Easter bank holiday weekend is just around the corner, and there’s plenty to get up to aside from cracking into wonderful Easter eggs. From Easter vigils to adventure playgrounds, day trips out of town and a good ol’ Sunday roast, lots of fun things to do in Birmingham over the Easter bank holiday weekend.
1. Witness the most precious stained glass windows in the world
Birmingham Cathedral Wis home to some of the most beautiful and precious stained glass windows in the world. Created in the workshop of William Morris by the Birmingham-born artist, Edward Burne-Jones, they depict recognisable scenes from Jesus’ life: the Ascension, the Nativity, the Crucifixion and The Last Judgment.
With this being Easter and all, there’s no better time to visit St Philip’s for Holy Week and Easter services, with the Easter Vigil & First Eucharist of Easter with Confirmations held on Saturday, April 19. Of course, you don’t have to be a Christian to visit or enjoy these stunning window, so to learn more about Birmingham Cathedral and its Easter events head here.
2. Join Alice in Wonderland for an Easter adventure
Head to Birmingham Botanical Gardens for a one-of-a-kind interactive Easter event (April 17 – 20) filled with live performances, family-friendly activities, and magical surprises. Alice’s Easterland Adventure has everything from a Mad Hatter’s Tea Party to The White Rabbit’s Botanical Trail, before stepping Through the Looking-Glass Parade for a grand finale with live music and a visit from the Queen of Hearts. You can learn more here.
3. Throw darts and dine on a bottomless brunch
Let’s be honest: bank holidays and boozy brunches go hand in hand, right? That’s why we recommend Flight Club’s Ultimate Easter Brunch Takeover. The social darts bar on Temple Street has a full weekend of non-stop partying and bottomless brunch for the first bank holiday of the year. Expect banging tunes, a bottle of prosecco (or four beers), endless sourdough pizza and an hour at the oche. The Flight Club team will also be dishing out sweet treats. It is Easter after all. Tickets for Flight Club’s Ultimate Easter Brunch can be bought here from £38 per person.
4. Indulge in a good ol’ Sunday roast on Easter weekend
We all know Sunday roasts don’t require special occasions, but Easter Sunday seems like a particularly good day for a big, hearty feast. Luckily, places like The Rolling Mill in the Jewellery Quarter, have just the trick – and it may even rival your mum’s roast. Whether it be roast leg of lamb, dry aged sirloin, slow roast pork belly or a veggie alternative like roast vegetable Wellington served with all the trimmings like a Yorkshire pud, cauliflower cheese and gravy, there’s a hearty meal for everyone to enjoy.
5. Take a one-of-a-kind canal trip in the Black Country
This Easter (April 12 – 27), one of the Black Country’s most special experiences, Dudley Canal & Caverns launches its very own floating time machine. Travelling back 420 million years for a dino and fossil hunt adventure, you’ll experience a sound and light show inside the echoing caverns; float through the Castle Mill Basin Dinosaur Graveyard; solve puzzles within the tunnels; and visit the Explorers Lab, where you can create your own fossils! You can learn more head here.
6. Enjoy East-arts and crafts
Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery is running its own Arts Club during half term on
Friday, April 18 & 25. Your little ones will be making Easter eggs with coloured felt and learning how to safely use a plastic needle to sew them together. They can also make an egg basket to carry their creations home! Tickets cost £3.50 per child, and can be purchased here, while the rest of the Museum is free to enter.
7. Spoil yourself with chocolate
Easter means chocolate and, to most Brummies, chocolate means Cadbury. This Easter, you can celebrate at the home of chocolate, as Cadbury World hosts an array of special activities. There’s Mr. Cadbury’s Parrot Easter Egg-stravaganza Stage Show, Cadbury World’s Easter bonnet parade, an Easter Egg trail, and Afternoon Tea is also back on the menu each day during the Easter holidays. Plus, explore 14 chocolatey zones and stock up on chocolatey treats. You can learn more here.
8.Have a go on the UK’s longest outdoor tubing slide
National Forest Adventure Farm has a whole host of Easter-themed activities planned for Easter Eggstravaganza (April 11 – 25) – including the UK’s longest outdoor tubing slide. Closed over winter, the 200-foot Mega Slide Mountain is infamous for reaching speeds of up to 12mph.
But that’s not all: Hop aboard the Easter Eggspress Tractor & Trailer ride and journey to Bunny Woods to meet a whole woodland of friendly characters and entertaining animals – including the Easter Bunny, who may have a chocolate treat for you! Elsewhere, enjoy interactive Easter-themed shows on the mainstage, with award-winning family entertainer Josh Benson, and take part in lamb feeding and visit the Lambing Live tent.
9. Swing into Easter at this Adventure Playbarn
Hockerhill Adventure Playbarn in Staffordshire has everything from pedal go-karts to sensory dens, climbing walls and so much more. Designed to “challenge, entertain and inspire”, and based around an awe-inspiring mock Royal Oak tree which kids climb, this all-weather adventure playground is fun for kids all year round. And it’s only 45 minutes from Birmingham. This Easter (April 11 to 19), however, a specially designed Easter trail will take visitors across the playbarn and its outdoor area – with chocolate prizes for everyone who cracks the code.
10. Get some fresh air with a trip out of the city
If you fancy a bit of freedom from those usual four walls, head to a quaint and picturesque village to breathe in some fresh country air and discover more of what the West Midlands has to offer. Birmingham is a central travel hub, meaning you’re never too far from the nearby shires by hopping on a train or in a car to explore the more rural parts of the region. From Warwickshire’s Henley-in-Arden to Worcestershire’s Alvechurch, there are plenty of beautiful villages and towns less than an hour from Birmingham for you to explore. Check out these picturesque and quaint towns and villages near Birmingham here.