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lancaster.gov.uk the website for Lancaster City Council

Events

Our events programme has something for everyone.

And if nothing here catches your eye right now, why not follow us on Facebook or Instagram for all the latest updates?

Walks & Tours
Portrait of Elinor Godsalve, a Quaker woman in simple but elegant white clothing in a georgian style, with the slogan 'Story Tours, Everyone has a story...' underneath..
STORY TOURS

Everyone has a story...  Our unique Story Tours let you discover our local history in a brand new way, through the personal stories of the people who lived it. 

Join our expert tour guides and knowledgeable museum team to explore the city of Lancaster, its museums, and the stories of Lancastrians through the centuries - from Roman warriors to lighthouse keepers, transported female convicts to a 70s gay commune which fought for a better world.

With a variety of tours running between March and October, indoors and out, there's something for everyone. Many of our tours are family friendly too!

Advance booking is recommended to guarantee your place.

Booking options include:

Download the full programme for 2025 (PDF, 5.7MB)

Or read on for details of the next few tours...

Between the Land and the Sea
poster with black and white photo of lighthouse keeper Janet Raby. She's quite old in this picture, dressed in a warm coat and tam o'shanter hat, holding a basket and small fishing net made from a forked stick with netting attached.

Indoor guided tour, 1 hour+.

Tour the Maritime Museum galleries and hear about those who lived on the edge between land and sea: the female lighthouse keepers, those who dared to cross the sands, Viking settlers, and some of Lancaster’s wealthiest 18th century merchants. These guided tours begin before the Maritime Museum opens to the public on a Saturday, so you'll have exclusive access.

Dates

  • Saturday 6 September @ 11am & 11:30am

Tickets 

Location & Accessibilty

This tour takes place inside Lancaster Maritime Museum. All areas included in the tour are accessible via the lift, and there's a blue badge parking space in front of the museum. There are two gender-neutral toilets on the ground floor, one of which is fully accessible, with a button activated door and emergency cord as well as baby-changing facilities.

Going to Botany Bay: Lancaster's Transported Women
poster with same info as this page and watercolour of a woman with curly dark hair piled on her head and a white muslin regency style dress with blue trim.

Outdoor walking tour, 1.5 hours.

Join local historian Naomi Parsons for a unique historical walking tour. Travelling around the city centre to the sites of their crimes, you'll explore the stories of six of the Lancaster women who were sentenced to transportation to Australia. Did they flourish or fail on the other side of the world?

Dates

  • Tuesday 9 September @ 11am

Tickets 

Location & Accessibilty

Starting from Lancaster City Museum, this outdoor walking tour will take you around the city centre. Please get in touch with any questions about the accessibility of the route: lancastercitymuseum@lancaster.gov.uk. 

Yards, Courts and Alleys - Conditions in Victorian Lancaster
poster with same info as this page and black and white photo of a woman in simple victorian dress standing at the front door of a small stone terraced hose.

Outdoor walking tour, 1.5 hours.

Using Richard Owen's 'Health of Towns' report as a guide, local historian Naomi Parsons will lead you down Lancaster's lesser used thoroughfares to discover the dreadful conditions that families lived in and the changes that helped to overcome the epidemics that plagued them.

Dates

  • Tuesday 7 October @ 11am

Tickets 

Location & Accessibilty

Starting from Lancaster City Museum, this outdoor walking tour will take you around the city centre. Please get in touch with any questions about the accessibility of the route: lancastercitymuseum@lancaster.gov.uk. 

Transatlantic Slave Trade Walking Tour
poster with same info as this page and a photo of a silver seal matrix with an embossed design of the head of a black person in profile.

Outdoor walking tour, 1.5 hours.

This Black History Month, join expert guide Eleanor Levin on a city centre tour starting from Lancaster Maritime Museum, at the heart of the historical Port of Lancaster. Explore the city's history of involvement in the triangular slave trade, and the wider business of slavery - with a focus on the year 1764.

