Event tickets and days out

[plotch]

Afternoon all,

I've bought my DD's main Christmas gift - tickets for Strictly tour. I also have two boys (8 and 11) and wondering if I could do something similar for them, but no idea what or where to look. Any recommendations for shows/events for that age group coming up next year? Or where to look to find such events? Older one is very into gaming/electronics, and I saw a gaming convention, but it was more for people in the industry, not fans. Younger one likes dinosaurs, animals, adventure type stuff.

Or any recommendations for big days out? We've done Harry Potter in Watford, and they loved it, so something along those lines would be good. We do theme parks reasonably regularly, so maybe not those, more something with a bit of novelty. Thought about Back to the Future stage show. We're south east, so anything London/south east would be good, although could maybe travel for something special.

I'm just sick of so much stuff at Christmas, fancy trying tickets this year!

Thanks in advance for any ideas!

Have you looked at Eventbrite and Ticketmaster for future events?

UK Comic Con & Gaming Festivals are a good, regional convention for those with an interest in gaming, anime, board games, popular film & tv - they haven't released their 2024 dates yet, but worth checking as they do one in Kent, as well as quite a few in the SW: www.ukcgf.com/

There are Comic Cons at both the NEC in Birmingham & Excel London.

Are they interested in any films/tv series in particular? For some you can get smaller conventions happening.
Or look at various venues & see what exhibitions or shows are coming.

What about an annual pass to something like Merlin?

What about the Air Tattoo at Fairford? Kids go free with a paying adult and they have early bird prices on. I've paid £69 ish for me and DS including transport (but that's only available from Swindon or Cheltenham). Worth a look.

Maybe indoor skydiving with iFLY at Xscape in Milton Keynes. My daughter did this aged 10, and loved it.
Zoo keeper for a day experience.

@plotch Natural history museum do a sleepover! https://www.nhm.ac.uk/events/dino-snores-for-kids.html

Young Driver experience?
Look at local attractions - they may have behind the scenes experiences like Junior Keeper for the Day, Sleep with the Sharks, Snorkling with sharks; Dinosnores (Natural History Museum).

Driving experience might be good for the older one, definitely looking into that.

I could quite fancy dinosnores myself!

Thanks everyone. No idea why I didn't think of Eventbrite. A friend even works for them.