Nottingham Castle Welcome to Nottingham Castle - a magnificent 17th century Ducal mansion built on the site of the original Medieval Castle, with spectacular views across the city.
A vibrant museum and art gallery housing collections of silver, glass, armour and paintings, plus fifteen centuries of Nottingham history. The galleries also bring the best regional, national and international artist's work to the city.
Nottingham Castle is 10 minutes walk from Nottingham City centre, with easy access from train and bus stations. Parking is close by in one of many public carparks.
The Castle is a great place for children, with interactive displays,and an activity - led gallery bringing paintings to life, specifically for the under 5s plus a medieval - style playground in the grounds with covered picnic area.
29-30 Oct 12: Robin Hood Pageant
Castle Cave Tours
Museum, Gallery, Shop and Grounds
Robin Hood and Hari at the Castle Backpacks
10 July 11: Curator's Talk
13-15 Oct: Robin Hood Beer Festival 2011
2 & 16 Aug: Hari and Bibi's Museum Adventures
2 July - 25 Sept: Street Art exhibition
21 April: Easter Activities
25 & 26 June: Armed Forces Weekend
4, 11 & 12 Dec: Meet Santa at the Bandstand
4,11,18 & 25 Aug: The Big Doodle
5 Nov 11: Bonfire Night
A hauntingly good Halloween
A Medieval Family Fun Day
Are you ready for your close-up?
Bands in the Parks 2011
Big Day Out (FREE Entry)
Children's Festival Activities
Children's Festival Fun Time
Eggsplore
Foresters Morris Men
Fun Trails
Half-term Fun
Halloween for Grown ups!
Hunt the Bony Finger
Interactive Theatre Experience
International Talk Like a Pirate Day
Jousting Event
Make Funky Armour
Medieval Archaeology Talks
My Castle Highlights
New Year's Eve in Nottingham
Nottingham Castle Annual Open 2010
Nottingham Castle Special Events
Nottingham Society of Artists
Pictures Telling Tales
Raise the Standard
Robin Hood's Town Tour
Storytelling with Mistress Htak
Summer Fun Weekend at Nottingham Castle
Textile Exhibitions
The Big Wheel's FREE Festival
The Dogs of War
The Life and Times of Robin Hood
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THIS IS A PAST EVENT
The Big Wheel's FREE Festival
26th September 2009
The Big Wheel’s free one-day festival is back and promises to be bigger and better than ever with lots of great activities for all the family. We’re taking over the impressive grounds of Nottingham Castle for this spectacular arts and environment festival with everything you need to know about transport in Greater Nottingham. The Big Wheel’s Big Day Out is a celebration of International in Town Without My Car Day. We want you all to leave the car at home and get to the event using sustainable transport. Walk or cycle, catch a bus, tram or train – even get out your space hopper and bounce – just try to go car-free for the day. As you’ll find out at the festival, it may help you to get fitter and healthier while saving some precious pennies.
The festival will be packed full of exciting artists, entertainers, workshops and performances. You can make origami spaceships with expert Mark Bolitho – who has previously created masterpieces for everyone from MTV to Blue Peter. Or listen to PUNCTURE KIT, the musician who turned his bike into a drum kit and who recently performed at Glastonbury and the Edinburgh Fringe Festival. There’s so much going on that we’ve divided our site into zones – so you can get straight to where you want to go. Here’s a quick guide to our zones and what you can expect to find in them:
Wonderland
Make like Alice and enjoy a range of unusual activities in our Wonderland – including giant games and special art installations. The highlight of this zone is a chance to experience the atmospheric Luminarium by Architects of Air for free.
Medieval Village
Drop by our Medieval Village and try out a range of craft activities – both old and new. Historical re-enactors Dogs of War will be on hand creating a true medieval feel to the zone.
Active Zone
Get your heart racing and your blood pumping with the physical activities in our Active Zone. Tackle our orienteering challenge for a chance to test your fitness levels, speed and route planning ability.
Health and Wellbeing Zone
If you need to relax and unwind spend some time in the Health and Wellbeing Zone, where the Holistic Health therapists will be offering a range of soothing treatments for free.
Great Outdoors
Take some time out to enjoy life in the Great Outdoors. The Nottinghamshire Wildlife Trust and Ecoworks will be there to teach you more about enjoying everything nature has to offer.
Recycling Zone
Learn more about reusing and recycling in our Recycling Zone. Try your hand at making instruments from recycled goods or play hook a duck for a novel way to find out more about recycling at home.
Transport Alley
Meet our Transport Doctor and other experts in Transport Alley where you’ll find everything you need to know about transport in Greater Nottingham.
