A breath of fresh air! This summer’s outdoor and cultural events at our Calderstones Park home

The Reader serves up a giant scoop of summer arts and entertainment from three special summer garden parties with special guests to a second Storybarn Fest, Bookshop bedtime stories, a Ukulele Festival and open-air theatre, plus top author talks and workshops. 

Grab a picnic and head outside for some of Liverpool’s finest cultural events this summer in Calderstones Park. 

Liverpool-based national Shared Reading charity The Reader has announced its summer programme for 2025 will include free garden parties with special guests, talks by prize-winning children’s author Sally Nicholls and renowned academic Nathan Waddell and things to do with the kids this summer holiday, including a second Storybarn Fest. 

The organisation’s inspirational founder Jane Davis MBE is also going to be exploring ‘more’ poems that built The Reader in a special Shared Reading Masterclass, on Sunday 15 June. 

Also new this summer is a Pre-loved Clothes and Book Swap on Saturday 5 July. 

The great outdoors

Three free family-friendly summer Garden Parties will be taking over the stunning ‘secret’ walled garden and restored 1940s Art Deco Garden Theatre in May and July. Garden Party: The Mersey Forest Takeover on Sunday May 11, will mark the 80th anniversary of VE Day.  Highlights include live music from the Liverpool Show Choir, a female-led community choir who sing musical theatre, pop, gospel and folk, a free bookable Mansion House Heritage tour at 11am, two Shared Reading taster sessions at 11.30am and 1.30pm, as well as a poetry walk and seed planting. 

Garden Party: The Liverpool Philharmonic Takeover on Sunday 18 May will see the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra, In Harmony Liverpool Chamber Stars and The Philharmonic Youth Company Ensemble taking to the stage. For any budding musicians, a whole host of talented musicians are also leading taster sessions and free workshops. Information on booking workshops and tasters will be revealed soon. 

Mary Crotty, Calderstones Engagement Manager at The Reader, said: “We are so excited for these special collaborations with Mersey Forest and Liverpool Philharmonic, the latter celebrating the rich musical culture of our city and wonderful young people at the heart of it. On both days, we’ll also be running tours of the beautiful Mansion House and Shared Reading Tasters.” 

A third summer Garden Party will take place on Sunday 20 July, the weekend before the summer school term ends. 

At each event guests are invited to lay down a picnic blanket or pop up a deckchair for a laid-back afternoon of food, music and crafts. The BBQ will be sizzling, the bar serving summer tipples and the Ice Cream cart will be rolling up. People can also browse the Library on the Lawn – a handpicked selection of books for adults and children to explore. Entry for all three garden parties is free, though donations are welcomed and will help support The Reader’s charitable work in Liverpool and beyond.  

The Reader’s Ukulele Festival is back in Calderstones Park on Sunday 22 June. 

After last’s year’s successful event the charity has once again rounded up a bill of the best ukulele groups in the Northwest for a show-stopping one-day festival. Live music will play from 1pm-6pm, including Ukuladies, The Wirral Fanatics, The Sisters of Mersey, The Mad Ukes, The Secret Ukulele Band, Brain Fog and The Bowie Ukes. Enjoy a relaxed music-filled summer afternoon with all the family with BBQ, bar and ice creams. Free entry, donations welcome. 

New outdoor Gardening Workshops led by the expert team at Estuary Botanics have also been announced for the summer: Meet the Bees on Saturday 7 June, Summer Trees on Saturday 21 June, and Botany for Beginners on Saturday 5 July. No gardening experience is needed and all materials are provided.  

Estuary Botanics are Andy Lambie, who has more than 15 years' experience at institutes such as the Welsh College of Horticulture and Ness Botanic Gardens; and Nif Wilkinson, who specialises in botany, horticulture and conservation and currently serves as a botany tutor for the Botanical Society of Britain and Ireland (BSBI). 

A summer programme of open-air theatre previously announced for 2025 in the Mansion House Gardens includes Twelfth Night, Thursday 10 July, Much Ado About Nothing, Friday 1 August, Pride and Prejudice, Sunday 3 August, Pan and the Eternal Wreck, Wednesday 13 August, and HMS Pinafore, Thursday 21 August. 

Author talks and Shared Reading

Key literary highlights include award-winning young adult writer Sally Nicholls, who lives in Liverpool with her husband and two sons. She will be In Conversation discussing two of her books on Monday 23 June: Godfather Death, a soul-stirring reimagined Grimm tale, and Yours From the Tower, which follows three very different young women as they make their way through late Victorian England, at the cusp of great societal change.  

