Brilliant things to do in Oxfordshire this early May bank holiday

The Enormous Crocodile is brought to life on stage in a lively musical packed with puppetry, humour and toe-tapping songs, offering a fun-filled family adventure as jungle creatures outwit a greedy crocodile.

Medieval jousting returns to Stonor Park this May Bank Holiday, with knights, archery, falconry and family activities at Tumblestone Hollow. Visitors can enjoy a full day of entertainment, plus access to the adventure playground, house and gardens.

Founded in 2006, The Henley Arts Trail is celebrating its 20th year. The trail was set up to showcase the amazing talent in the area. It’s gone from strength to strength and now shows the work of over 300 creatives in 36 venues in and around Henley-on-Thames. Discover the inspiration behind the work of the creatives, the techniques used and buy direct from the makers. From paintings, prints and photography to sculpture, ceramics, glass, jewellery, textiles and everything in between.

The Knights of Middle England are ready to take you back to the exciting and colourful era of the Middle Ages with their action-packed, high-octane Jousting and Stunt Show. Visitors will be transported back in time to a medieval tournament complete with authentic tiltyard, royal box, falconry, archery and hand-to-hand combat. Expect thrills – and maybe spills! – in an action-packed day of discovery.

Oxfordshire Artweeks is the UK’s oldest and biggest artist open studios and pop-up exhibition event, showcasing the remarkable visual arts, craft, and creative talent of hundreds of local artists, makers and designers over a three-week period.

As always, you can feast your eyes on a huge range of creative activities by hundreds of artists, makers and designers in artists’ studios, pop-up galleries, glorious gardens, ancient churches, medieval tithe barns and other amazing venues in Oxford and across Oxfordshire.

Discover more: Exhibitions

Metropolitan Opera presents Eugene Onegin, starring Asmik Grigorian in a powerful production of Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky’s romantic masterpiece.

The Furrow Collective brings traditional folk songs to life through storytelling, music and visual art, blending historic ballads with contemporary creativity in performances inspired by their evolving Cantastoria project.

Oasiz brings the sound of Oasis to the stage, recreating iconic hits and celebrating the legacy of the legendary Knebworth shows with an authentic live tribute experience.

Priscilla Queen Of The Desert The Musical takes you on a hilarious, heart-warming ride, exploring identity, diversity, and self-acceptance. This sparkling musical extravaganza is packed with jaw-dropping dance routines, eye-popping costumes, and an iconic soundtrack full of your favourite 80s and 90s disco and dance anthems, including; Hot Stuff, It’s Raining Men, I Will Survive, Girls Just Wanna Have Fun, Finally and many more

Out of the Deep is a family-friendly specimen handling and exploration of the underwater world of marine reptiles.

Science Oxford Centre Family Days offer hands-on science experiences for all ages, with interactive indoor exhibits, outdoor nature exploration, and sensory-friendly sessions designed to support accessibility and inclusion.

Join Creative Writers Group to learn skills in Spoken Word, Performance Poetry and Playwriting and create your own works to be presented as part of OxBright Festival in July.

Daily drawings by the two artists Cally Trench and Tineke Bruijnzeels: Tineke Bruijnzeels’ project ‘One more line a day’ using a wide variety of materials and Cally Trench’s ‘Left Hand, Right Hand’ drawings in ink reveal the passage of time, and focus on the most important measure of time in our lives, the unit that governs our routines of waking, sleeping, eating and work.

Modern Art Oxford is delighted to present Little Fennel’s Complaint, a major solo exhibition by Olivia Plender (b. 1977, London), exploring historic and ongoing inequalities in women’s healthcare, from early modern witchcraft to contemporary debates on reproductive rights and medical authority. Plender developed the exhibition through research with leading Oxford institutions, including the Bodleian Library, Oxford Botanic Garden and John Radcliffe Hospital.

The exhibition displays a collection of work created using foraged plants, transformed through ancient techniques such as cordage and weaving, to reflect the raw beauty and cyclical nature of the natural world, that is both ephemeral and enduring.

In Bloom: How Plants Changed Our World at the Ashmolean Museum uncovers the hidden histories behind Britain’s most beloved blooms. Explore over 100 artworks and objects that reveal how plant exploration and trade shaped landscapes, cultures, and economies – from roses and tulips to camellias and peonies.

The Oxford Shakespeare Festival is back for its 16th year! This outdoor theatre experience that takes place in the castle yard of Oxford Castle & Prison will see Wild Goose Theatre, BMH Productions, Siege Theatre, and Greensleeved will be putting on marvellous performances of Shakespeare’s finest classics.

Anna Ridler’s A Perfect Language of Images is a digital artwork created with Oxford’s Dr William Poole, exploring systems of classification through AI. Inspired by John Wilkins and Jorge Luis Borges, it reflects on how machine learning both organises and destabilises knowledge.

As part of The Muddle of the Muses, three of the statues will be on display in Blackwell Hall: Clio representing History (original lead statue), Calliope representing Epic Poetry (lead reproduction) and Polyhymnia representing Rhetoric (original statue). 

Developed through research into the Bate Collection of Musical Instruments at the University of Oxford, the exhibition brings together sound, video and photography to consider what is revealed and concealed through the collection, preservation and display of musical instruments. At its centre is a new sound work created using recordings of historic instruments from the collection.

Pets & their People draws on depictions of pets in stories, imagery and poetry in the Bodleian’s collection – from one of the earliest recorded depictions of an assistance dog for the blind to a rare copy of Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland that has never been displayed in the UK before.

The Bodleian Libraries’ Wonder of Birds exhibition explores art, science and culture through the lens of avian life. Featuring rare archives, manuscripts and immersive sound, it invites visitors to reflect on both the beauty of birds and their decline.

This major new exhibition at Oxford University Museum of Natural History examines the 34 raw materials considered essential to the UK’s future, revealing the global supply chains, ethical challenges and scientific innovations behind the minerals that underpin everyday technology — from smartphones and batteries to medical equipment and jet engines.