North of England
Today
1 Drama in the Yard
Quarry Bank Mill, Styal, Cheshire
'Fortunes Won', part of a Victorian fair at this old mill and Apprentice House, is set in 1830 and explains the advent of mechanisation through the eyes of the workers.
Performances: Today 2pm, Monday 1pm and 3 pm. Adults £6, children £3.70, family £16, includes admission to the mill and Apprentice House (01625 527 468).
2 Easter Egg-stravaganza
Murton Park, Murton, York
A traditional farmyard Big Day Out with bouncy castle, train rides, egg hunts and lamb feeding. The price includes admission to the Yorkshire Museum of Farming, Danelaw Dark Age Village and the Brigantiun Roman Fort.
Open 10am-4pm. £3 adult, £1.50 children, under-fives free, family £8 (01904 489 966). Open Easter Monday.
3 Easter Eggspress
Kirklees Light Railway, Railway Station, Park Mill Way, Clayton West, Huddersfield
This light railway ride is given an Easter twist, allowing children to disembark on the return journey to hunt in the woods for an Easter egg token, exchangeable at the station for a chocolate reward.
Departs every hour on the hour from 11am-4pm. Adults £4.50, children £3.50, under-threes free. Also open Easter Monday (01484 865 727).
4 St George's Day Celebrations
Camelot Theme Park, Chorley, Lancashire
This day-long celebration moves the focus away from Easter to remind people that it's also St George's Day with a parade led by King Arthur, theme park entertainers and jousting tournaments at 12.30pm and 3pm.
10am-5pm. Admission £8.99, children under a metre get in free (01257 452100).
5 Easter Trail
Wallington House, Walled Gardens and Grounds, Morpeth, Northumberland
Children must follow cryptic clues to find their way around the Wallington woodland trail. There are Easter eggs for those who make it, as well as Easter bonnet judging.
Open 11am-3.30pm. Entry to house, garden and grounds £3.90, trail £1.50, family £13.50 (01670 774356).
Easter Monday
6 Wordsworth Easter Egg Hunts
Wordsworth House, Cockermouth
The childhood home of spring's greatest venerator, William Wordsworth, is hosting Easter Egg hunts for children.
Open 1pm-3pm. £1 per child (01900 824805).
7 Wonderworld
The Printworks Parade, Manchester
This huge Carnival parade will launch the Streets Ahead 2000 festival. The cavalcade of street theatre and carnival dance music will run from Withy Grove to Exchange Square and Albert Square.
1pm-5pm. Free.
8 The Big Dig
Lancashire Mining Museum, Salford
Grab the chance to visit mines around the globe to collect precious minerals and gems. Find out about diamonds in Australia and gold in South Africa as you delve into the earth's core.
10am and noon. Bookings (0161 736 2649). Free.
9 World Coal Carrying Championships
Royal Oak Public House, Owl Lane, Gawthorpe, Ossett, Yorkshire
After you've gorged yourself with Easter eggs, go and watch muscles bulge rather than your own stomach. This traditional competition sees men carrying 50kg of coal over a distance of 1012.5 metres and women carrying 20kg over the same distance. There are mini-races for children at 11am; adults' race noon.
Free (01924 218990).
10 Rabbits
Norton Priory Museum and Gardens, Runcorn, Cheshire
Mask making, bunny tail trail, quizzes and a decorated egg competition are in store in this sweetly traditional Easter celebration.
Open 2.30pm-4pm. Adults £3.30, children £2 (free if they bring a decorated egg), family £8.80, includes entry to the museum and gardens (01928 569895).
South of England
Today
1 Dinosaur Egg Hunt
The Dinosaur Museum, Dorchester, Dorset
Eggs that are long past their sell-by date are the bounty in this archaic adventure, with a fossil for each child who successfully completes the hunt.
Open 9.30pm-5.30pm. Adults £4.25, children £2.95, under-fours free, family £11.95 (01305 269880). Open Monday.
2 The Big Teddy Bear Show (incorporating Doll Show 2000)
London Arena, E14
Providing welcome relief from the ubiquitous rabbit, thousands of bears will be on show at this fur-fest which will host the British Bear Awards 2000.
Open 10.30-4.30. Adults £4, children £3, family £10 (01403 711511).
3 Fairy Tale Easter
Groombridge Place Gardens, Tunbridge Wells, Kent
Giant Easter bunnies will be playing their seasonal role at home in the Enchanted Forest, baby animals will be on show in the Creature Park and piglets will race at 12.30pm and 4.30pm.
