What's on in Blackpool

The pub quizzes, craft fairs, and village fêtes the big sites miss — here's what's on around Blackpool.

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Cinema

Cinema-The Sheep Detectives

In this witty, new breed of mystery, George (Hugh Jackman) is a shepherd who reads detective novels to his beloved sheep every night, assuming they can’t possibly understand. But when a mysterious incident disrupts life on the farm, the sheep realise they must become the detectives. As they follow the clues and investigate human suspects, they prove that even sheep can be brilliant crime-solvers.

Fri 24 Jul12:00The Flavel Cafe(2.7mi)

via The Flavel Cafe

Community

Around £3

Slapton Picklers

Slapton Picklers Friday 4.00pm to 5.30pm £3 per session Pickleball is great fun, sociable and addictive. Imagine a badminton court with a tennis net and oversized tennis bats (paddles) used to hit a large plastic golf practice ball … and complicated scoring. That’s Pickleball! All are welcome – indeed, many Slapton Picklers are beginners. Contact: Steve Collier Email: moc.d 1784425811 uolci 1784425811 @15cd 1784425811 s 1784425811

Fri 24 Jul17:00Slapton Village Hall(2.5mi)

via Slapton Village HallLocal gem

Children & Family

Family Social Event Dartmouth Youth Group

Family social event. Rounders, hot dogs and Dartmouth junior rugby

Fri 24 Jul18:00Coronation Park(2.9mi)

via Coronation Park

Live MusicTheatre

Vox Theatre Company Presents The Dream

This summer, VOX Theatre Company invites audiences to step into a world of love, laughter, music and magic with The Dream, a fresh, new, two hander, adaptation inspired by Shakespeare’s beloved A Midsummer Night’s Dream. Set beneath a moonlit sky where anything seems possible, The Dream follows a cast of lovers, dreamers, fairies and fools as they stumble through a night of enchantment, confusion and unexpected transformation. Along the way, hearts are lost and found, identities are challenged, and the ordinary world gives way to wonder. Created by South Devon’s own VOX Theatre Company, The Dream brings professional theatre, live music and a touch of magic to venues across the region. Blending Shakespeare’s timeless story with VOX’s signature style of visual storytelling, original music and playful humour, the production is a celebration of creativity, connection and the beauty that emerges when we truly see one another. Suitable for seasoned theatre-goers and those discovering live performance for the first time, this joyful production promises an evening of laughter, imagination and theatrical magic. Join us and discover why, even after four hundred years, Shakespeare’s dream still speaks to us all. Blackawton Village Hall, Friday 24th July 7pm (Bar open from 6pm)

Fri 24 Jul20:00Blackawton Village Hall(3.5mi)

via Blackawton Village Hall

Workshops & Classes

Garden border design workshop at Coleton Fishacre

This after hours workshop will walk guests through the key stages of creating a successful border, from the first spark of an idea through to the final planting. During the workshop, Coleton Fishacre's Head Gardener will take guests around selected areas of the garden, highlighting the fundamental principles behind good border design. This will include looking at structure, form, and scale; understanding how colour, texture, and seasonality work together. You'll look at how a border sits within its wider landscape and the importance of soil, aspect, and microclimate, and how these practical factors shape the choices we make. As you move through the garden, take a closer look at Coleton Fishacre's garden borders to understand what works well, what challenges the team faced, and how they’ve adapted designs over time. There'll be the chance to discussion plant selections and the practical steps involved in bringing a new border to life, from planning and preparation to planting and long‑term maintenance. The workshop will finish with light refreshments, including one of Coleton's signature cocktails on the terrace. The workshop is designed to be informative, approachable, and rooted in real horticultural practice, giving guests the confidence to apply these principles in their own gardens while gaining insight into how the team design and manage borders at Coleton Fishacre.

