Things to do this weekend in Kent including jousting at Hever Castle and Dover Castle summer weekends

by Lauren Abbott

labbott@thekmgroup.co.uk

The weather forecast is good and there's some great events happening in Kent.

Here are some of the activities to enjoy with your tribe this weekend...

Jousting at Hever Castle resumes this weekend with new safety measures in place

1. Jousting at Hever Castle

Jousting returns to Hever Castle from this weekend - with tournaments taking place on both Saturday and Sunday.

To join the socially distanced audience and enjoy all of the action you must make your booking by 3pm on the Friday before.

Jousting tournaments are taking place every weekend in August and over the bank holiday. To learn more about arrangements and changes in place in order to accommodate social distancing please click here.

Summer Weekends with wartime experiences are now taking place on Saturdays and Sundays at Dover Castle

2. Dover Castle Summer Weekends

Dover Castle is bringing its wartime stories to life with live interpretation in the open air. The special events take place on weekends throughout the summer and will help visitors step back in time to 1940 when Dover was on the front line of war.

Meet and learn more about Vice Admiral Ramsay as he leads a top secret mission to rescue as many troops as possible. You'll also encounter many other characters who will have fascinating stories to tell.

Visitors wishing to enjoy the entertainment on offer and explore other parts of Dover Castle's site to have now reopened, including embarking on the new Summer Quest activity for families, must pre-book their ticket in advance. To do so, and to learn more about the parts of the attraction which have now reopened, please click here.

3. Open air cinema

The Greatest Showman is amongst the films being shown at Betteshanger Park near Deal this weekend by the Kent Drive-In Cinema.

The film is being shown on both Saturday and Sunday evening and tickets are now available to book here.

Open air maize mazes can be a great socially distanced outing

4. Maize Moon, Gillingham

Maze Moon is back open again between Thursday (August 6) and Sunday (August 9) this week.

The enormous maize maze, on the site of the Pumpkin Moon pick your own fields, could be the ideal socially distanced outing for families keen to keep their youngsters in vast open spaces.

The maze and pick your own sunflowers, which are both on the same site, are open 10am until 3.30pm. No booking is required.

Entry is £6 per person, under 4s free and £20 for a family. Card payments are accepted. The cost to pick your own sunflowers is 50p per flower. Learn more here.

Swanley Park's pool has reopened but sessions must be prebooked

5. Swanley Park

Swanley Park has now reopened to visitors with plenty of activities on offer. Whilst sessions at the paddling pool must be pre-booked in advance the boating lake, other activities and inflatables are all welcoming visitors. To understand more about what's open and the safety measures in place please click here.

The Great Outdoors stay and play sessions are also now running for youngsters at Swanley Park and there is no need to book. Over this weekend sessions are half price - costing £2 for a child. For further information click here.

Step back in time during a visit to Sittingbourne's wartime house

6. The Old Forge Wartime House, Sittingbourne

Step into East Street and back in time once you set foot inside The Old Forge Wartime House. The living history property has reopened to pre-booked visitors on Saturdays during August.

A tour around the house will show families exactly what life was like on the Home Front during the Second World War with insights into rationing, air raids and what wartime was like for children. For more details about the experience and how to book click here.