What's on at the Museum
As well as a six-acre site and over 20 heritage buildings to explore, we have a varied and creative programme of events and activities throughout the year.
We put details of all events on this page and it is added to regularly.
Farm / Mill / Bake by Tessa Bunney
OPEN NOW until Monday 5 May 2025
For over 30 years, Tessa Bunney has documented rural life through her photography. From hill farmers near her home in the North York Moors to Icelandic puffin hunters, from Romanian nomadic shepherds to Lincolnshire flower farmers, her work reflects on the relationships between people, work and the land.
We chatted to Tessa about the exhibition – you can read the interview here.
Free to visit (this exhibition does not require a Museum ticket). Open Saturday to Thursday from 10am to 5pm (4pm in March), closed Fridays.
A selection of photos from FARM / MILL / BAKE are also on display in the Museum’s ‘threshing barn’ until 30 November 2025. A valid Museum pass is required.
This exhibition has been part-funded by the Farming in Protected Landscapes Fund (administered by the North York Moors National Park Authority) as part of a wider project to raise awareness about grain production and consumption among the farming community as well as the general public.
Making a Meal of it
OPEN NOW until Sunday 30 November 2025
From the humblest cottage bakers, to the farmers and growers, how our ancestors fed themselves is a story of hard graft. Join us on a tantalising journey through the resilience, innovation and culinary creativity of the people of the past. Behind every bite and morsel, there is a story.
Discover… the story of the Sonley bakers from Kirkbymoorside, baking recipes of Museum founder Hannah Crosland, old beer brewers and bottlers of Ryedale, pig, poultry and beekeeping of the past and ways to cook and eat your Yorkshire Pudding – plus more!
This exhibition is included with admission to the Museum. Open Saturday to Thursday from 10am to 5pm (4pm in March), closed Fridays.
Whodunit? Solve the Mystery of the Missing Simnel Cake
Saturday 5 April to Sunday 28 April 2025
The inhabitants of Ryedale Folk Museum are in uproar. Mrs Huntley’s special Easter simnel cake has gone missing from the Kitchen at Stang End cottage. Can you discover the suspects and solve this curious case? Follow our trail and decide for yourselves Whodunit! Join us for this free, family-friendly activity throughout the Easter holidays (closed on Fridays).
This trail is included FREE within normal admission to the museum. Buy your museum tickets on the day or show a valid annual pass for entry.
Hutton-to-Do
Wonder Wednesday
Wednesday 23 April
Ever wondered what life was like in the past? Join us on Wednesdays during school holidays to try out a range of historic activities! This week, we’ll be trying out paper weaving with an Easter theme.
Access is included within your entry ticket to the Museum or on presentation of a valid annual pass.
May Day at the Museum
Monday 5 May, 2025
Last season, we took delivery of a brand new maypole and can’t wait to try it out. Join us throughout the afternoon for Maypole dancing at the Museum. This isn’t just a spectator sport – you’ll get to take part too.
We’ll be leading dances at 1pm, 2pm and 3pm.
If you want to make a day of it, bring a picnic to enjoy around the site. Don’t forget to stop by the Manor House to create your own May Day crown.
Normal admission prices apply or remember to bring your valid annual pass.
Please note in the event of adverse weather, we’ll be holding family-friendly indoor parlour games should we need to cancel the dancing.
The Spaces Between by Francesca Simon
Saturday 10 May – Sunday 29 June 2025
Artist Francesca Simon works from a studio in the North Yorks Moors. The organic colours, lines and textures of the landscape around her have, paradoxically, led Francesca on a journey into geometric abstraction. The Spaces Between shows the series ‘Check Works’, which emerged from the confinement of Lockdown and daily walks near her studio. In these paintings the arrangement of right angled or half square triangles is disrupted by horizontal bars, resulting in playful, almost musical, compositions, in colours that suggest the particularity of the landscape in different lights and weather conditions.
Francesca Simon has a BA from the University of Cambridge and an MA in Fine Art Painting from Central Saint Martins. She has recently had paintings in the Summer Exhibition at the Royal Academy.
Free to visit (this exhibition does not require paid admission to the Museum). Open Saturday to Thursday from 10am to 5pm, closed Fridays.
Francesca’s Goaf Works series (forming part of The Spaces Between) will be exhibited at Platform-A gallery in Middlesbrough from 8 May to 19 June 2025.
