What’s on
There's always something on. Make sure you're there for it.
Soapbox karts flying down Telford Town Park, flames and live music filling the Ironbridge Gorge, hot air balloons lighting up the August sky and the candlelit streets of a Victorian Christma, Telford’s events calendar runs all year and always delivers more than you expect.
The year builds its own rhythm here. Spring brings colour and community to the streets with St George’s Day celebrations in Telford Town Park. Telford Walk Week follows, a week of guided walks and outdoor activities exploring the trails, towns and landscapes that make Telford one of the greenest destinations in Britain. Early summer ignites the Gorge when Embers Fire Festival brings world-class fire cooking, live music and festival atmosphere to Dale End Park over the May Bank Holiday weekend, with the Iron Bridge as its backdrop and the River Severn as its soundtrack. It’s one of the most distinctive food and music events in the Midlands.
Summer fills the Telford Town Park QEII Arena with music festivals, food events and the spectacular Krazy Races, the UK’s largest touring soapbox derby, free to attend and genuinely unmissable for families and spectators alike. The park’s amphitheatre comes into its own across the summer months too, with grassroots music, live performance and outdoor entertainment making the most of one of the finest green spaces in the country. In September, the Ironbridge Gorge World Heritage Festival opens up the UNESCO site with heritage walks and talks, live street entertainment and a craft and food market right in the shadow of the Iron Bridge.
Just outside Newport, Shropshire Petal Fields transforms a working flower farm into one of the region’s most photographed summer events, with rows of delphiniums, cornflowers and sunflowers drawing visitors for woodland walks and live music evenings.
Autumn brings spooky season to life across Telford’s zoos and attractions, seasonal favourites that return year after year and sell out fast. November belongs to Telford Day, a community celebration that moves to a different location each year, taking entertainment, activities and local pride to a new corner of Telford every time. The run into winter is marked by Telford Festive Gardens, which transforms Telford Town Park into an illuminated seasonal landscape, and the Telford Theatre pantomime, one of Telford's most beloved annual traditions. And for something truly magical, the Telford Steam Railway Polar Express brings a classic Christmas experience to life on a vintage steam train, a seasonal favourite that captures the imagination of children and adults alike. Book early; it sells out fast. Anchoring the festive calendar, the Victorian Christmas at Blists Hill remains the most atmospheric seasonal event in the Borough, costumed characters and streets by candlelight make the modern world feel genuinely distant.
Just beyond Telford’s edge, RAF Cosford’s Air Show and Weston Park’s packed calendar are both a short drive away, reason enough to extend a visit by a day.
Whatever time of year you come, check the calendar first. And leave a day flexible, Telford has a habit of surprising you.
Embers Fire Festival and Telford Krazy Races
World-class fire cooking and live music in the Ironbridge Gorge at Embers, and soapbox chaos at Krazy Races in Telford Town Park, two of the most distinctive events on the calendar and both worth planning a trip around.
Ironbridge Gorge World Heritage Festival
An annual September celebration of the UNESCO World Heritage Site, free heritage walks, live entertainment and a craft and food market with the iron bridge as the backdrop.
Festive Telford
Telford Festive Gardens, the Polar Express, Telford Day, the Victorian Christmas at Blists Hill and the Telford Theatre pantomime together make Telford one of the warmest places in the Midlands to spend the autumn and winter months.
