Right then. It's a bank holiday weekend, which means three whole days to fill instead of the usual two.
Here's what's worth leaving the house for in and around Exeter from Saturday through to Bank Holiday Monday, including a couple of free options if you're keeping it simple this week.
This Weekend's Pick
🏴☠️ The big one: Brixham Pirate Festival, Bank Holiday Monday
The whole town of Brixham goes pirate for the bank holiday weekend, and Monday is specifically the kids' day. The Children's Pirate Muster sets off from the William of Orange Statue at 10:30, the family parade winds through the harbour at 10:45, and the Children's Best Dressed Competition kicks off at 11:05. By midday the whole quayside is sea shanties, cannon fire and sword fights!
The whole festival is free to attend. No tickets, no fences. The festival closes earlier on Monday (16:00) so it's a contained day rather than an all-evening one.
Getting there is the slight pain. Three options, in order of magic:
- By boat: Train from Exeter St Davids to Paignton (GWR, about an hour), then ferry across the bay to Brixham with Paignton Pleasure Cruises. Standard timetable runs seven sailings a day, journey time around 20 minutes, weather permitting. They lay on extra boats over the festival but the Monday sailings fill up early, so it's worth calling ahead to book this leg.
- By bus: Train to Paignton, then the No 12 from Paignton bus station, every 15 minutes, around 16 minutes' journey, £3-4 a head. Reliable backup if the boats are booked or the sea's lumpy.
- By car: About 45 minutes' drive. Brixham fills up during the festival, so use the Park & Ride at Churston (well signed off the A3022) and take the shuttle into the harbour.
Aim to be in Brixham by 10:30 for the muster and parade. Fancy dress strongly encouraged.
- When: Mon 4 May, kids' programme 10:30 to 12:00, festival closes 16:00
- Where: Brixham Harbour, Devon, TQ5 8AW
- Cost: Free to attend (volunteer-run, donations welcome)
More Good Stuff
🌸 Lustleigh May Day, Saturday afternoon
This one is properly special. The village of Lustleigh on the edge of Dartmoor has been doing May Day in exactly the same way every year since 1905.
The village's children practise the maypole dances for weeks, then parade through the village led by the band from 2pm. It's a little slice of traditional Devon that everyone should experience once.
Around it: maypole dancing, morris dancers, traditional games (hoopla, splat the rat, lucky dip), live music, cream teas. Free to walk in.
£5 to park (the car park is a 10-minute walk from the village centre, postcode TQ13 9TW for satnav). It runs from 1pm onwards Saturday. Lustleigh is around 30 minutes from Exeter via the A382.
If you've never been, Lustleigh is one of those storybook Devon villages: granite cottages, tiny lanes, tea rooms. May Day is the day of the year it most lives up to that.
- When: Sat 2 May, from 1pm
- Where: The village orchard, Lustleigh, Devon, TQ13 9TJ
- Cost: Free to attend, £5 parking
🐴 Wildlife trail at The Donkey Sanctuary, Sidmouth
The Donkey Sanctuary's Wondrous Wildlife Spring Trail is a self-led walk around the site looking for six wildlife boards, with a small prize at the end if you complete the trail. It's £5 per child for the trail itself, but here's the thing: the sanctuary is completely free to enter.
So you're paying a takeaway-coffee's worth for the trail, then you've got plenty of donkeys to meet, the play area, the hedge maze, the woodland trails, and a decent café. It's a proper full day if you make it one.
Runs all three days, no booking needed, free parking on site. Around 30 minutes from Exeter via the A3052.
- When: Sat 2, Sun 3, Mon 4 May (any time during opening hours)
- Where: Slade House Farm, Sidmouth, EX10 0NU
- Cost: £5 per child for the trail, sanctuary entry free
✨ May the 4th be with you, World of Country Life
If your kids are at the age where 'May the 4th' actually means something, World of Country Life in Exmouth has put a Star Wars Day on for Bank Holiday Monday. Southern Troopers in costume will be walking the park all day for photo opportunities, with park resident Angus joining in.
The usual offering still runs around it: deer to feed, falconry displays, indoor and outdoor play, the vintage vehicle museum, the pets corner, and the bumper bug ride. So even if a younger sibling is more 'pet a goat' than 'photo with a stormtrooper', there's plenty to do.
It is regular admission price (book online for the saver pricing), and Monday only.
- When: Mon 4 May, 10:00 to 17:00
- Where: World of Country Life, Sandy Bay, Exmouth, EX8 5BY
- Cost: Adult £15.95, child (3-15) £14.95, under-3s free
One free thing
🎨 A proper arty day in town
Exeter Phoenix has a free run of three exhibitions over the weekend, headlined by Bruce Asbestos: Bootleg Shreg 2, which is paintings, inflatable sculpture and digital artworks built around a shape-shifting cartoon character.
A minute's walk away on Queen Street, RAMM has the final weekend of Grayson Perry: Aspects of Myself, and Sunday 3 May is the actual last day, so if you've been meaning to catch it, this is your last chance.
Here's how the days work, because the two venues have different opening days:
- Saturday 2 May: both open. Do both. Two big-name free shows in one afternoon.
- Sunday 3 May: RAMM only. Phoenix galleries are closed Sundays. Last day of Grayson Perry.
- Where: Exeter Phoenix, Gandy Street, EX4 3LS and RAMM, Queen Street, EX4 3RX
- Cost: Free
Exeter Phoenix and RAMM
That's your lot for the bank holiday weekend. If you end up going to any of these, hit reply and let me know how it went, it comes straight to the inbox.
And if you spotted something brilliant that didn't make the list, send it over so it's on the radar for next time. Have a good one.
Quick note: details can change. It's always worth a final check on the venue's own website or socials before you head out.