Sally's first novel, Ways to Live Forever, won the Waterstones Children's Book Prize and she has been shortlisted for the Guardian Children's Fiction Prize, the Costa Children's Book Award, and the Carnegie Medal twice. 

The Reader also welcomes Professor Nathan Waddell (Modernist Nowheres; Beethoven and Literary Modernism), who teaches 20th century literature at the University of Birmingham, on Wednesday 11 June. He will be talking about his latest work, A Bright Cold Day: The Wonder of George Orwell. 

Newly published in 2025, the autobiography successfully uncovers the literary hero beyond the angular, moustachioed sceptic crouched over a typewriter. It has been described by journalist/critic Helen Lewis at The Atlantic as “a clever, offbeat history of mid-century Britain through George Orwell’s eyes”.  

There will be an opportunity for a Q&A and book signings after both events.

Two uplifting Summer Wellbeing Workshops led by experienced Reader practitioners include guided walks around the park inspired by The Summer Book by Finnish author Tove Jansson, creator of the Moomins, on Saturday 19 July, and Jane Austen’s Sense and Sensibility on Sunday 17 August – as part of celebrations to mark her 250th birthday. 

Other upcoming Shared Reading events include a new Deep Read exploring Jean Rhys’ 1966 literary masterpiece Wide Sargasso Sea inspired by Charlotte Brontë's Jane Eyre. Set in Jamaica in the 1830s, the novel tells the story of how Creole heiress Antoinette Cosway came to be the 'madwoman in the attic'.  

It will take place over four weeks every Monday from 28 July, starting at the very beginning and stopping at key points to reflect on and explore what the text makes people think and feel. 

Family friendly events

Looking for something to keep the kids entertained over the summer months? There will be new Bookshop Bedtime Stories on Friday 6 June, Friday 25 July and Friday 29 August.  

Families are invited to dig out their favourite PJs and snuggle up under comfy blankets and cushions after-hours in The Reader Bookshop for a cosy evening of storytelling bringing to life a hand-picked collection of bedtime tales by the brilliant team of Storyhunters. 

All children will receive a free ‘babyccino’ and for an extra easy evening out pre-order pizza and chips before the stories begin.  

Following the success of last year’s first Storybarn Fest to round off the summer holidays for all the family, The Reader is hosting a second on 31 August, 10am – 4pm. 

The Storybarn, the charity’s magical play space for young imaginations, will be open to explore all day and the team will be bringing the best of the barn outside for a marvellous mini festival in the Ice Cream Parlour courtyard. It is set to be an extravaganza of storytelling, crafts, games, facepainting, BBQ and of course, ice cream. 

This summer there will be an extra special visit from Futureyard’s much-loved Mosh Tots Band running two sessions at 11am and 3pm – so get those dancing shoes ready. 

For families looking for high-quality childcare in the summer break filled with entertaining, story-led creative activities The Reader is once again running its popular Holiday Club with a difference for 5 – 9-year-olds, between Monday 28 July and Friday 22 August.   

Every day children will embark on new adventures with the charity’s team of trained Storyhunters, inspired by a diverse range of picture books. Past activities have included knitting workshops inspired by John Klasson’s Extra Yarn, a gardening workshop inspired by Bob Graham’s picture book, The Concrete Garden or a session creating and decorating robot characters out of cardboard tubes after reading Nobot Robot by Sue Hendra.

Holiday Club attendees will venture out into Calderstones Park, dive into the realm of storytelling in The Storybarn, play games and much more. Children are constantly supervised by members of The Reader’s Storybarn team who all have a valid and enhanced DBS check as well as safeguarding training. Every ticket purchased helps support The Reader’s charitable work bringing Shared Reading to children and young people across the UK.  

Coventry-based outdoor performance company and festival favourites, The Fabularium, are back at Calderstones Park by popular demand this summer for an open-air performance of their latest family show Pan and the Eternal Wreck. 

In this wild and wondrous tale in the walled garden of the Mansion House on Wednesday 13 August, two sailors from ancient cultures are thrown together after a terrible storm. Expect beautiful costumes, live music and incredible storytelling. Performances will take place at 11.30am and 2.45pm.   

Being outdoors in the picturesque setting of Calderstones Park is an integral part of the experience. If you’ve not attended an open-air theatre performance before, you can find out more on the charity’s handy FAQs page. 

Makers Markets

There will be two indoor and outdoor summer Mansion House takeovers by the much-loved Makers at the Mansion market on Sunday 1 June and Sunday 28 September with the best local handmade candles, soaps, jewellery, home décor, clothing, art and crafts from local makers. Free entry, donations welcome towards The Reader’s charitable work.  

View the entire summer programme and book tickets here.