Fri 24 Jul20:00Coleton Fishacre(3.9mi)

via Coleton Fishacre

Cinema

Cinema-Disclosure Day

If you found out we weren’t alone, if someone showed you, proved it to you, would that frighten you? This summer, the truth belongs to eight billion people. We are coming close to … Disclosure Day. Cast Emily Blunt Josh O’Connor Colin Firth Eve Hewson Colman Domingo Directed by Steven Spielberg

Fri 24 Jul20:30The Flavel Cafe(2.7mi)

via The Flavel Cafe

Live Music

Steam Packet, Kingswear-Live Music Chris Thomas

Live Music from Chris Thomas

Fri 24 Jul20:30Steam Packet Inn(2.7mi)

via Steam Packet Inn

Markets & Fairs

Darty Market

Variety of independent stalls including arts and crafts.

Sat 25 Jul11:00Dartmouth Farmers Market(2.6mi)

via Dartmouth Farmers Market

Festivals & Events

Newcomen Steam Festival-Brunel's Atmospheric Caper

“Brunel’s Atmospheric Caper” follows Isambard Kingdom Brunel as he backs one of the strangest railways ever built along the South Devon coast from Exeter to Newton Abbot and on to Plymouth. Instead of locomotives, trains were hauled by a hidden vacuum based power system in a continuous pipe beside the line, celebrated as the future of high speed travel. Contemporary reports praised its smooth running, yet within months the experiment was quietly abandoned. Was the problem leaky valves, bad specifications, hostile directors, collapsing railway finances – or really rats eating the tallow that sealed the vacuum? The talk pieces together the evidence but lets the audience weigh the myths for themselves. Along the way, it opens a window on mid Victorian technology, boardroom politics and the cult of the “hero engineer”, asking what this bold failure reveals about Brunel’s genius – and his blind spots.

Sat 25 Jul11:30The Flavel Cafe(2.7mi)

via The Flavel Cafe

Community

Wheels and Wonder

Craft and activity drop in session. All ages welcome

Sat 25 Jul11:30The Flavel Cafe(2.7mi)

via The Flavel Cafe

Children & FamilyTheatre

Summer of Play at Coleton Fishacre

Summer at sea begins here. Embark on a hands-on adventure packed with challenges and problem solving games. Explore sensory moments, get creative with building or spend lazy summer days in the hammocks and on the swing with a view at the sailors hangout on the coast. By the house, there's 1920's vintage games, from Battle Ships to Ludo and a giant version of Peggity - ideal for all the family. This year Pokémon joins Summer of Play, and at Coleton Fishacre there's a free Pokémon trail sheet (while stocks last) available to collect on the day, with a sticker for each property you visit. Summer of Play activities are free (normal admission applies).

Sat 25 Jul11:30Coleton Fishacre(3.9mi)

via Coleton Fishacre

Community

100 years of Coleton Fishacre

In honour of Coleton Fishacre's 100 years, there'll be a series of things to see and do over this year. Discover a pop-up photographic exhibition of archive images inside and out, documenting the building of the house and gardens. Join a guided walk with the Head Gardener on selected dates, taking a look at how the team garden for nature. In the autumn there's the return of the Earth Photo 2026 exhibition with its contemporary imagery, and to finish the year in true 1920's style, a Christmas party with a bang. For full details on individual events, visit the Events page.

Sat 25 Jul11:30Coleton Fishacre(3.9mi)

via Coleton Fishacre

Festivals & Events

Newcomen Steam Festival-The Engine That Changed the World

Why is Thomas Newcomen’s 1712 steam engine regarded as one of the most important inventions in history? This talk explains how Newcomen and his assistant, John Calley, created the world’s first successful commercial steam engine, making deep coal mining possible and laying the foundations of the Industrial Revolution. Internationally recognised model engineer David Hulse, whose painstaking research into Newcomen’s engine spans decades in collaboration with the Newcomen Society, has constructed a remarkable 1/16-scale working model of the engine. Drawing on this research, David will explain how the engine operated, why its revolutionary design changed the course of engineering, and the ingenuity required to recreate one of history’s most significant machines in miniature. His collection of 8 working atmospheric steam engine models is on permanent display in the nearby Dartmouth Museum, where visitors can explore Newcomen’s pioneering achievement in greater depth. Speaker: David Hulse David Hulse is one of the pre-eminent model makers of our age, and his meticulously researched working models of eighteenth century atmospheric steam engines have gained international recognition.

