Summer crafts at Brockholes
Brockholes Nature Reserve, Preston
until 28 Aug. Free crafts daily; LEGO club Saturdays
Free arts and crafts on the floating village through the holidays, with a Saturday LEGO club until 22 August.
Written by us
Family days out across Lancashire, town by town
40 places across Lancashire, 22 of which cost nothing. Every one written up honestly, with dated events from the venues that run them.
40 places22 free12 indoor13 areas
Half the county's list is Blackpool, and honestly, lean into it. The Pleasure Beach is still the North West's big rollercoaster day, Sandcastle Waterpark sorts out any weather, and the Illuminations turn an ordinary autumn evening into an event for nothing. The catch is that Blackpool prices stack: Tower plus Sea Life plus the Dungeon is three separate tickets, so pick one and book online.
The rest of Lancashire is quieter and cheaper. Brockholes floats its visitor village on a lake near Preston and costs only the parking, WWT Martin Mere does wetland birds properly, and Happy Mount Park at Morecambe is an old-fashioned free park with a splash pad. Wet days away from the seafront thin out fast, The Harris in Preston being the honourable free exception, so save the countryside for dry weather and keep family days out in Lancashire flexible.
Areas in Lancashire
What’s on in Lancashire
52 dated events coming up across the county.
All Age United Holy Communion (opens on Barnoldswick: Holy Trinity)
Barnoldswick: Holy Trinity · Nelson
2 Aug. Sunday 2 August, 10.30am
Starts at 10.30am. Times, prices and tickets are on the organiser's own page.
Listed by Barnoldswick: Holy Trinity · collected 2 Aug
All Age United Holy Communion (opens on Barnoldswick: St Mary le Ghyll)
Barnoldswick: St Mary le Ghyll · Nelson
2 Aug. Sunday 2 August, 10.30am
Starts at 10.30am. Times, prices and tickets are on the organiser's own page.
Listed by Barnoldswick: St Mary le Ghyll · collected 2 Aug
All-Age Holy Communion (opens on Barnoldswick: Holy Trinity)
Barnoldswick: Holy Trinity · Nelson
2 Aug. Sunday 2 August, 10.30am
Every month on the first Sunday of the month.
Listed by Barnoldswick: Holy Trinity · collected 2 Aug
Guided Walk: Discover the Dunes (opens on Lancashire Wildlife Trust)
North Beach Car Park · Lytham St Annes
2 Aug. Sunday 2 August, 10am to 12pm
Starts at 10am to 12pm. Times, prices and tickets are on the organiser's own page.
Listed by Lancashire Wildlife Trust · collected 2 Aug
North Lancashire Wildlife Group - Summer Walk at Heysham Nature Reserve (opens on Lancashire Wildlife Trust)
Meet in the reserve car park, what3words: mashing.raven… · Morecambe
2 Aug. Sunday 2 August, 10.30am to 3.30pm
Visiting main reserve, then landscape strip to the sea wall for botany, butterflies, dragonflies, bush-crickets & other insects & sea birds
Listed by Lancashire Wildlife Trust · collected 2 Aug
Everything on46 more not shown here
The pick of Lancashire
Twelve to start with. Each area above has the full list.
Ashton Gardens
St Annes' restored Victorian gardens a street back from the seafront: rose beds, a galleon climbing frame in the play area and the Pavilion tea room. The calm half of a beach day.
Astley Hall & Park
A startling glass-fronted Tudor hall in a free park with woodland play trails, a walled garden and a pets corner. Chorley's pride, and rightly so.
Avenham & Miller Parks
Two Victorian parks joined at the hip beside the Ribble: a Japanese rock garden, a riverside cafe, a playground sited between the two, and the Easter egg rolling hill. Preston's best free afternoon.
Beacon Country Park
Over 300 acres of woodland, meadow and proper hills on the slopes of Ashurst Beacon, with inclusive play areas and a cafe by the car park. Free in, free parking, and enough path network to tire out anyone.
Blackburn Museum & Art Gallery
A proper old-fashioned free museum in the town centre: Egyptian gallery, natural history cases and paintings upstairs, all doable in an hour. Closed Sundays and Mondays, which catches people out.
Blackpool Illuminations
Six miles of free lights along the Promenade, 4 September 2026 to 3 January 2027. Walk a stretch, ride a lit-up tram, done.
Brockholes Nature Reserve
A nature reserve with a visitor village that floats on the lake - genuinely floats. Easy flat trails, hides, a good playground and free family crafts through the summer holidays.
Brungerley Park & Sculpture Trail
Woodland, riverbank and an old quarry scattered with more than 20 sculptures, a mile from Clitheroe town centre. Turns an ordinary walk into a treasure hunt, and it costs nothing.
Corporation Park
Blackburn's showpiece Victorian park: a triumphal arch at the gate, two lakes with swans, a playground right beside them and a lime-tree avenue climbing the hill. Free, and less than a mile from the town centre.
Happy Mount Park
A proper old-fashioned seaside park: the splash park is the summer draw, with trampolines, adventure golf and a cafe for the flask-and-chips crowd. Pair it with an ice cream on the prom.
Lytham Hall
78 acres of free parkland and woodland around a Georgian hall, with a cafe, seasonal trails and cheap pay-and-display parking. The hall tour is the only ticketed bit, and with kids in tow you can happily skip it.
Rivington Terraced Gardens & Great House Barn
Lord Leverhulme's lost hillside gardens: ruined terraces, tunnels and archways, ornamental lakes and the Pigeon Tower on the skyline, all free and never shut. Brilliant for kids who like exploring, hopeless with a pushchair.