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, so do revisit this page as we are adding new events and activities all the time.
Making a Meal of it
OPEN NOW until 29 November 2026 (open Saturday to Thursday, closed on Fridays)
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.
North Yorkshire Printmakers
Saturday 21 March – Sunday 10 May (open Saturday to Thursday, closed on Fridays)
Printmakers Circle is a group of professional artists based across North Yorkshire, embracing traditional and contemporary printmaking methods and techniques. In this group exhibition, 11 artists present their unique styles and talents, making a varied and visually interesting show.
The exhibiting artists are – Anna Matyus, Bridget Tempest, Caroline Machray, Helen Peyton, Hester Cox, Ian Scott Massie, John Jones, Laney Birkhead, Pam Grimmond, Philippa Troutman and Sarah Venus.
You can meet some of the artists, and chat to them about their work on Saturday 28 March from 2.00pm – 4.00pm. Just drop in, no booking required.
Free to visit (not within the paid area of the Museum).
May Day at the Museum
Monday 4 May 2026
Marking the arrival of summer, May Day has traditionally been an important day in the folk calendar. With origins in the ancient Roman festival of Flora – Floralis – and the Beltane Celtic fire festival, it is a time to for revelling in the abundance of the natural world.
Maypole Dancing
We will be celebrating with traditional maypole dancing. We’re delighted to welcome the Cod Beck Ceilidh Band to lead us with live music. Join us to take part in performances – or just watch the fun – throughout the day. Dancing will take place at the museum’s maypole at the following times:
- 11.30am
- 1.00pm
- 2.00pm
In the event of inclement weather, dancing will move into the Manor House.
You can also get hands on with craft activities throughout the day and complete the bee trail around the Museum.
A previous May Day at the Museum in the 1970s
Bee Skep Making Demonstrations – 10.30am – 3.00pm
Museum volunteer, Jim Wood, will be showing visitors the craft of bee skep making. Bee skeps are baskets woven from straw and used to keep bees in, before modern hives. This traditional craft is endangered and very few people across the U.K. can make skeps.
Jim was recently featured on BBC Two’s Robson Green’s Weekend Escapes where he showed Robson and friend, Chris Kamara how to make a bee skep at Ryedale Folk Museum. You can watch the programme on iPlayer, using the link above.
Watch a short video of Jim demonstrating bee skep making at the Museum in 2025 here.
Filming at the Museum with Robson Green and Chris Kamara
Simon Palmer - Yorkshire Landscapes
Saturday 16 May – Sunday 5 July (open Saturday to Thursday, 10am-5pm. Closed on Fridays)
Free to visit (not within the paid area of the Museum).
You can also see Simon Palmer’s exhibition Back to Home Territory from 9 – 30 May 2026 at the Zillah Bell gallery in Thirsk.
May half term
Saturday 23 May – Sunday 31 May
The hobs are up to mischief – they’ve dropped the Museum recipe book and the pages have scattered all around the Museum! Can you hunt for the ingredients and match them to the right recipe? Or you will join the hobs in their mischief and create a rotten recipe?
Medieval plants
Monday 25 May, 11am and 1pm
Join volunteer Carol for an informative talk about medieval plants in Crofters Cottage garden.
Carol is the author of Botany for Beginners: a guide to identifying the most common British wildflowers and manages the garden at Crofters Cottage. The garden is planted with herbs and plants used in medieval times – food, faith, physic and fabric, everything has a purpose!
No booking required, just drop in.
Butter making
Wednesday 27 May
Join us throughout the day for butter making. Find out about how people used to make and shape butter and have a go at making your own.
Reenactors at the Museum
Saturday 13 and Sunday 14 June
Come and say hello to the reenactors – they’ll be pitching up outside the Manor House all weekend.
Midsummer Celebrations
The Ryelarks Perform
Saturday 20 June – 1.00pm and 2.00pm
We’re delighted to welcome Pickering-based choir The Ryelarks to the museum to join us for this special celebration of Midsummer. They’ll be performing a selection of songs, perfectly chosen for the season, accompanied by their very brilliant choir leader, Alison Davis.