Sat 25 Jul13:30The Flavel Cafe(2.7mi)

via The Flavel Cafe

Festivals & Events

Newcomen Steam Festival-Paddle Steamer Kingswear Castle

: Built in 1924 Kingswear Castle ran up and down the Dart between Dartmouth and Totnes until withdrawn in 1965. After two decades laying idle she was returned to service in 1985 based at the Historic Dockyard at Chatham running trips on the Rivers Medway and Thames. During this time, she visited many piers along the way including Putney, Tower Pier London, Greenwich, Gravesend, Southend, Whitstable, Rochester, Chatham and Strood. In 2013 she returned to the Dart on long terms charter to the Dartmouth Steam Railway and River Boat Company. She has just completed a major rebuild. John Megoran: No one knows more about the Kingswear Castle than John. A native of Weymouth, where paddle steamers still ran when he was a child, John returned Kingswear Castle to service in 1985. He combined the roles of general manager and principal captain for all the Medway operational years and oversaw her return to a new life in her old home waters in 2013. He remains chairman of the Paddle Steamer Kingswear Castle Trust.

Sat 25 Jul14:30The Flavel Cafe(2.7mi)

via The Flavel Cafe

Festivals & Events

Newcomen Steam Festival-Thomas Newcomen

Thomas Newcomen’s great-grandfather was a Cambridge don and contemporary of Francis Bacon who brought modern education to Dartmouth, and the Newcomen family’s Nonconformist convictions often put them at odds with the town’s politics. Tutored near Kingsbridge, where he met his future wife Hannah, Thomas inherited properties in Dartmouth and Kingswear and later acquired others in Bovey Tracey and Ilsington. He worked first as a hook-maker trading to Newfoundland, then as an ironmonger linking the Severn Valley, London, and the Devon and Cornwall mines, drawing on his Baptist network for both trade and an introduction to the experimental philosophy circle around Robert Boyle. In Cornwall he encountered the problem of mine drainage and, with the plumber and glazier John Calley, set out to solve it. As his “Fire Engine” grew into a major enterprise, keeping Thomas away on long business travels, Hannah’s capable management let the family’s ironmonger and apothecary business thrive, giving Newcomen the freedom to change the world. Speaker James Greener is an authority on the life and work of Thomas Newcomen and is changing the way we think about him. He combines an international career in automotive technology and renewable energy with a long-standing passion for the history of steam power. Based in China, he advises the automotive industry on battery technology while researching Thomas Newcomen’s life and legacy.

Sat 25 Jul15:30The Flavel Cafe(2.7mi)

via The Flavel Cafe

Live Music

Stokeley Farm Shop-Live Music

Mia Eleana Enjoy her smooth, smoky voice bringing some jazz and soul sounds South Hams brewery taproom with full bar Wood-Fired Pizza’s serving: Saturday 12 – 8pm Music from 7pm

Sat 25 Jul20:00South Hams Brewery & Taphouse(3.7mi)

via South Hams Brewery & Taphouse

Dance

Saturday Disco

DJOC from Caple Sound&Light will be playing all the top hits from the 60’s up to today’s top 40. Vistors welcome, Membership required if you become a regular visitor.

Sat 25 Jul20:30Dartmouth Angling & Boating Association(2.6mi)

via Dartmouth Angling & Boating Association

See what else is on

Event details on Near Here are aggregated from third-party sources and may change. Always verify times, location, availability, and any price directly with the organiser before travelling. See Terms.

Venues with events near Blackpool

A few local places from the listings above, all within three miles.

The Flavel Cafe2.7 miles away Slapton Village Hall2.5 miles away Dartmouth Farmers Market2.6 miles away

More about Blackpool

Devon, England

Blackpool is in Devon, with local places and neighbouring communities close by. Its events calendar is usually shaped by practical local spaces such as Blackpool, rather than big set-piece attractions. Near Here brings Blackpool events into one place so you can see what is coming up without a long search. Check the listing details before you go, especially times, booking notes and access information.

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