What's on in Cheshire - July 2021

Our guide to the best events in and around Cheshire.

July 1-18
Manchester International Festival
The city’s biggest arts and culture festival returns, bringing together artists from all over the world, using Manchester’s many venues to showcase works of art. Much of the festival is free this year, with many exhibitions in public spaces, including a giant sculpture of Big Ben in Piccadilly Gardens made from 20,000 books. mif.co.uk

July 3rd
Musicals by the Lake
A Night of Musical Theatre with Collabro, winners of Britain’s Got Talent series 8 and special guests, West End stars Sophie Evans & Lauren Samuels. One of the many events in the Tatton Pop up Festival that runs until 29th August
tattonparkpopupfestival.co.uk

July 7-11
Bolesworth International Horse Show
The Dodson & Horrell Bolesworth International Horse Show is welcoming showing classes for the very first time, including the highly competitive Mountain & Moorland Qualifier classes, in the hopes of obtaining a ticket to the Liverpool International Horse Show on New Year’s Eve. bolesworthinternational.com

July 9-11
Foodies Festival
Returning to Tatton Park this summer, Foodies Festival has a huge line-up of culinary stars headlining the weekend, including newly crowned MasterChef winner Tom Rhodes. Other big names include Bake-Off winner Candice Brown and Alex Webb, champion of MasterChef: The Professionals 2020. Visitors can experience food-themed fun such as Chef’s Theatre, Street Food Avenue, a chilli eating competition, children’s cookery school and a huge exhibition of the best food and drink from the North West. foodiesfestival.com

July 15 – 24
Barber of Seville
This production of Rossini’s comic opera will highlight the use of disguise as a means to find confidence, acceptance and status, and the clash of old-fashioned perceptions of femininity colliding with the modern view. The opera will be sung in Italian with specially adapted English surtitles. There will also be two pre-performance talks by the director, Greg Eldridge, who will give an insight into the creation of the piece and the background. clonter.org

July 23-24
Manchester Craft Beer Festival
The brand-new festival makes its debut in Manchester this summer celebrating beer in all forms. The event will be soundtracked by a range of popular DJs, including Craig Charles, Daddy G and Django Django, with more acts set to be announced. manchestercraftbeerfestival.com

July 23-25
CarFest North
CarFest North is back this summer. The event, created by broadcaster Chris Evans, is the biggest family fundraising festival in the UK – collecting more than £16.5 million to date. Held at the Bolesworth Estate, the weekend is packed with activities for every member of the family, including music performances, loud and fast cars and much more. carfest.org

July 23-25
Alice’s Quest for Wonderland: Down the Rabbit Hole with Lewis Carroll
This year marks the 150th anniversary of the publication of Alice’s Adventures Through the Looking Glass by Lewis Carroll. To celebrate, award-winning
Cheshire writer, Lynn Pegler, is shining a spotlight on the author’s life with her new play, performed at Kingsley Community Centre in Frodsham. The play explores the fact behind the fiction of the author, learning about the writer’s life as an Oxford University maths tutor and his relationship with the real Alice, who inspired one of the most popular characters in English Literature. kingsleyplayers.co.uk.

July 28
Funtopia
Fun for all the family, Funtopia is a large children’s festival, touring throughout the summer and will be heading to Blakemere Village. The event is filled with bouncy castles, obstacle course, Nerf games, activity inflatables, an under 5s area, sumo suits, and more. facebook.com/funtopiauk

July 31
The Royal Cheshire Show
The Royal Cheshire County Show is the premier summertime agricultural event in the North West and it returns this summer. With its roots firmly embedded in farming, the event holds many competition classes for cattle, sheep, pigs and dairy goats. A great day out for everyone who wants to experience and celebrate everything great about the countryside. royalcheshireshow.org

Available now

Treasure Trails
This summer, rediscover Chester with a summer stroll around the city on a choice of five themed trails. Following a guided booklet, the trails are a fantastic way to get active with friends and family and enjoying the outdoors. Trails are close to cafés, shops and restaurants, so adventurers can take their time solving the clues and enjoy food and drink breaks. treasuretrails.co.uk

Tickets on sale

Thirty Nights of Festive Lights
The Bolesworth Estate has announced Christmas plans to host 30 nights of festive lights – a beautiful light trail that will illuminate the Cheshire castle and its grounds. The trail, from November 26 to Christmas Eve, will guide families through an enchanted winter wonderland after dark where there will be a rainbow of floodlit trees, lights that twinkle by the lakeside and sparkling walkways with laser-lit bridges. bolesworth.com/christmas

Thirty nights of festive lights will illuminate the Bolesworth Estate this Christmas and tickets are available now (Image: bolesworth.com)

Out now

Feeding the Gods
A thriller, Feeding the Gods, written by best friends, Liz Buxton and Dee Harrison, who grew up in Cheshire, has been released, with five per cent of the cover price donated to the charity, Refuge. The novel follows four friends who meet at a party in the ‘70s and is a tribute to women brought up in the ‘60s and ‘70s and their experiences in the decades of social change that followed. £9.99, elizabethharrisonauthor.com

Plan ahead

Art Fair Cheshire
The Biennial Art Fair Cheshire returns for 2021, taking place at Macclesfield Town Hall from September 23-October 3. The event will feature more than 80 artists and makers across three galleries. Visitors will be able to see and enjoy a range of art mediums and will also be able to buy pieces. Throughout the event, there will be demonstrations where you can watch and listen to artists as they showcase their skill and talks where artists discuss how they form ideas. theartfair.org.uk