Open 9am-6pm, adults £8.50, children £7.50, family £29 (01892 861 444 or 01892 863 999). Also open Monday.
4 Metal Detector Treasure Hunt
Hop Farm Country Park, Beltring, Kent
Special children's metal detectors are used to hunt for gold treasures which are exchanged for a prize. Also egg painting, face painting, children's parties, fun with Topples the Clown and hawking displays. Price includes entry to Decades of Experience interactive museum, allowing you to walk down a 1900's street market or hang out in a 1960's cafe.
Adults £6.50, children £4.50, under-fours free, family £18. Open 10am-5pm (01622 871 577). Also open Monday.
Easter Monday
5 Children's Day at the Races
Wincanton Racecourse, Somerset
Bouncy castle, activity play centre and Farmer Giles and his animals for the kids and racing for the adults.
From 2pm. £5 course enclosure, £10 access to paddock, £15 club enclosure. Children 16 and under free (01963 32344).
6 CD and Records Fair
Pyramids Resort Centre, Southsea, Hampshire
Members of the public can try their luck trading old records and CDs with vinyls sharks at this fair where half a million discs will change hands.
10am-4.30pm. Entry £1.50 (023 9279 9977).
7 Royal Sport
Hampton Court Palace, Surrey
Spend the day as the Tudor and Stewart kings would have done, getting to grips with hunting, hawking, swordplay and tilting, or enjoy Tudor games such as skittles and royal tennis displays and Easter egg trails for children.
Open 10.15am-6pm. Adults £10.50, children £7, family £31.40 (020 8781 9500). Also open Sunday.
8 Easter Steamings
Swanage Railway, Purbeck, Dorset
Children get a free hand-made Easter egg.
Trains run every 35 minutes from 10.30am. Adults £6, children £3 (01929 425 800). Open Sunday.
Midlands and the east of England
Today
1 Robin Hood's Easter Egg Trail
Sherwood Forest, Nottinghamshire
Pick up a leaflet from the Visitors' Centre and follow the self-guided trail through Sherwood Forest to win an egg at the end.
Open 11am-3pm. 60p (01623 823 202). Also open Monday.
2 Festival of Easter Customs
Sulgrave Manor, Banbury, Oxfordshire
Come to this Tudor manor where the Lord of the Manor will explain the punitive rituals associated with the 40 days of Lent in Tudor times. The kitchen maid will explain the religious significance associated with Easter food and will reward everyone with a hot cross bun.
Open 10.30am-5pm. Also open Easter Monday. Adult £4.50, child (5-16 years) £2.25 (01295 760 205).
3 Waterworks Museum
Hereford
This museum, staffed by volunteers who are passionate about the restored Victorian pumping station in which it is housed, is open for only 14 days a year. A new display of the history of water supply with guides in each room will explain the workings of all the machinery.
Open 2pm-5pm. Adults £2, children £1, family £4.50 (01600 890 118). Also open Monday.
4 A Medieval Knight and his Lady
Ashby-de-la-Zouche Castle, Leicestershire
The demonstrations of armour and weaponry in this living history showcase of medieval life are balanced by displays of the more gentle arts of lacemaking and cookery.
Open noon-4.30pm. Adults £3, children £1.50, under-fives free. Open Monday (01530 413343).
5 Shakespeare's Birthday Celebrations
Stratford-upon-Avon
The birthplace of the Bard breaks into festivities in honour of his birthday. Local families and children will unfurl flags and banners in Henley Street and will be entertained by the minstrels, dancing and music by Les Bicylettes Theatre Group. A wreath will be laid on Shakespeare's grave in Holy Trinity Church.
Starts 2pm. Free (01789 415536).
Easter Monday
6 Chesterfield Easter Market
Market Place, Chesterfield, Derbyshire
Shopaholics can indulge in their favourite pastime at the largest open-air market in England. Street entertainment for children by medieval strolling troubadours, stilt walkers, balloon modellers and Punch and Judy.
Entertainment 10am-4pm.
Open 9am-4.30pm. Free.
7 The History Man
Castle Acre Priory, Norfolk
You might catch the ebullient Bryan McNerney, star of BBC's The History Man and Out and About, breaking into song during his off-beat tours around the Priory. He enters into gory detail about the fate of the resident monks during the Black Death and gives a colourful history of the Priory's different rooms.
Open 10am-6pm. Adults £3.50, children £1.80 (01760 755 394).
