This weekend: A Day at the Lake family festival at Rudyard Lake

Rudyard Lake in Staffordshire is set to turn back the clocks and return to the place of recreation and pleasure which it was in the late 1800s. Organised by one of our favourite family festival makers, Wild Rumpus, pleasure seekers can expect the very best in outdoor arts and performance. Akin to last year’s The Lost Carnival which was organised by the same team, A Day at the Like is a circus-meets-immersive-theatre show. Simply turn up and stroll around taking in spectacles, fine food and craft beer, donkey, train and boat rides and much more in the forest and open spaces that surround this two and a half-mile-long lake. Highlights of the programme include tightrope walking and a floating stage featuring music from the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra Ensemble as well as ‘dry land’ synchronised swimming by Yorkshire Life Aquatic, pictured. Look out for walking performers, storytellers and marching bands. There will be a Victorian Bather’s Juggling Show and if you are lucky, you might catch a glimpse of the famous Rudyard Lake mermaids, accompanied by sea-shanty-singing sailors. Rudyard Lake was previously known as the Blackpool of the Potteries and became one of the most popular day-trip destinations in the region after the North Staffordshire Railway opened in 1849.

We are lucky enough to have a family ticket (up to 2 adults and 3 children) to give away to A Day at the Lake on Saturday 30 April. To be in with a chance of winning, simply sign up to our mailing list in the top right hand corner of our homepage (don’t worry, we don’t share emails with anyone else) and email competitions [at] ManchesterWire [dot] co [dot] uk with your name, age and Twitter handle. Please write ‘A Day at the Lake’ competition in the email subject line. Competition closes at midnight on Monday 25 April 2016.

This competition is now closed. 

Sat 30 Apr – Mon 2 May, Rudyard Lake, Staffordshire ST13 8XB, 11am-9pm, £14 (adv adult), £7 child. Under 3s free, additional charges for rides and boat trips, www.dayatthelake.org.uk