History Walk About - Explore the Reenactment Encampment
Nurturing Nature Day - bee-friendly plants
Heritage in Harmony
Saturday 28 and Sunday 29 June
Join us for this spectacular music-themed weekend at Ryedale Folk Museum. We’re looking forward to welcoming a variety of performers throughout each day.
Saturday – join us for special performances from Ryedale Voices (11.30am), The Ryelarks (2pm) and Henry Bard (at 12.30 and 3pm).
Sunday – join us for special performances from The Notables (11.30), Harmonia (2pm) and Arbeau Dancers (12.30 and 3pm).
Entry is free, included in your normal admission ticket or upon production of a valid annual pass.
Traditional Dance Workshop in the Manor House
Sunday 13 July, 1pm – 3pm
Tickets £15 per person (tickets available online soon)
Join us for a joyful two-hour dance workshop at Ryedale Folk Museum, led by folk dancer, musician, and researcher Peter Barnard, who’s bringing North Yorkshire’s vibrant dance heritage back to life as a member of the Dales Traditional Music and Dance Collective.
With musical accompaniment from members of ‘The No Lazy Dancing Dance Band’*, Peter will guide you through the steps in our beautiful medieval Manor House. Many of the dances – which were still popular within local communities as late as the 1970s – are today in danger of being lost from folk memory.
The dances include set dances such as The Huntsman’s Chorus and Buttered Peas, along with couple dances such as the Boston 2-Step and the Gay Gordons. Many of these are now called ‘folk dances’ and ‘old time dances’, but in earlier times they were simply known as the dances they danced every week and at family and community gatherings.
The workshop is suitable for beginners, as well as dance enthusiasts, and there is no requirement to bring a partner. Sensible footwear is recommended.
*The No Lazy Dancing Dance Band have delighted crowds at Whitby Folk Week, Richmond’s MayFest, and are set to appear at the Swaledale Festival in 2025.
Wonder Wednesdays
Wednesday 23 July, Wednesday 30 July, Wednesday 6 August, Wednesday 13 August, Wednesday 20 August, and Wednesday 27 August
Ever wondered what life was like in the past? Join us on Wednesdays during school holidays to try out a range of historic activities! Check back soon for more details about what we’ll be exploring.
Access is included within your entry ticket to the Museum or on presentation of a valid annual pass.
History Walk About - Explore the Reenactment Encampment
Charms and Murmurings
Saturday 20 September – Sunday 2 November
Josie Beszant, Hester Cox and Charlotte Morrison return to our art gallery with a new exhibition which explores the themes of birds and folklore. Drawing inspiration from their personal collections, museum artifacts, folklore, and the North Yorkshire landscape, the exhibition will showcase a range of mediums: ceramics by Charlotte Morrison, printmaking by Hester Cox, and collage and found objects by Josie Beszant. The works reflect a thoughtful, interconnected approach to the subject matter.
There is no charge to see this exhibition as it is located in our Art Gallery at the entrance to the Museum. Open Saturday to Thursday from 10am to 5pm (4pm in November), closed Fridays.
Autumn at the Museum
From Saturday 11 October
Visit the museum to see it all decked out in its autumn finery. Soak in the atmosphere at this special time of year – we like to think there’s a little bit of magic in the air!
The people of the past turned to customs and rituals to cope with the changing seasons, and especially their anxieties around the drawing in of darker nights.
With pumpkins galore, seasonal wreaths and apple displays, we’re celebrating this very evocative season in traditional style.
We’re delving back to time when the calendar was marked with celebrations and festivals, including ‘Hallowmas’, which incorporated All Hallows’ Eve on 31 October, All Saints Day on 1 November and All Souls Day on 2 November. These three festivals also drew on Pagan celebrations of Samhain at this time of year.
We also have a programme of seasonal activities and events taking place this autumn at Ryedale Folk Museum.
After Dark... at the Museum
Wednesday 29 October and Thursday 30 October, 4pm – 7pm
Join us for these very special late openings at Ryedale Folk Museum, where you can experience the Museum between 4pm and 7pm when we are normally closed to the public.
A selection of the museum’s buildings will be open for you to explore. Wander through the museum spaces after dark this autumn and savour the atmosphere of this special time of year.
Free entry upon presentation of a valid annual pass. Alternatively you can purchase a ticket for this after-hours opening. We’ll have tickets for the evening available at £5 per person, or you can buy an annual pass at the normal ticket price in order to gain access to the Museum for the following year.
Trick or Treat Experience