Check back later for full details – coming soon
Summer Solstice Yoga
Sunday 21 June – 9.15am and 11.00am
Start the Summer Solstice with a very special Yoga session. This relaxing and invigorating class will take place within the museum grounds (or inside the Manor House in the eventuality of inclement weather).
Join us for a Yoga session from an experienced practitioner, interspersed with time for reflection and meditation as we take inspiration from our Celtic forebears on this very special day of the year.
Please bring your own yoga mat, or contact us at [email protected] if you don’t have one.
Midsummer Music with Celtic Folk Musician Olivia Graham
Sunday 21 June – Performances at 2.00pm and 5.00pm
We’re delighted to welcome Olivia to the museum this Midsummer, for what promises to be a truly magical performance.
Olivia is well known for her entrancing storytelling and multi-instrumental performances, drawing inspiration from the rich history of folklore of Britain and Ireland. She’ll perform an array of songs, selected especially for the solstice.
You’ll be able to see and listen to Olivia during your visit, included within the normal museum admission ticket or upon production of a valid annual pass. There is no extra charge.
Handfasting Ceremonies – throughout Sunday 21 June
Ryedale Folk Museum’s Iron Age Roundhouse offers the perfect backdrop for a traditional handfasting ceremony – an ancient ritual symbolising unity, commitment and shared intention.
Whether you are marking an engagement, renewing vows, or simply honouring your bond, this special ceremony invites couples to take part in an authentic, meaningful celebration guided by a celebrant.
We are offering six handfasting ceremony slots on Sunday 21 June, starting at just £150.
Please read all the information about having a handfasting at the Museum using the link here.
Hob trail
Saturday 4 July – Sunday 6 September
Hobs have taken over the Museum! Hobs can be helpful and do your chores, but if you leave them unthanked they get up to all sorts of mischief…
Come along and see if you can spot them all. You’ll need to keep your eyes peeled and look up high and down low – they’re everywhere!
Sue Slack - Finding the Dramatic
Sue Slack is a landscape painter, based in the North York Moors. Her work is fuelled by her passion for running and hiking near home. Sue often works outside, enjoying the immediacy of the response to the landscape around her and the influence of this feeling on her artistic practice.
Wonder Wednesdays
Wednesdays 22 and 28 July, 5, 12, 19 and 26 August
Get stuck in with jobs around the Museum. Try your hand at butter making, wash day and Iron Age pottery on Wednesdays in the school holidays.
Check back later for the full timetable.
Arbeau Dancers
Saturday 5 August
Arbeau Dancers are a historical dance group based in West Yorkshire who perform dances from the fifteenth through to the nineteenth centuries.
There will be performances throughout the day – please check back later for a full timetable.
Simon Crawford - Shining Lights of the North
Saturday 12 September – Sunday 1 November (open Saturday to Thursday, 10am – 5pm, 4pm in October and November. Closed on Fridays)
The Shining Lights of the North Way is a walking route that connects the Cistercian abbeys of Rievaulx, Byland and Fountains, following in the footsteps of the monks who once travelled between these significant religious sites. Over the last 12 months, Knaresborough-based artist, Simon Crawford, made his own ‘artistic pilgrimage’, sketching and painting each of the abbeys through the seasons. Inspired not only by the abbeys themselves, Simon revisited the same scenes captured by artists such as JMW Turner, John Sell Cotman and Thomas Girton.
“This exhibition is an exploration of the landscape in front of me, and my own feelings about a place, whilst being very aware of the ghosts of the artists who came before me.” Simon Crawford, 2026
Free to visit (not within the paid area of the Museum).
Autumn
Saturday 26 September – Thursday 5 November
The change of seasons from the end of summer and harvest and the beginning of winter was marked by the Celtic festival Samhain, which evolved into Hallowe’en.
Join us as we mark the start of autumn with seasonal displays around the museum and explore the folklore and traditions surrounding Hallowe’en
- discover ‘apotropaic’ or protective markings that were used to protect the home against evil
- learn about the importance of orchards and apples
- explore the traditions of trick or treat
A Haunting at the Museum
Saturday 17 October – Thursday 5 November
The Museum’s haunted! Are you brave enough to go ghost hunting?
Hallowe’en is the time of year when the veil between the world and dead is at its thinnest. Ghosts have appeared all around the museum in all shapes and sizes. Can you count them all?
