Silverstone: One epic British Grand Prix, Silverstone/Milton Keynes (6th - 9th July)

If music and fast cars are your thing, mark the first weekend in July in your diary. Four British drivers on the grid. Four British artists on the mainstage. One epic British Grand Prix. 

Join Silverstone for a weekend packed with non-stop adrenaline, high-speed racing, and live music, featuring Sam Fender, RAYE, Fatboy Slim and Becky Hill. This is more than a race—it’s the ultimate weekend experience.

It promises to be an unforgettable weekend and what's more - there are still tickets up for grabs. Don't miss out, be part of the action this summer!

Buy Grand Prix tickets

IF: Milton Keynes International Festival 2025 (Friday 18th to Sunday 27th July)

It’s time for IF: 2025! Get ready for a feast of live music, circus shows, comedy, cabaret, outdoor and large-scale events, installations and free family activities across Milton Keynes, in Campbell Park and the city centre. The Festival’s 10 amazing days features spectacular opening and closing events. If you are a Londoner and want to explore events from out of town, this festival is a short train ride and almost on your doorstep. If you are travelling from the West Midlands, you will get there in under an hour by train. Tickets for all events are now on sale and you can view the current programme details here.

Avanti West Coast Travel from London Euston to Milton Keynes Central in 30 minutes and from Birmingham New Street in 47 minutes.

Godiva Festival, Coventry, (Friday 4th - Sunday 6th July) 

Godiva Festival 2025 is Coventry’s biggest summer celebration – three days of incredible music, family entertainment and unbeatable value, right in the heart of the city. Taking place from 4–6 July at the beautiful War Memorial Park, the festival features a huge line-up of chart-topping artists, nostalgic throwbacks and local talent. This year’s headliners include Marc Almond, Clean Bandit, Ocean Colour Scene. They’ll be joined by many more acts across the weekend including Nathan Dawe, Heather Small, Heaven 17 and Young T & Bugsey.

Sunday is all about families, with a packed Family Field, live shows, hands-on activities and special appearances from TV favourites like Bluey and Yolanda’s Band Jam.

Easily accessible by train and a short walk from Coventry Train Station, Godiva Festival is the perfect day out or weekend adventure. Don’t miss your chance to be part of Coventry’s ultimate summer experience.

Visit Godiva Festival.

Avanti West Coast travel from London Euston to Coventry in 54 minutes and from Manchester in 1 hour 20 minutes. 

Stoke-on-Trent Centenary, Stoke-On-Trent, (until 3rd October)

Be Part of Stoke-on-Trent’s 100-year story! There’s never been a better time to visit as this year marking a major milestone as the city celebrates its 100th anniversary. Affectionately known as The Potteries, it’s world-famous for its ceramics heritage and was awarded World Craft City status in 2024.

 Also in 2024, Stoke became the backdrop to Channel 4’s hit show, The Great Pottery Throw Down, solidifying it's status as a centre of heritage and culture. Head to the Gladstone Pottery Museum to see the six eye-catching ceramic pieces inspired by the city the potters crafted for the latest series of the show.

There are countless ways to get involved in the centenary celebrations. Honour the city's unrivalled industrial heritage and catch a photo of one of nearly 50 historic bottle kilns that still stand in the city, get hands-on during a tour at one of the city’s world-class pottery factories or join the city parade and street party on 7th June.

Full calendar of centenary events here.

Avanti West Coast travel from London Euston to Stoke-on-Trent in 1 hour 35 minutes and from Manchester in 34 minutes.

Manchester - Unmissable Manchester (various dates throughout 2025)

Manchester is a vibrant city, bursting with unmissable moments to experience in 2025, from music to sport, culture to food and drink. This year, the city is taking centre stage whatever your idea of fun. Manchester might be synonymous with its football, and there is no shortage of football events on this year, amongst the always-on football tours, but look beyond and you will discover a plethora of unmissable things on offer. For culture-vultures we recommend 'Bigger and Closer' at Aviva Studios - where you can can follow David Hockney's captivating artworks and emmerse yourself in their rich colour. For entertainment seekers, ther is the AO Arena and Co-OP Live, both enlisting stars from Sabrina Carpenter to Peter Kay to make your heart beat that little bit faster. Foodies know that Manchesetr is an established global destination for food and drink, but have you heard of 'Where The Light Gets In: A Play in the City - a concept restaurant with an incredible foodie programme (and menu) claiming that 'A city is more than a place in space, it's a drama in time'.

