Aldershot PlayFest! is an amazing action-packed day of fun hands-on play and games for all ages in Aldershot. There are oodles of free activities to look forward to throughout the town centre on Saturday 24 August from 10am to 4pm. It’s free and a great way to start the August Bank Holiday weekend.  Moved to Princess Gardens

Children can zoom to space in a virtual reality experience, join a dragon fossil dig, spray a street art mural, try crazy science experiments, pluck a ukulele, visit the magical story corner, make forest-themed crafts, watch a bonkers balloon science show, play with some noisy toys, have a kickabout, climb inside a giant adventure cave, create a fajita fiesta snack, learn karate moves, engineer a K-NEX invention, peak inside some beehives, try a mini assault course, join a ukulele jam and lots more! For toddlers, there’s sensory games and a messy play station.

The Workshop Marquee offers amazing opportunities for families to jump feet first into a world of pure creativity, make new friends and learn something new. Families will be able to take part in a mini-rave party, music, martial arts and dancing workshops.

All activities are free. Activities are aimed at primary school ages in key stages one and two, but everyone is welcome to take part. Children must be accompanied at all times and activities are subject to change.

The event is funded and managed by Rushmoor Borough Council, with part-funding through HM Government’s Shared Prosperity Fund. The event is kindly sponsored by Wellesley, a new neighbourhood in Aldershot.

All activities are free and will be outdoors in Union and Wellington Street between 10am to 4pm. The activities are suitable for a variety of abilities and ages, from toddler to grandma!

Please check guidelines and times on the day at each activity area.

Live science shows

Bonkers Balloon Science Show

Balloons are fun, right? Well if balloons are fun then that must mean that science is fun! This extremely interactive show is full of spills, thrills explosions and pops! What is a prediction? How do we do an experiment? What do we mean by equipment? What is science? Becky the Balloonatic loves balloons and she wants you to see just how much we can learn from them.

Shows at 10.15am, 12.15pm and 2.15pm. With Balloonatic

The Silly Science Show

Full of crazy capers for the young, old, and everyone in-between, join Captain Fantastic for an amazing science show with the crazy scientist Dr Zobb! Packed with experiments, magic tricks, bubbles, games, silliness and much more!

Shows at At 11.15am. 1.15pm and 3.15pm. With Captain Fantastic

Daring dragons and mythical creatures

Meet a dragon and dig for fossils

Everyone’s invited to meet our dragon, who will be visiting throughout the day.

Dig for dragon fossils in the fossil pit, then learn about what dragons love to eat and create your very own dragon poop with clay! With the Eco Explorers Club team.

Magical mythical storytelling

The Wherwell Cockatrice is Hampshire’s famous dragon legend! Dragons come in all shapes and sizes and a cockatrice is a fearsome beast! Half serpent, half cockerel, it terrorised a small Hampshire village until an unlikely hero used his wit to save the day!

Join Amanda from Merry-go-Round Storytelling as she brings this exciting legend to life. And she’ll need lots of help from Brave Knights and Clever Heroes to outwit the beast known as the Wherwell Cockatrice! Stories will take place throughout the day – check the board for times. With Merry-go-round Storytelling.

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Sensational science

Launch into space with virtual reality

Blast off to space of space in your own space ship and zoom around the solar system in this out of this world experience! Put on your virtual reality headset and soar to the stars! Whoooosh! With The Education Group.

Exciting experiments

Spy through mini microscopes, experiment with the Weather Watchers, and engineer a K-nex contraption with the Winchester Science Centre team. With Winchester Science Centre.

Slime station

It’s slime time! Create, poke, stretch and squish your own slime! Let’s get gooey with it! With Captain Fantastic.

Bonkers brick building

Calling budding builders! Drop by the Brickies tent and bring your imagination to life with LEGO. With Brickies Club.

Active adventures

Adventure cave

Climb into the adventure cave for 30m of realistic tunnels, twists and turns for a caving adventure you’ll never forget! This is the closest thing you can get to having a cave adventure, all within a controlled and safe environment. With South Coast Adventures.

Spectacular sports

Run, skip, jump, throw, kick, pass, SCORE! Try out lots of different sports, games and sporty activities with the Sport 4 Kids team. With Sport4Kids.

