Ales, Arts & Afrobeats

Good Morning Cheshire! 👋 

It’s a cracking week across the county. Knutsford transforms into a music festival town, Chester Town Hall throws open its doors for a proper real ale festival, 2,000 classic cars roll into Tatton Park, and Crewe hosts its first-ever Afrofest – a brand new celebration of African and Afro-Diasporic culture. Add a wartime big band dance in Weaverham, a free orienteering morning in Marbury Park and a metal detecting rally on the outskirts of Nantwich, and this is shaping up to be one of those weeks where the hardest part is choosing what to do first.

Let’s dive in!

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🎉 What’s On In Cheshire

🗓️ Fri · 5 June

🎸 The Bon Jovi Experience
Fri 5 Jun, 7:30pm, Parr Hall, Warrington
The only Bon Jovi tribute band to have performed live on stage with Jon Bon Jovi himself – fresh from their Anniversary Tour and bringing Livin’ on a Prayer, Always, It’s My Life and You Give Love a Bad Name to one of Warrington’s finest venues.
👉 Details

🎵 Knutsford Music Festival – Ranagri
Fri 5 Jun, 7:30pm, St John’s Church, Knutsford
Mark Radcliffe presents Ranagri – an award-winning Irish-English folk ensemble with five acclaimed studio albums, known for mesmerising harmonies, flutes, harp, bouzouki and bodhrán. One of the most exciting acts on the contemporary folk scene.
👉 Details

🎵 Northwich LitFest – Live Music Night
Fri 5 Jun, 7:30pm, Memorial Court, Northwich Town Centre
The 2026 Northwich LitFest (running 1-17 June) gets a live music night in Memorial Court – Vicky Jackson’s P!nk tribute is the confirmed act.
👉 Details

🎺 Wartime-Themed Big Band Dance Night – The Swinging Woodpeckers
Fri 5 Jun, 7:30pm, Weaverham Community Centre
The Swinging Woodpeckers Big Band mark the D-Day anniversary with a live wartime-themed evening of Glenn Miller, big band swing and 1940s classics. Dress up, take to the floor, and raise a glass to those who served.
👉 Details

🎭 The Wolves of Willoughby Chase – Harlequin Theatre, Northwich
Wed 3 Jun-Sun 6 Jun, Harlequin Theatre, Queen Street, Northwich
A thrilling stage adaptation of Joan Aiken’s beloved novel – set in an alternative history of England, packed with adventure, danger and wicked villains. Running across two weeks, with multiple performances.
👉 Details

🗓️ Sat · 6 June

🚗 Classic & Performance Car Spectacular – Day One
Sat 6 Jun, 9:30am-5pm, Tatton Park, Knutsford
One of the UK’s most loved classic car shows – over 2,000 classics on site, 90+ car clubs, a massive autojumble, specialist trade stands and 70+ awards presented daily. Sporting Bears offer Dream Rides in supercars for charity. Entry to the show is £13 or £15 on the gate + Tatton Park car parking fee.
👉 Details

🍺 Chester Beer Festival – Day Two
Sat 6 Jun, 12pm-10pm, Chester Town Hall, Chester
The full day session – arrive at opening and stay right through. Saturday evening tickets available at a reduced price from 5pm for those who can’t make the afternoon.
👉 Details

🎵 Knutsford Music Festival – Country Collective & Music on the Moor
Sat 6 Jun, all day, Knutsford town centre
A double bill – the free Music on the Moor outdoor stage on the Moor from midday with live music, craft and dance workshops and family activities, followed by an evening Country Collective at St John’s Church featuring Jake O’Neill and Outpost Drive.
👉 Details

🎵 Warrington Music Festival
Sat 6 Jun, all day, Old Market Place, Golden Square & Time Square, Warrington (FREE)
The town’s biggest annual showcase of emerging music talent returns – almost 30 bands and artists across multiple outdoor stages in the heart of Warrington. An open-air headline stage, street food and a full day of free live music. One of the best free events on the Warrington calendar.
👉 Details