Find out more about what’s on through our campaign with Visit Manchester.

Manchester International Festival 2025, Manchester (3rd - 20th July)

July is all about MIF, taking over Aviva Studios and other venues across the city (and beyond!) with art experiences that push boundries, addresses the big questions of our time and inviting us to Dream Differently.

The impressive line up on arts and experineces not to miss includes Football City, Art United  featurning works created by pairings of artists and footballers, Germaine Kruip's A Possibility transforming theatre spaces by merging illussion, sound and performance or Surroun Sounds  - late-night takeovers from WU LYF, Lex Amor and many more.  There is a free programme of live music and performances at the Festival Square - the official and buzzing heart of MIF, national residences by international artists and let's not forget the incredible food and drink! The programme is brimming with events to fill your summer calendar! 

Get involved Manchester International Festival | MIF25 | Dream Differently – Factory International

TURNER: In Light and Shade installation image credits 2025
Installation images, Turner: In Light and Shade at the Whitworth (2025) Photograph: Michael Pollard © the Whitworth, The University of Manchester.

Turner: In Lights and Shade at the Whitworth, Manchester (until 2 November)

Head to Manchester to see The Whitworth's first exhibition of Britain's greatest landscape artist J.M.W. Turner, presented as part of a national celebration of the artist on the 250th anniversary of his birth. For the first time in over 100 years the entire set of Turner’s celebrated Liber Studiorum series engravings - the Latin title can be translated to ‘Book of Studies’ - has been specially conserved for the showcase. Turner: In Light and Shade unveils 71 of Turner’s published prints, displayed alongside major paintings loaned from private and public collections across Europe, as well as the artists’ most celebrated watercolours from the Whitworth collection.

The exhibition rethinks Turner’s legacy by exploring his genius as both painter and a master of printmaking - which was vital to the development of his reputation as an artist. In Light and Shade offers an unprecedented opportunity to view this extraordinary series and understand Turner's impact on the evolution of printmaking and appreciate his innovative artistic processes. The works evoke mood, atmosphere and scale, promising to be a transformative journey into the heart of one of Britain's greatest artists and guaranteed to pull on the emotions of the viewer.

Turner: In Light and Shade is on view at the Whitworth, The University of Manchester until Sunday 2 November 2025 and the entry is free.

Turner: In Light and Shade | Whitworth Art Gallery

Liverpool Biennial, Liverpool (7th June - 14th September 2025)

Roll up, roll up! Liverpool Biennial - UK's largest free festival of contemporary visual arts is live from 7 June - 14 September 2025. Titled as 'Bedrock', the festival's name eludes not only to the sandstone its host city is built on, but to people, values and places we care about that provide us with strong foundations and hold us up.

 You can expect international artists whose works bring their own definition of 'Bedrock', whether it's family, chosen family, cultural heritage and environments that nurture it, all inspired by Liverpool's rich history.

Plan your visit and prepare to spot the art everywhere, including Liverpool's UNESCO World Heritage Waterfront where one of the highlights includes commissioned light display From Here by Turner Prize shortlisted artist Nathan Coley, or walking performance by Hadassa Ngamba co-commissioned by Tate Liverpool and Liverpool Biennial. You can join one of the Festival Guides on a weekly tour (available until 6th September) exploring the artwork in some of the festival's favourite found venues.

Find out more here.

Avanti West Coast travel to Liverpool Lime Street every hour from London Euston and the journey takes 2 hours 21 minutes.