8 A Day Out with Thomas
East Anglian Railway Museum, Chappel Station, Colchester
Trips on full-size replicas of Thomas the Tank Engine and his friends, including the Fat Controller. Admission includes unlimited rides, mini train rides and funfair rides.
Open 10.30am-5pm. Adults £7, children £4, family £20. Also open Easter Sunday (01206 242524).
9 Vina Cooke Museum of Dolls and Bygone Childhood
The Old Rectory, Cromwell, Nottinghamshire
Visitors to this busy Easter open day will be treated to an array of charming old world spectacles such as morris men, minstrels and a fairground organ.
Open 10.30am-5pm. £2.50 adults, £1.50 children (01636 821 364).
10 Great Easter Egg Hunt Quiz and Re-creation of Tudor Life
Kentwell Hall, Long Melford, Suffolk
Join 70 Tudor people as they go about their Easter traditions, spinning, brewing, practising archery and weighing up gruesome advice from the barber surgeon. The gentry will preside over the servants' Easter meal in the main hall. The winner of the quiz will receive a 2ft 6in high chocolate Easter egg.
Open 10am-6pm. Adults £7.95, children £5.35, under-fives free (01787 310207).
Scotland
Today
1 Wrath of the Vikings
St Andrew's Castle, St. Andrew's
There's fighting talk in authentic ancient Norse in this battle re-enactment between Vikings and Scots. Axes, spears and swords will flash, but there's an opportunity for children to throw themselves into the fray by trying the equipment.
War camp set up from 1.30pm, main show at 2.30pm. Adults £2.50, children £1. Prices include castle admission. 01334 477 196.
2 Easter Dinosaur Trail
Holyrood Lodge, Holyrood Road, Holyrood Park, Edinburgh
This trail makes children work for their chocolate as they follow the dinosaur-related clues to hunt for dinosaur eggs that come complete with educational information.
Open 12.30pm-3.30pm. Free
(0131 556 1761).
3 Take the King's Shilling
Fort George, near Inverness
Visitors to Fort George need all their wits about them to resist persuasive re-enactors urging them to 'take the King's shilling' by joining the Red Coat army of King George. Open 9.30am-6.30pm. Performance 11am-4pm. Adults £4, children £1.50 (01667 462 777).
4 Eggcellent Easter
Jupiter Urban Wildlife Centre, Wood Street, Grangemouth
Traditional Easter fun with a wildlife emphasis at Jupiter, Scotland's largest urban wildlife centres. Giant egg hunt, egg painting and races, games, quizzes, wildflower plant sale. 2pm-4pm. Admission £1 (01324 494974).
5 Gaddgedlar and Edinburgh Bird of Prey Centre
Stirling Castle
Those who find Easter bunnies and lambs a little too tame will find the perfect antidote in this combination of flight displays by birds of prey and re-enactments of medieval battles.
Open noon-4pm. Adults £6, children £1.50, under-fives free. Admission includes entry to castle and Argyll's Lodging (01786 45 0000).
Easter Monday
6 Prehistoric cooking
Archaeolink Prehistory Park, Aberdeenshire
After having cooked a huge Easter Sunday lunch, you can find out how difficult it might have been. The trick of dropping heated stones into water to boil it and demonstrations of breadmaking in a clay oven are just some of the things to make you grateful for ovenready meals. There will be Celtic and Roman egg painting.
Open 10am-5pm. Adults £3.90, children £2.35, family £11 (01464 851500).
7 Kircaldy Links Market
The Esplanade
The challenge will be holding down your Easter Eggs as you brave the funfair rides at the longest street fair in Europe. Traditional carousel and hoop-la will be available for less adventurous visitors.
Open 1pm-10.30pm. Free, with charges for rides (01592 416823).
8 Easter Treasure Hunt
Edinburgh Zoo, Corstorphine Road
Children follow the animal clues around the zoo, picking up information before they collect a chocolate surprise at the end. Adults £6.80, children £3.80. Open 9am-6pm (0131 334 9171).
9 Royal Scottish Academy's 174th Annual Exhibition
The Mound, Edinburgh
This newly opened exhibition of contemporary works from Scotland's leading painters, sculptures, printmakers and architects also features invited artists Antoni Tapies from Spain and Italian Mimmo Paladino.
Open 2pm-5pm. Adults £2, children £1 (0131 225 6671).
10 Magic Workshop
Princes Mall Centre, Princes Street, Edinburgh
Blue Peter-style magic as a conjurer shows children magic tricks using ordinary household objects. Aimed at ages eight and over.
