Everyman Theatre Festival, Museum of Welsh Life, St Fagan’s, Cardiff

Open-air performances of ‘The Merchant of Venice’ and ‘Rumpelstiltskin’, July 22-August 1. Tel: 01222 5734856.

SCOTLAND

Wonderland ‘98, Aberdeen Exhibition and Conference Centre

Children’s festival, July 25-26, with music, theatre, dance, computers, gadgets, sports, fantasy, fashion and outdoor activities. Tel: 01224 824824.

ENGLAND

Sudeley Castle, Winchcombe, Gloucestershire

The Warwick Courtiers present the story of Elizabeth I and her suitors through narrative, music and dance, July 19 (2pm, 3pm). Tel: 01242 604357.

Ragged School Museum, London E3

Alongside a ‘seaside memories’exhibition, children’s activities are being run on Wednesdays and Thursdays (2-4pm). They include: T-shirt painting, shell picture frames, boat-in-a-bottle, varnished pebbles, sand paintings and postcard-making. Free tickets available from 1pm. Tel: 0181 980 6405.

Oxo Tower Wharf and Riverside Walkway, London SE1

London’s free ‘village fete’, July 19 (1-7pm), part of the three-month Coin Street Festival, features a community carnival parade; country, swing and cajun music from Los Pistoleros; the Cosmic Sausages; and street theatre with The Splott Brothers and Rude Mechanicals’ scenes from ‘A Midsummer Night’s Dream’.Workshops include: kite-making, sculptures and Irish arts with storytelling, whistle- playing andIrish dancing. Tel: 0171 401 2255.

Royal Festival Hall, London SE1

Rhythm Sticks, an international percussion and drumming festival, July 18-26. Children’s events include: drumming with the Adzido Pan African Master Drummers; Rock School with Wet Wet Wet’s Steve Washington; and the Have-A-Go Drum Show with Mark Walker. Tickets: Pounds 3-Pounds 5. Workshop leaders include: Evelyn Glennie, Phil Collins, Trilok Gurtu and Jack DeJohnette. Tel: 0171 960 4242.

Gallery Week

Co-ordinated by Engage (National Association for Gallery Education), about 400 galleries and museums have organised activities mainly on the theme ‘Words and Pictures’. Highlights include: ‘Magic carpet storytelling’ at London’s National Gallery; the production by nine to 11-year-olds of a drama inspired by Gainsborough’s House, Sudbury, Suffolk, July 23-24; and storytelling and drop-in sessions for ages three upwards as part of an interactive exhibition exploring identity through Walsall Museum’s art works. Tel: 0171 278 8382.