Talks, tours, and workshops at the museums in autumn 2025
Talks, tours, workshops and more events take place across the museums throughout the year on a variety of topics – from mindful art workshops to talks and After-Dark Tours!
Here are a few highlights coming in autumn 2025 at Worcester City Art Gallery and Museum and The Commandery.
At Worcester City Art Gallery and Museum
Enjoy weekly creative workshops led by artist Inner Knowings. Covering everything from doodling to origami, these artist-led workshops are the perfect opportunity to try out different creative methods with a focus on mindfulness.
Sessions are free to attend and open to everyone (aimed at adults).
Whether you are a Worcester aficionado or a quiz fiend, this is the night for you. Get your team together and join us for a fun-packed evening hosted by Worcester Life Stories author Sheena Payne-Lunn.
Test your knowledge of The Faithful City; how good is your memory of 1970s petrol stations, historic pubs or local shops? Guaranteed nostalgia and lively banter!
£5 per person; teams of up to 5 people. Buy up to 5 tickets for a team, or single tickets and be matched up with your team-mates on the night.
Glass of wine and nibbles included.
Online booking ends on Thursday 25 September. If you’d like to check availability on Friday 26 September, please call 01905 25371.
Enjoy browsing a range of stalls dotted around the Art Gallery and Museum offering a broad selection of unique and exquisite gift opportunities for your loved ones – or yourself!
Explore the work of local designer-makers and crafts people, each hand-picked for their quality products to help you get prepared for Christmas early.
Browse the fabulous Museum Shop which has an excellent range of cards and gifts, and enjoy morning coffee and cake or lunch in Little Al’s Kitchen at the Balcony Café.
Free entry.
Can we be sure that all the objects in the collection are authentic?
Hear from curator Kerry Whitehouse about some of the fake objects that have been discovered in Worcester City’s Egyptian collection.
Get your friends together on a Friday night as Museum After Hours steps into fantasy this October!
Enjoy music, themed cocktails, and get free entry to the autumn exhibition Designing Terry Pratchett’s Discworld: 30 Years of Paul Kidby’s Illustration.
In an evening inspired by Terry Pratchett’s brilliant Discworld, set foot on the flat planet and take part in the fantasy in ‘The Mended Drum’, Ankh-Morpork’s “reputable disreputable tavern”, at Worcester City Art Gallery and Museum.
Have a drop of scumble and dance to Discworld DJs Le Grande Fromage. Even Rincewind himself may put in an appearance. It’s a splendiferous way to start the weekend!
Free entry (including free entry to the exhibition during the event). No booking needed. Card and cash payments accepted at the bar.
Museum After Hours is aimed at adults, 18+.
Paul Kidby is best known for his art based on Terry Pratchett’s Discworld series of fantasy novels and is celebrated in the exhibition Designing Terry Pratchett’s Discworld: 30 Years of Paul Kidby’s Illustrations.
This talk by our museum curator will take a look behind the scenes of the exhibition, and also delves into Worcester City’s own art collection to show examples of work by other illustrators such as Randolph Caldecott to explore the importance of this wonderful artform.
Please be aware that Paul Kidby is not present for this talk about his work.
The talk takes place at both 2pm and 2.30pm.
£4.50 for the talk; book your spot. If you’d like to visit the exhibition too, advance booking is available online.
It’s the weekend of Worcester’s Victorian Christmas Fayre! 🎄
Step inside the cosy Art Gally and Museum as you leave the chilly outdoors behind. Enjoy browsing a range of stalls dotted around museum, a beautiful Victorian building in itself.
Check out a whole variety of unique and exquisite gift opportunities for your loved ones – or yourself – in the lead-up to Christmas. Explore the work of local designer-makers and crafts people, each hand-picked for their quality products.
Browse the fabulous Museum Shop which has an excellent range of cards and gifts, and enjoy cosy coffee or lunch in Little Al’s Kitchen at the Balcony Café.
Free entry.
At The Commandery
Pikelets: Tots Through Time is The Commandery’s first early years programme designed to encourage little ones to explore, play and learn.
Each week, the session will take place in a new area of the museum and gardens, with the activities tailored to the space. Be a shape detective in the Great Hall, join in a tea party in the Georgian rooms, take part in sensory scavenger hunts in the beautiful walled gardens and much more.
Pikelets: Tots Through Time has been carefully designed for crawlers to pre-school children, with fun activities each week to help develop fine motor skills, counting, play-based learning and creative thinking – all within The Commandery’s unique museum setting.
Sessions end with drink, biscuit and a story.
Facilities include a baby change, lift access, and onsite café Little Al’s at The Commandery, all in a convenient city centre location (WR1 2HU) with parking nearby.
£5 per child (£2.50 per additional sibling).
If you wish to visit the museum after the session, you can enjoy a 50% discount on day admission (£4.50 for adult day ticket instead of £9).
After-dark tours are back at The Commandery for 2025!
Explore one of the oldest buildings in Worcester by torchlight this October…
The Commandery is once again opening its gates on autumn nights for you to discover its ghostly secrets.
Hear about strange sightings and mysterious rumours as you uncover the history of the building in a guided tour with a Halloween twist.
Keep your eyes peeled and make up your own mind about the paranormal activities said to have taken place over the years – if you’re brave enough!
| DATES | TOUR TIMES | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Tuesday 14 October | 6.30pm | 8pm | |
| Thursday 16 October | 6.30pm | 8pm | |
| Tuesday 21 October | 6.30pm | 8pm | |
| Thursday 23 October | 6.30pm | 8pm | |
| Tuesday 28 October | 6.30pm | 8pm | |
| Thursday 30 October | 6.30pm | 8pm | |
| Friday 31 October | 6.30pm | 8pm | 9.30pm |
Author and historian Nathen Amin returns to The Commandery this October.
1483 was a truly turbulent year in English history.
A year of three kings, one infamous coup d’etat, one failed invasion and the curious disappearance of two royal princes – perhaps murdered by their uncle, perhaps not.
Bloodshed and conspiracy darkened every corner of England, as civil war threatened once again to tear the kingdom apart.
Uneasy lies the head that wears a crown.
In this gripping talk, historian Nathen Amin takes us step-by-step through the drama-filled year, exploring the mystery of the Princes in the Tower, the ill-fated rise of Richard III, and the unexpected emergence of the Tudors – consequences we still feel today.
£12. Book your spot.
Hear from medical historian Kevin Goodman in a fascinating talk at The Commandery this autumn.
The body snatchers and grave robbers: their trade was to keep the ever-demanding medical schools supplied with the bodies of the recently deceased. But they weren’t confined to Edinburgh and London. They ranged across the West Midlands including Worcestershire. Discover the secrets behind their trade, the doctors who supported them, and their identities.
£8. Book your spot.
Enjoy!
