Foodies, Fairs & Fairytales

Good Morning Cheshire! 👋 

Buckle up, this is one of the busiest weekends we’ve covered all year. Chester Racecourse has two nights of live music back to back, Tatton Park turns into a three-day food and music takeover, and Saturday alone has a steam fair, an airshow, and enough gigs to fill a festival bill. Sunday brings the Chester Raft Race down the Dee. Grab a coffee, this weekend’s a busy one!

Let’s dive in!

Jump to:FriSatSunRest of Week

🎉 What’s On In Cheshire

🗓️ Fri · 10 July

🎉 Kaleidoscope Festival Finale
Fri 10 Jul, daytime, Storyhouse, Chester
Storyhouse’s week long festival for the learning disabled community wraps up with a community marketplace and the Kaleidoscope’s Got Talent finale.
👉 Details

🎶 Legends of Motown UK
Fri 10 Jul, 7:30pm, Nantwich Civic Hall
A seven piece tribute show celebrating Marvin Gaye, Stevie Wonder, The Supremes and more, with a full live band.
👉 Details

🎭 Let the Sun Shine! (Opening Night)
Fri 10 Jul, evening, Grosvenor Park Open Air Theatre, Chester
A brand new production set in 1969, following a Cheshire community shaken up when a music festival rolls into town. Theatre in the round under the stars.
👉 Details

🎶 Ibiza Classics Evening
Fri 10 Jul, 4:30pm-midnight, Chester Racecourse
Live racing followed by a 10-piece orchestra playing Ibiza classics as the sun sets over the Roodee. Part of Chester’s Music Weekend.
👉 Details

🛝 Summer of Play Launch Day
Fri 10 Jul, daytime, Dunham Massey, Altrincham
National Trust’s summer programme kicks off in the North Park, with giant deckchairs, tipis, circus skills and nature play running right through to September.
👉 Details

🎤 Martin Kemp – Back to the 80s
Fri 10 Jul, 7:30pm, Chester Cathedral
80s icon and Spandau Ballet star Martin Kemp DJs a night of Duran Duran, Madonna and Culture Club anthems in the cathedral. Standing event.
👉 Details

🐯 Zoo Tots (Last Session of Term)
Fri 10 Jul, morning, Chester Zoo
The final Friday of this term’s early years session, playful animal themed fun for the zoo’s youngest explorers.
👉 Details

🗓️ Sat · 11 July

🎪 Tarporley Carnival
Sat 11 Jul, 12:30pm-6pm, Tarporley Community Centre
A proper village carnival with a “Country and Western” theme this year, kicking off with a parade down the High Street.
👉 Details

🎶 Alsager Music Festival
Sat 11-Sun 12 Jul, all day, Milton Park, Alsager
A free, long-running community music festival with over 5,000 attendees, three stages and nine hours of live music, plus real ale and food stalls.
👉 Details

✈️ Wings and Wheels Weekend (Day 1)
Sat 11-Sun 12 Jul, gates open 10am, Avro Heritage Museum, Woodford
A static Spitfire display, Hurricane engine run up, flight simulators, classic cars, a steam railway and live music across the weekend.
👉 Details

🎶 Music Weekend Saturday with The Bootleg Beatles
Sat 11 Jul, from 11:30am, Chester Racecourse
A full day’s racing followed by The Bootleg Beatles performing the Fab Four’s greatest hits live.
👉 Details

🌻 Garden Stories
Sat 11 Jul, 11am-4pm, Congleton Bath House & Physic Garden
A new family programme with playful learning stations for kids aged 4+, running every Saturday through July and August.
👉 Details

🕯️ George Michael – The Candlelight Concert
Sat 11 Jul, 7:30pm, Storyhouse Main Theatre, Chester
Four vocalists and a live band perform George Michael’s biggest hits, from Careless Whisper to Freedom! ’90, by candlelight.
👉 Details

🏘️ Eaton with Hulme Walfield Garden Party
Sat 11 Jul, 1:30pm-5pm, Eaton Parish Hall, near Congleton
A traditional village fete with a parade, Rose Queen crowning, dog show, pony rides and afternoon tea.
👉 Details

🎬 Movies on the Moor
Sat 11 Jul, 1pm-9pm, The Moor, Knutsford
Free open-air cinema with an Encanto sing-along, a people’s choice film and Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle, plus street food and a bar. No booking needed.
👉 Details

🎶 Musical Extravaganza
Sat 11 Jul, 6pm-7:30pm, Christ Church Alsager
A fundraising concert for the Alsager Guide Hall roof appeal, with something for everyone on the bill.
👉 Details

🔬 STEAM Science Festival
Sat 11-Sun 12 Jul, 10am-2pm, Catalyst Science Discovery Centre, Widnes
A free weekend of hands-on Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Maths activities. Collect a passport and get it stamped for a certificate. Booking required.
👉 Details