Simone Martini, The Angel Gabriel (detail), about 1326–34. Collection KMSKA - Flemish Community (public domain) / Photo Hugo Maertens

Siena: The Rise of Painting 1300-1350” exhibition, National Gallery (8th March – 22th June)

Step into Siena. It’s the beginning of the 14th century in central Italy.
A golden moment for art, a catalyst of change. Artists Duccio, Simone Martini and the brothers Pietro and Ambrogio Lorenzetti are forging a new way of painting. They paint with a drama that no one has seen before. Faces show emotion. Bodies move in space. Stories flow across panels in colourful scenes.
We bring to life a vibrant city of artists collaborating, learning and looking. After centuries of separation, we reunite scenes that once formed part of Duccio’s monumental 'Maestà' altarpiece.
Panels from Simone Martini’s glittering Orsini polyptych come together for the first time in living memory.This local artistic phenomenon made waves internationally. Gilded glass, illuminated manuscripts, ivory Madonnas, rugs and silks show Siena’s creative energy spilling over between painters, metalworkers, weavers and carvers across Europe.
With over a hundred exhibits made by artisans working in Siena, Naples, Avignon and beyond, see some of Europe's earliest, most exquisite and most significant artworks.

Find out more here.

Velasco, The National Gallery, London (until 17th August 2025)

Visit the National Gallery to see the first UK exhibition of Mexico’s much-loved artist, José María Velasco.  Mexico's 19th century artist was fascinated by advances in geology, the archaeology of his home country, the study of local flora and the increasing presence of industrialisation - all of which are subjects of his incredible paintings. Expect to witness the sweeping landscapes of the Valley of Mexico (the home of modern-day Mexico City), expanding train lines, factories, volcanoes and botanically accurate studies of plants - all thanks to Velasco's scientific eye. 

This exhibition is a first ever showcase of historical Latin American artist and a departure from the classical paintings the National Gallery is famed for. It marks the 200th anniversary of diplomatic relations between Mexico and the UK and celebrates Velasco’s place among the great 19th-century landscape painters.

Find out more here.

Avanti West Coast Travel from  Birmingham New Street  to London Euston in 1 hour 20 minutes.

London - Follow the trail of Paddington Bear

Whether you are looking for ideas on things to do with kids on your next London trip or planning the upcoming half term, we might just have all you need. A Paddington Bear day out in London provides the right combination of fun for kids and parents alike. The trail that resembles a treasure hunt, takes you on a discovery of Paddington-themed things to do in the capital including locations from the Paddington Bear books and films. There is lots to see and do. Starting with a photograph by the Paddington Bear mural on Sutton Walk outside of Waterloo Station, to seeing London through the eyes of the famous bear and embarking on Paddington bear Guided Walking tour that stops by the Portobello Market - a home of Mr Gruber's antique shop. You can stop for treats (marmalade sandwiches?) or take an afternoon tea onboard of a bus taking you to all the favourite spots of the beloved bear.

Discover more here.

Tutankhamun Exhibition at Immerse LDN (until 29th June)

Tutankhamun, The Immersive Exhibition kicked off in London in April and is promising to bring ancient Egypt to life like never before. For over 100 years, the myths surrounding Pharaoh Tutankhamun have captivated people around the world and we are now on the cusp of uncovering the secrets of the mysterious civilization. Ancient Egypt is being resurrected as Tutankhamun: The Immersive Exhibition takes you into the legendary ancient Egypt and its secrets through new, digital multimedia Egyptian art. Explore the civilization shrouded in mystery, iconic temples, the land of gods, pyramids and deserts as you step into this enchanted world and discover it for yourself.

Tutankhamun: The Immersive Experience

London - Starlight Express launch

The Troubadour Wembley Park Theatre welcomes the hotly anticipated Andrew Lloyd Webber's Starlight Express at the specially designed Starlight Auditorium to immerse you in the world of speed, song and storytelling. 

Starlight Express Musical Tickets | Troubadour Wembley Park

Birmingham - Discover the UK's second city with the West Midlands and Birmingham Pass (available now)

Planning a weekend away with family or friends and stuck for ideas? We've done all the research for you and are delighted to announce the newly launched West Midlands and Birmingham Pass allowing you to discover the best of the West Midlands and the UK's second city. This all-in-one digital pass opens the doors to the region’s top attractions, including the Cadbury World, Warwick Castle, Legoland Discover Centre, West Midlands Police Museum, and so much more. Beyond these must-see sites, you’ll enjoy exclusive discounts at local hotels, restaurants, shops, and unique experiences There is so much to discover and easy to tailor your trip - whether you are planning a quick one day trip or a long weekend away, there are plenty of ideas for a perfect getaway with a discount on top.

Find out more about the West Midlands and Birmingham Pass here.