Street Party
There’s so much going on that the Castle walls can’t contain it all! A street party will be spilling onto Castle Road, where you can go for a ride on a rickshaw or have a go on our segway runway. Don’t know what a segway is? It’s a two-wheeled, self-balancing electric vehicle that’s gaining popularity and has been used by the likes of Jackie Chan and Bill Bailey – and now it’s your chance to give them a try.
Friendship Zone
Help to create a one-off poem to celebrate the Big Wheel’s Big Day Out in our Friendship Zone
Magic Zone
Bring a bit of enchantment into your life in the Magic Zone. Learn circus skills to wow your friends and family, listen to Native American tales or fill the air with bubbles on our special bubble bike.
Book Corner
Join the global book swapping club, BookCrossing in our Book Corner. Bring an old book along and take a new (to you) book home.
Bandstand
There’ll be music throughout the day on our bandstand, including performances by the Major Oak Chorus and DJs from Confetti.
The Big Wheel’s Big Day Out is a fantastic way to spend your Saturday and promises lots of exciting activities to keep everyone entertained. There’ll also be lots of tasty treats to buy with an assortment of food and drink stalls on offer – or why not bring a picnic to enjoy in the castle grounds?
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Current reviews for Nottingham Castle
Review title : Hundreds head to Robin Hood Beer Festival, added by : Erik (09/10/2009)
Event reviewed : 13-15 Oct: Robin Hood Beer Festival 2011
"It draws an international crowd, but it's English ale they want. ERIK PETERSEN was at the first day of the Robin Hood Beer Festival, when queues formed from 10.30am.HALF past 10 in the morning is not a time normally associated with a strong hankering for real ale.But half an hour before the Robin Hood Beer Festival opened at Nottingham Castle yesterday, some of the most committed punters were already queuing down Castle Boulevard.An hour-and-a-half later, the massive main marquee on the castle ground was already filling with more of a crowd than might necessarily be expected at lunchtime on a weekday.The festival, which runs until Sunday afternoon, has brought to one place about 640 different kinds of real ale, as well as traditional cider, perry and country wine.Surrounding that are tables filled with traditional foods ranging from pork pies and homemade pork scratchings to freshly caught cockles or oysters.And queuing yesterday to get at it was the beginnings of a crowd that, by the end of the weekend, may surpass the four-day total of 15,000 the festival drew last year, its first at the castle.Read the full review on the Nottingham Evening Post website"
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Review title : Green Drops and Moonsquirters, added by : Karen (27/04/2009)
Event reviewed : Green Drops and Moonsquirters
"I took my children, aged 2 and 5 to see the Lauren Child exhibition at the castle. Both are avid Charlie and Lola fans - but they enjoyed the whole exhibition. Highlights for them were building the Gingerbread House, the Princess and the Pea puppet show stage, and dressing the Charlie and Lola magnetic pictures. I didn't get much of a chance to read the written content of the display as my 2 year old was tearing around - much to the delight of the museum staff member, who was wonderful. He took great delight in building the Gingerbread house with my children, and was very approachable. We all thoroughly enjoyed ourselves. There was another room with a maritime display aimed at children which was also lovely - I think it was called Beyond The Sea."
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Review title : Charlie and Lola, added by : Wayne (26/04/2009)
Event reviewed : Green Drops and Moonsquirters
"I took my 2 young children to see this exhibition and was pleasantly surprised how good it was. I thought that, because it was in a museum, it might be quite boring but it was incredibly interactive and hands-on. The kids really loved it, especially playing in Charlie and Lola's kitchen and watching one of the episodes on the big screen. The tried on clothes and there were pictures to colour in. Best of all ... there was no-one there telling you to be quiet!!! "
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Review title : Robin Hood Pageant, added by : Mike (15/09/2008)
Event reviewed : General venue review
"What a fantastic day the Robin Hood Pageant was last year, I cannot wait for this years"
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Review title : Pleasant setting, added by : Rich (14/08/2008)
Event reviewed : General venue review
"Not what we imagined when we arrived but ok nonetheless. After a stroll around the well kept gardens we visited the art gallery and were surprised at the exhibitions on offer. It was a bit windy but then again it is on top of a hill! Only criticism was that there was not really much about Robin Hood but ther was a very interesting exhibition about the history of Nottingham. "
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Review title : Two thumbs up!, added by : Unknown user (04/08/2008)
Event reviewed : General venue review
"I thoroughly enjoyed the guided tours from the enthusiastic tour guides, where i learnt a lot about the interesting and sometimes gruesome history of the castle. The grounds were beautiful and there is something for everyone."