🧭 Marbury ParkNav – Free Family Orienteering
Sat 6 Jun, 10am-1pm, Marbury Country Park, Marbury Lane, Northwich (FREE)
Deeside Orienteering Club invites families to a free ParkNav event at Marbury Country Park – use a map to navigate between checkpoints at your own pace. Suitable for all ages, no experience needed.
👉 Details

🧲 ToePath of Time – Metal Detecting Rally
Sat 6 Jun, 9am-4pm, Nantwich area, Cheshire
A public metal detecting rally on fresh cut pasture near Nantwich – farm backing onto a medieval village with a 12th-century church, Roman road within 300 yards. Space for 140 detectorists, raffle with cash prizes and coins, dogs welcome.
👉 Details

📖 Northwich LitFest – Paul Burrell: The Royal Insider
Sat 6 Jun, 7:30pm, Davenham Players Theatre, 59 Church Street, Davenham, Northwich
For over two decades Paul Burrell was footman to Queen Elizabeth II, butler to King Charles III and confidante to Princess Diana. Now he’s sharing his own story. An evening of royal insight, charm and probably a few revelations.
👉 Details

🛒 Lady Heyes Car Boot Sale
Sat 6 Jun, 9am-12pm, Lady Heyes Holiday Park, Frodsham
The popular Lady Heyes car boot is back – rummage through rows of finds on the edge of the Cheshire countryside, with a café on site.
👉 Details

🗓️ Sun · 7 June

🚗 Classic & Performance Car Spectacular – Day Two
Sun 7 Jun, 9:30am-4pm, Tatton Park, Knutsford
Day two of the show – same stunning setting, more awards, more cars, and the Dream Ride supercars still running for charity. A Sunday well spent.
👉 Details

🏡 Bunbury Watermill
Sun 7 Jun, 1pm-5pm, Mill Lane, Bowe’s Gate Road, Bunbury
A beautifully restored working watermill in 2 acres of wildlife-rich countryside – see the mill in action and explore the grounds. One of South Cheshire’s most charming hidden gems, open just a handful of days each year.
👉 Details

🧙 Professor Listworth & Chester Wizard School: The Divination Tent
Sun 7 Jun, 1pm-2pm, Tarvin Community Centre, Meadow Close, Tarvin, Chester
An interactive theatrical storytelling experience for families – meet Hugo, a young dreamer, and help shape the future of the story. Creative, gentle and beautifully crafted for younger audiences.
👉 Details

🚶 Wayward Strolls – Community Walking Group
Sun 7 Jun (and regular weekend dates), South Cheshire
A relaxed, welcoming community walking group based in South Cheshire – 2-3 walks a month, dogs welcome on all walks, suitable for all paces. Check the link for this weekend’s specific route, meeting point and time.
👉 Details

🎻 Northern Chamber Orchestra – Quartet
Sun 7 Jun, 3pm-5pm, 1st Weaverham Sea Scout Hall, Church Street, Weaverham, Northwich
An intimate afternoon of beautiful chamber music from NCO soloists in the village of Weaverham – exactly the kind of understated, quality event that Cheshire does so well.
👉 Details

🌿 Chester Green Festival – Launch Day
Sun 7 Jun, 10am, Town Hall Square & Exchange Square, Chester (FREE)
The Chester Green Festival kicks off with a bustling outdoor market and a full day of free family-friendly activities in the city centre. Dogs welcome throughout.
👉 Details

🏃 Protein Rebel Running Festival
Sun 7 Jun, Cheshire woodland & fields
A 5-mile trail run through Cheshire’s finest woodland and fields – with speakers, a recovery café and a fun run built for runners who love nature and community.
👉 Details

🗓️ REST OF THE WEEK

🎵 The Fab 50s & Swingin’ 60s
Tue 9 Jun, 2pm, Ellesmere Port Civic Hall, Civic Way, Ellesmere Port
A proper feel-good afternoon of nostalgia – The Dreamers perform the great hits of the era from the Beatles to early rock ‘n’ roll, joined by comedian Steve Barclay and singer Helen Farrell channelling Cilla Black, Dusty Springfield and Connie Francis.
👉 Details

