For many, the summer holidays of childhood bring about fond memories in the sun, playing with friends and family and time away from school that seemed to stretch out endlessly across the summer days.
22 June – 6 September 2026
This year York Castle Museum is capturing the essence of ‘grand days out’ and celebrating iconic summers across two different centuries. Following the breadth of the museum’s social history collection, Victorian Galas and the Swinging 60s are the programme’s key focus with games, crafts and seasonal decorations providing nostalgia and summer fun for visitors.
The York Gala’s inaugural event in June 1859 was so successful with concerts, circus entertainment, hot air balloons, fairground rides and flower displays, that it became a staple of the York summer season for 60 years.
Inspired by Victorian summer festivals
Drawing inspiration from these Victorian summer festivals, York Castle Museum invites visitors of all ages to experience the museum magic every day from June right through to September.
Travel like a Victorian in the ‘Last Stop Before Kirkgate’, created by Novo Theatre, an immersive experience replicating a nineteenth century coaching inn and arrival into York.
Make your own hot air balloon
Starting on 25 July and running across all Saturdays throughout August, you can make your own paper hot air balloons to add to the display and other have a go at paper-based creations in guided workshops which are included in general admission.”
Kirkgate will be colourful and fun, dressed with seasonal flowers and bunting, and boasting an update to the simulated day-to-night cycle. Exclusively for summer 2026, York Castle Museum has collaborated with Field Studios to produce new and improved soundscapes and projections, creating an atmosphere of dreamy summer days.
The shops, which are modelled after real York businesses, will contain new summer-themed items for everyone to explore. Visitors can talk to shopkeepers and Kirkgate residents and learn about the history of the Victorian street and its contents.
Take a prison break
Visitors are invited to take a break everyday life and enjoy the Exercise Yard which will offer a range of outdoor games and activities suitable for all ages, for families, or adults to release their inner child.
Other exhibitions, such as the Secrets of Dress, an exploration of the history of fashion, and the York Castle Prison, presenting the building’s original use as a Debtor’s Prison, will also be open to explore every day.