Meet the Sensei

Wax on, wax off – it’s Karate time! Drop by the GKR Karate tent to meet the amazing Senseis. You’ll even get to try some moves! With GKR Karate.

Wonderful wild crafts

Hapa Zome Bookmarks

Learn Hapa Zome, an amazing Japanese technique for transferring vibrant colours from leaves and flowers onto fabric or paper. Create your own bookmark with some paper, some colourful leaves and flowers and a hammer! With Wonderwood Explorers.

Natural flower frames

Create a natural flower picture using petals, fern and grasses. With Wonderwood Explorers.

Woodland crafts

The Wellesley Woodlands team will be having fun with leaf rubbings, leaf printing, making mini-beasts, badge creation and wild scented sachet making. With Wellesley Woodlands.

Buzzy Bees

Bees! The Colony

What do bees get up to when they’re not buzzing? Welcome to a beehive like no other, tended to by two rather peculiar beekeepers. Wander amongst the honey-perfumed Bee Colony, you might find yourself looking into the vastness of space or catching a flick in the tiny bee cinema! Dare you look through the hole? Go on, you might be surprised by what you find. With Artizani.

Meet our local bees

Get buzzy with the bees with an un-bee-lievably up-close look at the hive. Come and meet the bees and see if you can spot the queen, taste some glorious pure local honey, meet and chat with local beekeepers – we promise they don’t sting! With Fleet & District Beekeepers.

Make some noise!

Noisy Toys

Ready to go on an adventure through sound? Can you survive the Bass Buzz and make slime dance? Can you help connect up boxes full of junk and create noisy contraptions? Join the Noisy Toys team for lots of participatory experiments, science and electronic noisy fun! With Noisy Toys.

The Musication Station

Drop in to Anvil Arts’ The Musication Station to try out a range of musical instruments, including cajons, guitars and ukuleles with the support of professional musicians. With the Musication Station.

Bleeps, blops and beats

Come and explore the weird and wonderful world of electronic music, making bleeps, blops and beats with the MODCAF team. With The Modular Café Aldershot.

Uke Box Baby

Join a toe-tapping interactive ukulele workshop and show with silly games, dances, bubbles, glitter and more! There are ukuleles for children to borrow on the day. Shows start at half past the hour and are 30 minutes long. With Uke Box Baby.

Arty party

Great big spray!

Calling budding Banksy’s! Are you ready to unleash your inner artist like never before? With a blank canvas waiting for you, you’ll be given easy-to-follow instructions on how to use a spray can to bring your vision to life in a giant mural. Young artists will get to work alongside Carleen De Sözer, who is widely regarded as one of London’s most skilled and diverse aerosol and airbrush artists. No need to worry about protective gear – we’ve got you covered. With Carleen de Sozer.

Junk-tastic journey under the sea!

Join Junk Jodie’s team for some junk-tastic fun! Craft your own Wanda the Whale or Otto the Octopus and decorate it with colourful patterns! With Junk Jodie.

Mini master chefs

Fajita Fiesta mix and munch

Are you mad for Mexican food? Mini master chefs will be mixing up a veggie fajita fiesta at PlayFest! Choose your ingredients, learn how to chop them safely, roll them up into your own fun filled fajita and then take it away to munch! With Cook Stars Woking & East Aldershot.

Museum magic

Awesome assault course

Run, hop and bounce your way to fun as you take on Aldershot Military Museum’s mini assault course. With Aldershot Military Museum.

Military Magic

Get fighting fit and fit to fight with the Royal Army Physical Training Corps Museum. Try on the uniform of a WW1-era British soldier, exercise with giant Indian wooden clubs and discover marvellous museum artefacts. With RAPTC Museum.

Brilliant board games

Bonkers board games

Try fantastic new family board and card games outside and inside The Games Shop on Wellington Street. With The Games Shop.

Sensory and toddler play

Toddler messy play

Splat, splodge, splash! Toddle along for some sensory-focused creative and messy fun. With Artventurers.

Sensory and giant games

Little hands can try out different materials and textures in this fun sensory activity area, alongside giant games! With Holy Trinity Church.