King George's Hall is a big concert hall in the centre of Blackburn, mostly given over to music and comedy for grown-ups. The family draw is the Christmas show in the Concert Hall, The Wizard of Oz from 11 to 31 December, suitable for all ages.
Beyond that, family shows are occasional: Dragons and Dinosaurs Live is booked for 3 June 2027. The same venues team sells tickets for Darwen Library Theatre, which has the October half-term children's shows, so it is worth looking at both.
What it costs: The Wizard of Oz (11 to 31 December) is £14.50 to £22.50 a ticket, with no separate child price listed.
Blackburn's Christmas panto, rated suitable for all ages by the venue. Nearly every show is at midday or 4pm, and from 28 December at 1pm, which suits nap schedules better than a 7pm curtain up. The only evening show is opening night.
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Blackburn's biggest green space: 480 acres with adventure playgrounds, woodland trails and a visitor centre in the old Victorian stables. Free to walk in and £2 at most to park, and it absorbs a whole afternoon without anyone asking for much money.
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.
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.
24,000 square feet in the middle of Blackburn, with go karts, bumper cars and laser tag alongside the climbing frames. Not really soft play any more, more an indoor funfair.
Trampolines, a ninja course and an inflatable obstacle run, with a foam-padded soft play area for the ones too small for all that. Shut on Tuesdays and Thursdays in term time.
Darwen's independent play centre with a sensory room, open five days a week in term time and every day in the holidays. Somewhere to sit that is not a plastic bench.
One email a week: what is on this weekend within a sensible drive, and the places worth booking before they go.