What's On

Cambridge has a full calendar of events, festivals and attractions that make it ideal to visit all year round – a destination for all seasons. The city is hard to beat for a weekend away or a longer stay; there is always something to see and do with a choice of activities to satisfy all ages, every budget and interest. 

In the summer months Cambridge is sizzling with al fresco performances of music in the parks and green spaces as part of the annual Summer in the City programme of events. This includes the Children’s Marquee and Comedy Marquee on Jesus Green; Midsummer Fair; and The Big Weekend, three days and nights of free music and family entertainment on Parker’s Piece, including an appearance by the Olympic Torch this year.

The Cambridge Shakespeare Festival is an eight-week tour-de-force of Elizabethan drama performed in the idyllic and unique settings of Cambridge University’s private gardens, where the audience can picnic on a summer’s evening before enjoying theatre at its best.

In April and November, literary festival Wordfest brings authors and literary luminaries to Cambridge in a programme of lively and friendly events across all genres. The University of Cambridge Festival of Ideas, in October, is the only free arts, humanities and social sciences festival in the UK and packed with talks, worskhops and performances for all the family.