitive fire starting to marshmallow toasting and a scavenger hunt, there is something for all ages.

COMEDY

At Sheffield City Hall you can catch comedian Maisie Adam if you’re quick, fresh from Live At The Apollo, A League Of Their Own, and Have I Got News For You with a brand new show Appraisal. (9 Oct). Meanwhile for an entire schedule of jokes, the annual Harrogate Comedy Festival is back for its 13th outing, with some big names including Al Murray and Lucy Beaumont (until 28 Oct).

BOOK FESTS

Clearly we’re entering the season of reading, because you can barely move for literature festivals. We’re the sound of Off the Shelf Festival of Words in Sheffield (from 7 Oct), which features writers like Sara Pascoe and David Nicholls. Alternatively, check out Harrogate Literature Festival (10-20 Oct) with ex-PM Theresa May and Victoria Hislop taking to the stage or the East Riding Festival of Words with star appearances from Milly Johnson, Joanne Harris, Philippa Forrester and The Beardy Gardener – possibly the best moniker ever. The Ilkley Literature Festival (4-20 Oct)also features a star-studded programme featuring everyone from Julian Clary to Kate Atkinson.

ART

Bharti Kher: Alchemies at Yorkshire Sculpture Park. — *Bharti Kher: Alchemies* at Yorkshire Sculpture Park. Photo credit: Jonty Wilde

If you didn’t catch it over the summer, head to the Yorkshire Sculpture Park (winner of Yorkshire Tourist Attraction for 2023) for Bharti Kher: Alchemies, an incredible, large scale exhibition from the London artist that explores myth, identity, and transformation against a Capability Brown landscape and Bretton Hall mansion near Wakefield (rumoured to be transformed into a Northern Groucho Club – opening in 2026). Whilst the weather still allows, it’s also worth trying to catch The Malton Sculpture Trail in Dalby Forest. An outdoor art lover’s dream, with eight sculptures nestled into the forest, blending art and nature for the perfect Sunday stroll (til Nov 24),

After its global launch at New York’s World Trade Center, no less, Adventures in the Electroverse, a ground-breaking new, free art exhibition, has its European première at The Piece Hall, Halifax from 4 Oct – 3 Nov. This fully immersive, multi-sensory art and 3D sound installation by renowned Yorkshire electronic music pioneer Martyn Ware (of The Human League and Heaven 17) is the manifestation of his podcast Electronically Yours in which he connects with a host of artists, most of whom he’s met. Content is played back through Monitor Audio’s SoundFrame on-wall speakers adorned with portraits of his famous interviewees.

For the first time in the UK, the vast work David Hockney: A Year in Normandie is on display at Salts Mill, Saltaire, from Oct – 3 Nov. At 90.75 m long, you definitely can’t miss the Yorkshire artist’s biggest ever picture – a vibrant, joyful frieze recording the changing seasons in and around his French garden.

Every evening from 24 Oct – 2nd Nov, Whitby Abbey Illuminations will shine a spotlight on the gothic splendour of Whitby Abbey with dramatic shapes and colours. The Time Will Tell theatre group threatens to take us on a journey into a nightmare world of Victorian Gothic in a new production called, ‘If these Stones could Talk.’ As Dracula from Bram Stoker’s horror story is likely to make a star tun, it’s only recommended for those with good tickers – booking essential. Or celebrate the 20^th edition of Light Night Leeds 24 – 25 Oct and see the city in a new light as some of the most recognisable indoor and outdoor spaces are transformed through spectacular artworks and captivating performances by local, national and international artists.

OUTDOORS

Get ready to #SeeMoorStars at the Dark Skies Fringe Festival on the North York Moors – marvel at the night sky with stargazing, night walks, and mindful activities (25 Oct- 3 Nov). Nature lovers, don your binoculars! There’s a Bespoke Birding Safari of the Castle Howard Estate on 14 Oct and an Seasonal Ancient Tree Walk on 17 Oct, plus more feathered friends flying in during Winter Owl Evenings at Helmsley’s National Centre for Birds of Prey on selected Fridays and Saturdays throughout October till December. After a welcome hot drink, tour of the aviary and silent fly past, enjoy a two-course meal at the Owl House Café.

Looking for something a little more energising? OK, you did ask. Jane Tomlinson’s Run For All Yorkshire Marathon is happening on 20 Oct, with its scenic, well-supported event around the beautiful city of York. If you can’t face the full 26.2 miles, save puff with the shorter 10 mile option. More photo finishes at Wetherby’s Opening Meeting on 16 Oct in support of Spinal Research, while it’s a race for a last line-up at the October Finale York Racecourse on 11 – 12 Oct.

Going out? The best of What’s On in Yorkshire this month

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