Free Workshops and Activities
Book your FREE place on one of the Workshops taking place in the week before or during SO Festival 2026. Many of the Workshops and Activities are also ‘drop in’.
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AI WORKSHOP
AI in Schools
Tuesday 9 June 2026, 17:00–20:00 | Mablethorpe Library | Suitable for all ages. FREE, but places must be booked in advance.
The AI Workshop introduces participants to core concepts such as machine learning, algorithms, and data‑driven decision‑making. Through simple coding challenges and interactive demonstrations, learners explore how AI models are created and tested. The session encourages curiosity, problem‑solving, and digital awareness, offering a friendly entry point into the technologies shaping the future.
AI in Schools delivers engaging, hands‑on workshops designed to build confidence and understanding around Artificial Intelligence, coding, and the evolution of modern technology. Their mission is to make AI literacy accessible and inspiring for learners of all ages, using practical programming activities that demystify how AI systems think, learn, and operate.
MAKE SOME NOISE
Noise Academy
Friday 5 June 2026, 17:00–20:00, Embassy Theatre, Skegness. FREE, but places must be booked in advance. Ages 14+
Make Some Noise invites participants into the world of DJing, beatboxing, and sound technology. Using professional DJ decks, microphones, and effects, groups experiment with mixing, rhythm, tempo, transitions and vocal sound design. With expert tutor support, participants build both creative and technical skills, working towards a mini live showcase of the music they’ve produced.
Noise Academy is a Lincolnshire‑based music education organisation specialising in DJing, music production, and creative performance skills. Their tutors are practising artists and educators who support young people in building confidence, creativity, and technical skills through hands‑on music‑making.
URBAN SPORTS ZONE
XSite Skatepark and School’s Out
Thursday 11 June 2026, 16:30–19:30, XSite Skatepark, Skegness. Ages 7 to 16. You can either book in advance or drop in, but places are limited per session. FREE
Urban Sports Zone transforms XSite Skatepark into a lively challenge course of fast, fun mini‑games inspired by street sport culture. Groups rotate through target‑based football and basketball stations, creative physical challenges, and skateboarding tasters. A social zone, including 3v3 football and drop‑in activities, creates a festival‑style atmosphere where families can stay, play, and explore at their own pace.
School’s Out is a community‑focused sports and wellbeing programme run by Magna Vitae, providing inclusive opportunities for young people across East Lindsey. Their work centres on building confidence, physical activity and positive social experiences. XSite Skatepark partners with them to offer authentic, street‑inspired environments for youth engagement.
Booking is not essential, you can just drop in. You can also book a free place:Click here for the booking form.
VISUAL ARTS WORKSHOP
Rose Visual Artists
Monday 8 June 2026, 16:30, 17:30, 18:30 | 1 hour| The Colonnade, Sutton on Sea. Ages 16+. FREE, but places must be booked in advance.
This visual arts workshop uses zine‑making, drawing, and collage to explore identity, ideas, and lived experience. Participants learn simple DIY publishing techniques and create their own zine expressing what matters to them — from everyday moments to wider social issues. The session introduces zines as tools for communication, activism, and personal storytelling, encouraging authentic self‑expression grounded in community.
Rose is a socially engaged artist, storyteller, and community organiser whose work nurtures connection, resilience, and belonging through creativity, nature, and personal narrative. She specialises in creating radically inclusive, welcoming spaces where people feel empowered to express themselves.
CIRCUS SKILLS
Creative Heights
Friday 12 June Tower Gardens Steps 1, Skegness 14:30-15:30 Fully Accessible Session FREE, must be booked in advance 16:30-17:30 FREE drop-in sessions
Saturday 13 June Tower Gardens Steps 1, Skegness 12:30-13:00 and 16:30-17:30 FREE drop-in sessions
Sunday 14 June Queen’s Park Car Park, Mablethorpe 12:30-17:00 FREE drop-in sessions
Creative Heights offers a welcoming, hands-on circus experience where people of all abilities can try aerial acrobatics, hula hooping, juggling and more, supported by specialist instructors using safe counterweight techniques. To prioritise access, Friday sessions are reserved for participants with disabilities, including those needing the hoist, and can be booked online. Saturday and Sunday are open drop-in sessions for everyone.
Creative Heights are a contemporary circus organisation dedicated to making circus accessible to every body. Through dynamic workshops, outdoor performances, and a blend of aerial and ground-based circus arts, we create inclusive spaces where people of all ages, abilities, and backgrounds can experience the magic of movement and performance. Rooted in the ethos of “Circus for Every BODY,” our work redefines what circus can be—joyful, empowering, and for everyone.
The sessions are all drop-in apart from a Fully Accessible Session on Friday 12 June Tower Gardens Steps 1, Skegness 14:30-15:30, this must be booked in advance
Friday 12 June Tower Gardens Steps 1, Skegness 16:30-17:30 FREE drop-in sessions
Saturday 13 June Tower Gardens Steps 1, Skegness 12:30-13:00 and 16:30-17:30 FREE drop-in sessions
Sunday 14 June Queen’s Park Car Park, Mablethorpe 12:30-17:00 FREE drop-in sessions
TO THE MOON AND BACK
Barmpot Theatre
To The Moon and Back is a miniature puppet‑show‑in‑a‑suitcase following a determined barn owl on a magical journey across fields and even the Moon. With beautifully crafted puppets, gentle clowning, and original music, the show offers a warm family experience. Alongside the performance, participants create an eco‑owl with Oxcombe Pottery, which can be transformed into a wildflower‑seed sculpture or kept as a decorative piece.
These sessions are for schools only.
Barmpot Theatre is an award‑winning Lincolnshire company known for high‑quality family storytelling rooted in puppetry, original music, and accessible performance. They specialise in bringing engaging, heartfelt theatre to rural communities and non‑traditional spaces, championing stories that reflect local heritage and imagination.
Sessions for schools only. Any schools interested, please email sofestival@mvtlc.org
AUDIO TALES
Self-Guided Trail
Follow the trail across the fields, fens and forests of Lincolnshire, discovering QR codes and unlocking the rich stories and sounds of East Lindsey!
Involving over 60 creatives from across the local area, from writers and actors, to illustrators and musicians, Audio Tales is an innovative, interactive arts project, that will take you on a journey across our county’s rich past, present and future.
GAMES, WORKSHEETS and BOOKS
Lower Foyer and Courtyard Café in the Embassy Theatre, Skegness
Visit the Lower Foyer and Courtyard Café in the Embassy Theatre, Skegness and find a selection of board games, SO Festival activity sheets (quizzes, colouring, word searches, etc.) and books.
You can also pick up a choice of activity sheets from the Festival Information Points in Skegness and Mablethorpe.