Open noon-2pm (0131 557 3759). Free.
Wales
Today
1 Story of Slate
Welsh Slate Museum, Llanberis, Gwynedd
The museum admirably faces up to the challenge of 'bringing the story of slate alive', with craftsmen demonstrating traditional techniques used when the industry was at its peak.
Open 10am-5pm. Adults £3.50, children free (01286 870630).
2 Easter Living History
Cosmeston Lakes Country Park, Lavernock Road, Penarth, Vale of Glamorgan
Visitors are transported back from the comfortable twenty-first century to the rigours of the fourteenth century as costumed villagers explain what life was like in a Welsh village just after the plague.
Open 11am-5pm. Adults £3, children £2, family £6.50 (01222 708686). Also open Monday.
3 Easter Bunny Trains
Welshpool and Llanfair Railway, Llanfair Caereinion, Powys.
Easter eggs will be rolling along the floor as this train climbs the steepest gradient in Wales and travels through Powys Castle Estates woodland. The journey takes about an hour and all children will be given an egg.
Trains depart at 10.20am, 11.30am, 12.55pm, 2.30pm, 3.55pm and 5.15pm. Adults £7.90, children £1 (01938 810441).
4 Signs of Spring
Ynyslas Centre, Ynyslas Dunes, Dyfi National Nature Reserve, Borth, Ceredigion
This trail is perfect for those seeking reassurance after the recent spell of bad weather that spring is on the way. Visitors follow a clue-laden path looking for spring flowers, skylarks, shelducks and wild rabbits.
Open 10am-4pm. Free (01970 871 640).
Easter Monday
5 Easter Bird Watch
Kenfig National Nature Reserve, Ton Kenfig, near Pyle, Bridgend
Try to be the first person the hear the cuckoo on this walk led by an expert guide who will help you look out for the great crested grebe, mute swan, mallard, and flocks of summer migratory birds arriving from Africa. The walk is three and a half miles long and is aimed at families.
10am-12.30pm. Free (01656 743 386).
6 Y Felinheli Exhibition
Church Hall, Y Felinheli, Gwynedd
This slice of social history lovingly put together by the villagers of Y Felinheli includes 500 photographs from 1819 to the present day, as well as an exhibition of artifacts and needle work.
Open 1pm-8pm. £1 (01248 670016).
7 Meccano Show
Rhondda Heritage Park, Trehafod
In the era of PlayStation and Pokemon, Meccano enthusiasts must feel as if there's little room for them. This show is the exception to that, with all the Meccano and accessories they could wish for.
Open 11am-4pm. Admission £1 (01443 682 036).
8 Cambria Arts Festival
Tregaron, Ceredigion
The hills of Wales are alive with the sound of salsa, Afro Latin, jazz and a male voice choir. The music stops for one day, however, as Monday is Film Day at this multi-venue arts festival, with screenings of Toy Story 2 at 5pm and Onegin at 8.30pm in the Memorial Hall.
Tickets £2.50. Runs until 29 April (01974 298719) for details the rest of the festival.
Ireland
Today
1 World Irish Dancing Championships
Waterfront Hall, Belfast
Four thousand competitors will be flashing their legs in an effort to be the next Jean Butler or Michael Flatley, who won the competition in 1975.
8am-9pm. Admission £5.50 (028 903 34400) from 1pm.
2 Samhlaíocht Chiarraí
Kerry Arts Festival, Tralee, Co Kerry
Not to be outdone by the Rose of Tralee, this festival takes its mission to be the 'Imagination of Kerry' seriously through running a soap box for stand-up comedy and storytelling, traditional music and contemporary jazz sessions (066 712 3055).
Easter Monday
3 Easter Celebrations at Ulster American Folk Park
Omagh, Co Tyrone
Watch your pockets at these traditional Easter celebrations as a nineteenth-century trickster tries to relieve you of your wallet. Other distractions include pet lambs, spring farming demonstrations and a performance by Rough Deal string band.
Open 11am-6.30pm (last admission at 5pm). Adults £4, children £2.50, family £10 (01662 243292).
4 Antiques and Collectables Fair
Royal Marine Hotel, Dun Laoghaire, Co Dublin
An 1808 Cork silver cream jug and sugar bowl by James Hayland and an 1820 Irish Regency Pembroke table will be among the finds at this fair, which expects to welcome 50 antiques dealers. Those with quirkier taste (or less money) can browse the collectors' postcards or military medals.
Open 11am-6pm. Admission £1.50 (01 670 8295).
