From immersive AR art trails to canalside street food markets, frothy celebrations of local beer to outdoor art extravaganzas, we’ve rounded up a bunch of top-notch days and nights out to make to most of sunny Sheffield and see the season out in style.
VISIT THE SEASIDE
1-29 August
A family favourite returns as Sheffield by the Seaside sees the Peace Gardens transformed into a traditional British beach resort – complete with fairground rides, refreshments and a whole lotta sand. Bring your bucket and spade any day of the week, 10am-6pm, and get involved!
Free
EXPLORE AND AR(T) TRAIL!
Sheffield’s augmented reality art trail, Look Up, has recently been updated with an addition from artist Corbin Shaw, whose artwork commissioned for Get Together Festival can now be viewed via the bespoke ‘Look Up AR’ app, available for free on Apple and Android devices. Once downloaded, a handy map will guide you around central Sheffield, allowing you the chance to view and interact with various interactive characters and designs.
Look Up Sheffield AR trail
GET YOUR GAME ON
Open every day 22 July – 3 September: 10am-1pm and 2pm-5pm.
Discover worlds real and imagined with Fast Travel, a new way to explore the National Videogame Museum this summer. Visitors can explore a display of rare gaming objects such as maps, manuals and artefacts before traversing the gallery, hopping off at any game station that takes their fancy, featuring old favourites alongside a host of fresh games and instalments.
Pre-book tickets here.
VISIT A CANALSIDE STREET FOOD MARKET
12 August
Quayside Festival is the monthly street food market situated at the heart of Sheffield’s canal basin. Amongst the cobble pathways down at Victoria Quays you’ll find a host of amazing street food traders along with independent craft stalls, live music/DJs, cocktails and craft beer.
ATTEND A BOTANICAL BASH
20 August
Pollen Market, Sheffield’s much-loved inner-city flower market, brings a huge abundance of greenery and local produce to the revitalised Grey to Green corridor by Lady’s Bridge in Castlegate. Joining proceedings will be a mix of local traders, live music and art, along with a mouth-watering selection of street food.
Pollen Market
SIP AT SEVEN HILLS
25-27 August
Sheffield’s Seven Hills Beer Festival returns for 2023, showcasing a wide selection of the best cask beers available from local and regional craft brewers, plus live music, street food and a premium gin bar at Sheffield Tigers Rugby Club (feel free to catch a game and show some support while you’re there!).
TOUCH THE SKY…LINE
27 August
After the huge success of eight consecutive sold-out parties, Skyline are taking things to a whole new level and showcasing more of Sheffield’s finest talent across four stages at FØRGE Warehouse and Southbank Courtyard. Expect festival-level production, state-of-the-art lighting and sound, plus some of best DJ talents found amongst these seven hills.
Tickets (from £10) are available from fixr.co.uk
STEP BACK IN TIME
28 August
Organised by Sheffield City Council in partnership with The Friends of Norfolk Heritage Park, The University of Sheffield and the National Fairground and Circus Archive, Sheffield Fayre celebrates its 20th year this month! Free to attend, the event brings together a wide selection of traditional activities and things to see from a 1950s vintage village to kite-flying demos.
SCRAN, SUP, SHOP AND PARTY
1-2 September
The 75th instalment of Peddler Market returns to 92 Burton Road with its usual top-notch lineup of award-winning street food, craft beers from some of the country’s best breweries, live music from emerging local talent, market stalls from local indie businesses and plenty more to keep you entertained.
JOIN THE (ROCK N ROLL) CIRCUS
1-3 September
Heading to Don Valley Bowl for three days and nights, the Rock N Roll Circus combines the best in musical talent with the weird and wonderful world of the circus. Alongside a varied live music bill containing the likes of Noel Gallagher, Self Esteem, Happy Mondays, The Cribs, Natalie Imbruglia and Gatecrasher Classical, guests will also be treated to performances from resident aerialists, stilt walkers, fortune tellers and all manner of circus-themed entertainment.
Tickets available here.
IMMERSE YOURSELF IN SHEFF
1-3 September
A collaborative festival event between a multitude of arts and culture groups based in the city will be taking place over the first weekend of September Returning for its third annual event in 2023, the Sheffield Showcase brings together a variety of cultural activity that takes place in the city – featuring film screenings, music performances, art exhibits and family-friendly activities – collectively creating a full-weekend programme showcasing the city.
For details of all activity taking place, visit the event programme page.
ENJOY ART AL FRESCO
2-3 September
The annual Art in the Gardens, held in Sheffield Botanical Gardens, showcases arguably the largest outdoor art market in the North of England, artists, craft makers and visitors come from across the UK to attend the weekend-long celebration of culture. It’s the perfect opportunity to buy direct from the artists, while making the most of the on-site refreshment facilities and relaxing in the park.
Tickets (Adult £6, under-16 free) are available from eventbrite.co.uk
SWING THE NIGHT AWAY
5 September
On the first Tuesday of every month, the highly-acclaimed Jazz Hot Six will be bringing their energetic swinging style to The Dorothy Pax at Sheffield’s Canal Basin. Playing everything from traditional Gypsy Swing through to the bebop era of the early ‘50s and beyond, it’s the perfect spot for a classy midweek boogie.
RAVE WITH ALL THE FAMILY
10 September
Network Sheffield welcomes the award-wrinning Big Fish Little Fish back for a special 10th birthday. The family-friendly rave project have been helping parents be responsibly irresponsible since 2013 and you can expect a banging mix of house music, multi-sensory dancefloor and child-friendly chillout spots and play areas.
Tickets (£8-£10) are available from eventbrite.co.uk