🎶 Seattle Children’s Chorus Concert
Sat 11 Jul, 2:30pm-3:30pm, Chester Cathedral
Three touring US youth choirs unite for an afternoon of folk, spirituals and contemporary choral works. Cathedral entrance fee applies.
👉 Details

🗓️ Sun · 12 July

🛶 Chester Raft Race
Sun 12 Jul, from morning, Chester Meadows, River Dee
One of the UK’s biggest raft races. Home-built, themed rafts race down the Dee under the suspension bridge, with an event village of food, drink and entertainment on the meadows all day.
👉 Details

🎺 Chester Big Band: TEN
Sun 12 Jul, 7:30pm, Storyhouse Main Theatre, Chester
Chester’s own 35-strong big band celebrate a decade together with a set of their favourite pieces and a preview of what’s next.
👉 Details

🌻 Hoole Allotments Summer Fayre and Open Day
Sun 12 Jul, 11am-3pm, Hoole Allotments, Chester
A scarecrow trail with over 20 entries, hedgehog hunt, BBQ, bar, cakes and live entertainment.
👉 Details

🗓️ REST OF THE WEEK

🌸 Flower Demonstration: Sweet Charity by Kay Ford
Tue 14 Jul, 2pm-4:30pm, Owley Wood Recreation Club, Weaverham
Eddisbury and Sandiway Flower Club host a demonstration of arrangements from florist Kay Ford. Pay on the door.
👉 Details

🌳 Bioblitz at Riverside Park
Thu 16 Jul, 10am-2pm, Riverside Park, Macclesfield
Join local experts hunting out the birds, wildflowers, minibeasts and water life that call the park home.
👉 Details

🌙 Evening Meditation, Deep Rest and Tea in Nature
Thu 16 Jul, 6:45pm-8:15pm, Tegg’s Nose Country Park, Macclesfield
A soothing evening session with beautiful views, led by Amanda from Let’s Step In.
👉 Details

🤫 Quiet Hours at Catalyst
Thu 16 Jul, Catalyst Science Discovery Centre, Widnes
A dedicated low-sensory session for visitors who benefit from a calmer environment.
👉 Details

🧺 LOCAL CRAFT MARKETS

• Northwich Artisan Market – Sat 11 Jul, 10am-4pm | 👉 Details

• Sandbach Makers Market – Sat 11 Jul, 10am-3pm | 👉 Details

• Stockport Makers Market – Sat 11 Jul, 10am-4pm | 👉 Details

• Warrington Makers Market – Sun 12 Jul, 11am-4pm | 👉 Details

• The Little Children’s Market, Sandbach – Sun 12 Jul, 11am-1pm | 👉 Details

🗓️ DATES FOR THE DIARY

• Northwich River Festival – Sat 18 Jul, River Weaver Waterfront, Northwich 👉 Details

• Together Again Festival – Fri 24-Sun 26 Jul | Bolesworth Castle 👉 Details

• Just So Festival – Fri 21-Sun 23 Aug | Rode Hall, near Congleton 👉 Details

💎 Hidden Gem: Raw Head, Peckforton Hills

At 227 metres, Raw Head is the highest point on both the Sandstone Trail and the Mid Cheshire Ridge, and it doesn’t feel like Cheshire when you’re up there. The path narrows along a cliff edge through old woodland, sandstone crags dropping away on one side, before opening out at a trig point with views stretching to the Clwydian Range in North Wales, Liverpool and the Mersey.

Writers Jen and Sim Benson, who walked the full Peckforton ridge for a guidebook route, described reaching the summit where “an airy, trig point-topped summit looks north over Delamere Forest to Ellesmere Port”. That sense of suddenly being somewhere much higher and wilder than the surrounding plain is exactly what makes this stretch worth the climb.

It’s a contrast to the gentler walks Cheshire’s known for. There are steep steps and a narrow cliffside section with genuine drops, so this one needs sturdy footwear and a bit of care rather than being a Sunday stroll in trainers.

The area around Raw Head is a designated Site of Special Scientific Interest, and the ancient woodland along the ridge is some of the oldest in the county, look out for the beech, chestnut and oak as the path climbs through Bulkeley Hill.

For anyone who’s done the more popular Beeston and Tegg’s Nose walks already, this is the next step up, both literally and in terms of difficulty. It rewards you with a sense of scale that’s genuinely rare in Cheshire.

Practical bits:

• Start point: National Trust car park at Burwardsley (CH3 9PF area), or Beeston Castle car park for a longer route

• Distance: Around 4-5 miles there and back from Burwardsley

• Terrain: Moderate to challenging, steep steps and a narrow cliffside path with drops

• Accessibility: Not suitable for pushchairs or wheelchairs

• Time: Allow 2-3 hours

• Food and drink: The Pheasant Inn, Higher Burwardsley, is the nearest reliable stop on route

🔗 Trail map on AllTrails

That’s it for this week.

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