Details
This page lists a summary of events on day 4 of the Feel Good Family Picnic.
Date: Friday, 1 August 2025 (day 4 of 4)
Times: 12noon–4pm, see individual events for their running times
Suitable for: All ages from babies upwards welcome.
Location: Queen's Park, Queen's Park Road, Heywood OL10 4UY
Directions: Find Queen's Park on Google Maps
Facilities: first aid, chill out space, information stand, toilets, free water station, children's play area, cafe, lost children point
You're welcome to bring your own food and drink and enjoy a picnic during the event. Free water refills will be available all day so please bring a bottle with you.
Good value family friendly food and drink will also be on sale at the event. There's an onsite cafe at Queen's Park and there will also be mobile catering.
Events
Event name: Pocket Loop
Times:
- 12noon–12.35pm
- 2.30pm–3.05pm
Description: a concert by Stop Toi featuring 2 jugglers and a drummer with a crazy playlist, mixing smooth jazz with garage rock, throwing balls, twisting rings and performing crazy stunts. Visitors can sing along and experience this extraordinary act as the trio attempt to demonstrate the meaning of life. Don’t forget your ear plugs.
View full details on Pocket Loop
Event name: The Alchemist
Times:
- 12noon–12.20pm
- 1.30pm–1.50pm
- 3pm–3.20pm
Description: a light-hearted, slightly-slapstick puppet show for all ages. This gentle and magical performance has captivated audiences young and old across the UK.
The Alchemist is a medieval man who desperately wants to make his name in his contemporary scientific community and make a small fortune on the side. Unfortunately, due to yet another dangerous (and unsuccessful) attempt to make gold, his latest assistant has met a grisly end. As the Alchemist continues with his experiments alone, he makes more mistakes with catastrophic consequences, further hampered by the antics of a pair of mischievous rats and an incredibly annoying bluebottle.
View full details on The Alchemist
Event name: A Knight Away
Times:
- 12.15pm–12.45pm
- 1.15pm–1.45pm
- 3pm–3.30pm
Description: a second live show by Tit for Tat Circus featuring Sir Kuss and his loyal (if somewhat grumbling) squire on their well-deserved time off. Expect games, comedy and stupidity in equal measure. With plate mail, swim shorts, holiday games, sights to see and axes to juggle – this bumbling entourage of knightly stupidity will be absolutely delighted to meet you.
View full details on A Knight Away
Event name: Hope the Hedgehog
Times:
- 12.15pm–12.45pm
- 1.30pm–2pm
- 3.30pm–4pm
Description: a larger than life puppet crafted from recycled materials, Hope will delight and inspire people of all ages.
View full details on Hope the Hedgehog
Event name: Now I Am Become D/Deaf
Times:
- 12.45pm–1.20pm
- 3.15pm–3.50pm
Description: a visual spectacle from Tit for Tat Circus, featuring a clown turning his own hearing loss into something extraordinary, tackling cultural boundaries and personal identity with moments of chaos, sincerity, interconnectivity and utter nonsense, showing a world where the loudest actions are lost in translation and the tiniest looks become deafening.
View full details on Now I Am Become D/Deaf
Event name: Tea Club
Times:
- 12.45pm–1.30pm
- 3.15pm–4pm
Description: celebrating Britain’s passion for tea, and all things vintage. Trixie and Tilly are 2 eccentric tea ladies, who serve their fine leaf drink from their special musical trolley – dancing to their favourite gramophone records, they swirl and stir along their way, entertaining you as they go.
Event name: Scrumptious
Times:
- 12noon–12.45pm
- 2.50pm–3.35pm
Description: a fun, playful piece of theatre about friendship and ice cream with hilarious songs, dancing and storytelling from the Beggars Belief Collective. All is well at Sylvie’s Scrumptious sweet shop. PC Lee can’t resist the fruit cake, Stanley the horse loves peppermint creams and the Talkative Twins only cause a crumb of chaos. Until a stranger arrives, that is, and their irresistible ice cream threatens to spoil everything. The perfect treat for families and anyone young at heart. Ideal for children aged 4 and above, and their grown-ups.
Sylvie is played by Evie Hargreaves, and her television appearances include ‘Doctors’ for BBC, and ‘Vera’ for ITV.
View full details on Scrumptious
Event name: The Story of the Scary Noise
Times:
- 12noon–12.30pm
- 1pm–1.30pm
- 2.30pm–3pm
Description: a doting daddy finds the unexpected (and adorable) source of a mysterious sound. Presented on a pop-up mobile puppet stage by Thingumajig Theatre. A show full of surprises, fun and a heart-warming story of friendship and a sense of home.
View full details on The Story of the Scary Noise
Event name: The Magic Samovar
Times:
- 12noon–12.30pm
- 1pm–1.30pm
- 2.30pm–3pm
Description: a Persian tea urn opens to reveal the compelling secrets of a world in miniature. Created by Reyyan Hammad with Thingumajig Theatre. A show full of surprises, fun and a heart-warming story of friendship and a sense of home.
View full details on The Magic Samovar
Event name: Damocles
Times: 1.15pm–2pm
Description: look out for Damoclès, a participatory performance by Cirque Inextremiste exploring risk, trust, and collective co-operation. Audiences will become both witness and actor, experimenting with tools of co-ordination and shared decision-making. A unique social experience, questioning how we act together, build trust, and explore leadership in uncertain situations. Can we trust one another and decide on a common course of action towards a problem? Can we all be the leader of the group?
Event name: The Street Where I LIve
Times:
- 1.15pm–1.45pm
- 3.35pm–3.55pm
Description: Rochdale’s M6 Theatre Company present their popular play - a captivating story for younger children and their families, exploring the warmth and diversity of a unique community, capturing the friendships, adventures and surprises that take place there. Each child will receive a free story book to take home, enabling them to revisit the story as often as they like. With space for children to help with the storytelling, the performance also supports language development, listening skills, counting, and colours and includes an interactive workshop with the audience.
View full details on The Street Where I Live
Event name: Skylight Circus Arts
Times: 12noon–4pm
Description: this amazing group of talented performers returns to stage another jaw dropping range of spectacular feats including ariel tricks, stilt walking, juggling and clowning, with everyone invited to learn the skills led by professional circus artists.
View full details on Skylight Circus Arts
Event name: Youth Zone
Times: 12noon–4pm
Description: new for 2025 will be a ‘Youth Zone’ featuring a range of activities including a special edition of the Teenage Market, with a variety of stalls and performances. The Teenage Market gives local young traders and performers aged between 13 and 25 years old a chance to showcase their creative products and talents.
View full details on the Youth Zone
Event name: Craft Workshops
Times: 12noon–4pm
Description: fun and engaging craft workshops led by the team from Heywood based Cartwheel Arts.
View full details on Craft Workshops
Event name: Sports Zone
Times: 12noon–4pm
Description: try a range of popular sports and games including track bikes, badminton, shotput, and archery with staff from Your Trust.
View full details on the Sports Zone
Event name: Carnival and parade
Times: 2pm–2.30pm
Description: a stunning carnival will travel around the parks led by international carnival arts company Global Grooves, reflecting this year’s theme of ‘co-operation,’ covering the arts, culture, communities, togetherness and the power of shared experiences. Expect more giant puppets, costumes, funky beats, flags and high energy dance, animated by local communities and professional street performers.
View full details on the carnival and parade
Event name: Flat Cap Brass
Times:
- 12noon–12.45pm
- 2.30pm–3.15pm
Description: for the last 2 years they’ve gone down such a storm, we've invited them back again to play more fun and friendly arrangements of popular 90s and 00s pop songs as you’ve never heard them before.