🕯️ Céline Dion by Candlelight
Thu 11 Jun, 7:30pm, Chester Cathedral, St Werburgh Street, Chester
Featuring the UK’s leading Céline tribute, January Butler, and her full live band – My Heart Will Go On, The Power of Love, Because You Loved Me and all the anthems, performed by candlelight beneath Chester Cathedral’s vaulted Gothic ceilings.
👉 Details

🎬 Moonlight Flicks at Rooftop Social Club – Romeo and Juliet
Thu 11 Jun, 7pm-9:30pm, Rooftop Social Club, Pepper Street Car Park, Chester
The weekly open-air cinema series continues above Chester’s rooftops with a showing of Romeo and Juliet.
👉 Details

🧺 LOCAL CRAFT MARKETS

• Chester Makers Market – Sat 6 Jun | 👉 Details

• Crewe Makers Market – Sat 6 Jun | 👉 Details

• Creative Crafters Fair, Northwich – Sat 6 Jun | 👉 Details

• Small Street Markets, Blakemere – Sun 7 Jun | 👉 Details

• Knutsford Makers Market – Sun 7 Jun | 👉 Details

🗓️ DATES FOR THE DIARY

• DogFest – Sat 20-Sun 21 Jun | Tatton Park, Knutsford 👉 Details

• Royal Cheshire County Show – Tue 16-Wed 17 Jun | Cheshire Showground, Knutsford 👉 Details

• Kelsall Steam & Vintage Rally -25th Anniversary – Sat 20-Sun 21 Jun | nr Chester 👉 Details

• Tributes on the Hill – Thu 2-Sun 5 Jul | Frodsham, Cheshire 👉 Details

• Bridgemere Show Gardens Food Festival – Sat 27-Sun 28 Jun 👉 Details

💎 Hidden Gem: Cholmondeley Castle Gardens, near Malpas

There’s a reason Cholmondeley Castle Gardens has been described as one of the best-kept secrets in the North of England. Set deep in south Cheshire near the market town of Malpas – an area most of the county rarely ventures to – it’s the kind of place that makes you wonder why you haven’t been before.

Seventy acres of ornamental gardens within 670 acres of historic parkland, with a dramatic neo-Gothic castle rising above it all. The castle itself is a private residence, which only adds to the sense that you’re being allowed somewhere special.

The gardens are the life’s work of Lady Lavinia, Dowager Marchioness of Cholmondeley, who spent decades creating what she called “a garden of great romance.” Her legacy is everywhere.

The Temple Garden is the centrepiece – a folly water garden built around an ornamental pool stocked with giant koi carp, enclosed by rare specimen trees and sweeping shrubs, with a 19th-century temple reflected in the water.

The Lavinia Walk is a 328-foot double herbaceous border that peaks in June in a blaze of colour. There’s also a rose garden with 250 varieties, an arboretum, an ornamental woodland on Tower Hill, and a lakeside nature trail with waterfowl, wildflowers and views across the Mere to the castle.

In June, it’s at its absolute best. The rose garden is in full flower, the herbaceous borders are peaking, and the woodland paths are green and cool. The Tea Rooms sit at the heart of the gardens – proper homemade food, outdoor seating with garden views – and the Cholmondeley Arms pub is just a five-minute walk down the lane for a post-wander pint in one of Cheshire’s most characterful village pubs.

Practical bits:

• Location: Cholmondeley Castle Gardens, Malpas, Cheshire SY14 8AH

• Getting there: Signed from the A41 Chester–Whitchurch road and the A49 Whitchurch–Tarporley road. About 17 miles south of Chester. Limited public transport – this one needs a car.

• Opening times: Wednesday, Thursday, Sunday and Bank Holidays, 11am-5pm. Open seasonally – check the website before visiting.

• Admission: Adults £9, children £4. Free for Historic Houses members and Cholmondeley members.

• Dogs: Welcome throughout the gardens on a lead.

• The stop: Tea Rooms on site | The Cholmondeley Arms, Cholmondeley SY14 8HH

  
  🔗 Cholmondeley Castle
  🔗 The Cholmondeley Arms

That’s it for this week.

Thanks for reading The Cheshire Buzz! See you next Thursday – same time, same inbox.