Dates

  • Saturday 18 October @ 11am

Tickets 

Location & Accessibilty

Starting from Lancaster Maritime Museum, this outdoor walking tour will take you around the city centre. Please get in touch with any questions about the accessibility of the route: lancastermaritimemuseum@lancaster.gov.uk. 

Lancaster: A Stinky History
Graphic with same info as this page and a photo of mannequin at the City Museum, representing a man sitting on an outdoor toilet. He has his trousers round his ankles and appears to have run out of paper.

Indoor guided tour, 1 hour.

An adventure designed for lovers of all things stinky. Smell your way from the stench of the fish market to the vile Victorian thunder box! This fun Family-Friendly guided tour experience will test both your senses and your stomach.

Dates

  • Wednesday 29 October @ 11am, 1pm, 2pm
  • Thursday 30 October @ 11am, 1pm, 2pm

Tickets 

Location & Accessibilty

This tour takes place on the upper floor of Lancaster City Museum. A stairlift is available for wheelchairs or anyone with limited mobility. 

Finds Days
Photo of a gold ring with decorative scrollwork on the outside and an inscription running round the inside including the words 'my affection'.
Whittington Poesy Ring

Did you know that thousands of archaeological objects are discovered by ordinary people every year? 

Have you found something while metal detecting, beach-combing, mudlarking, or just gardening or walking the dog? 

Finds Liaison Officer Theo Muscillo will be visiting Lancaster City Museum several times this year:

  • Friday 18 April
  • Friday 20 June
  • Friday 15 August
  • Friday 31 October 

Bring your finds and see if you can uncover more information! If you are bringing an object with you, please email theo.muscillo@lancashire.gov.uk to arrange a time. Appointments will be in the Education Room, with access from New Street, behind the Museum.

Theo will also be upstairs in the museum from 12:30 to 2:15pm. You can drop in to handle some finds, learn how to look up objects found in the local area, and pick up activity sheets for kids. 

This event is part of the Portable Antiquities Scheme. You can find out more at finds.org.uk.  

Special Events
Graphic with same info as this page and picture of trading card with red wax seal logo..
Live Bonds of Time Trading Card Game Play Sessions

Lancaster City Museum

  • Saturday 23 August, 10:30am - 4pm

Come and try out the new Bonds of Time historical trading card game in a live game play session at Lancaster City Museum. No need to book, just drop in!

This session will be held in the City Museum's Education Room - access from New Street, behind the museum, opposite the Journey Social cafe.

Graphic with Heritage Open Day logo and picture of activity sheet for making cutout paper model of small stone cottage.
Heritage Open Days

Visit the Cottage Museum for FREE on Heritage Open Weekends 2025.

  • Saturday 13th & Sunday 14th September
  • Saturday 20th & Sunday 21st September

Open 1 - 4 pm.

This year's theme is architecture, so we've got a special 'Make Your Own Mini-Cottage' activity sheet for visitors to take away too!

Public Talks
Photo of a small crab on a sea anemone
Marine Conservation Society

September - June.

Come along to Lancaster Maritime Museum on the second Wednesday of every month for fascinating talks from the Marine Conservation Society. Everyone is welcome and there’s no need to book, just drop in.

  • £4 requested cash donation to the society. (No card payments.*)
  • All talks begin at 7:30pm.

The society is taking a break for the summer, but we expect talks to resume in September. Check back here for updates, or visit the MCS Lancashire Facebook Page or the MCS Lancashire website.

*The Maritime Museum Shop is open during these talks and you are very welcome to make purchases using either cash or cards. However the £4 donation goes directly to the MCS and can only be accepted in cash.

Friends group logo.
Friends of Lancaster City Museum

Drop in to Lancaster City Museum for regular lunchtime lectures organised by the Friends of Lancaster City Museum. Everyone is welcome and there’s no need to book.

  • £2 charge for non-members.
  • All talks are held at 1pm in the City Museum’s education room. The entrance is on New Street at the back of the museum. (If you can’t find it, just ask at the front desk.)

Visit the Friends of Lancaster City Museum Facebook page for details of upcoming talks.

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