December Listings for Gunnersbury Park & Museum
Exhibitions, special performance of The Snowman and Christmas Crafternoons
Get crafty this Christmas at Gunnersbury Park
There’s plenty to enjoy in and around Gunnersbury Park through to the end of the year.
Free Special Exhibitions
Thursday 7 October – Sunday 12 December , 12-4.30pm with late opening until 8pm on Fridays
Free entry
This autumn at Gunnersbury experience Britain’s wildlife as never before in a family-friendly exhibition Wild.
Get up close to a gannet in full dive as it plummets towards the sea to catch fish, catch a glimpse of the elusive red squirrel and discover more about the lives of the animals on our doorstep and beyond.
Monday 29 November – Thursday 31 March 2022, 7am - dusk
Free entry
Hear the stories of those who stood up and resisted racism
Citizen UK: Ealing Rises Up is an exhibition by The National Portrait Gallery in partnership with Ealing Local History Centre Archives, artists Asia Ahmed and Narvir Singh, and local volunteer Citizen Researchers.
This exhibition investigates stories of people who stood up and resisted racism and recognises some of the lesser-known figures involved. Using archive material, spoken word and film, we'll tell the stories of Ealing activists and the movements they were part of.
Visit the outdoor exhibition to see portraits, photographs and research, access interviews from Gunnersbury Park Museum’s Archive and watch the newly commissioned films.
Local Residents Meeting for 2022 Events in the Park
Monday 13 December 6 - 7.30pm
Local residents are invited to attend an online meeting to discuss two events which will be in the park next year.
The evening will be split into two sections 6 - 6.45pm you will have the chance to hear from representatives from Dino Kingdom and 6.45 - 7.30pm will be held by Secret Group Ltd.
Dino Kingdom is a family edutainment event that tries to bring pre-history to life. Families will discover the animals who walked the earth in the metazoic era and learn how the natural world sustained life. They will create a walking trail within the event space with 30-50 different animatronic dinosaurs with discovery zones and interactive content. The event is targeted at families and will have additional facilities onsite including food concessions that have the option to retail alcohol, fun fair rides and children’s activities such as ‘bone collecting’ in a sand pit, all of which will be relevant to the theming of the event. The programme will be a mixture of education and entertainment with some elements of performance and recorded music.
Hire Period: 25 March to 25 April 2022 (Subject to change)
Live Event Days: 1st April 2022 to 18th April 2022
Operating Hours: 10:00 to 19:00 (last entry at 16:00)
NB: This event is subject to licensing and planning permission.
If you are unable to attend the meeting, would like further information about this event, or would like to contact the event organisers, you can do so here.
Secret Group Ltd will be hosting a live immersive cinematic experience based on a popular film. The audience will be invited to a bespoke recreation of the world of the film via intricate sets, games, activities, performance elements, actors, food, and drink culminating in a full screening of the film. Whilst the film is taking place, they will be recreating iconic moments of the film live on stage in front of the audience. Secret Group Ltd delivered a screening of Romeo and Juliet in Gunnersbury Park in 2018. This is the same event that was proposed for 2021 but had to be postponed due to COVID-19.
Hire Period: 13 July to 5 August 2022 (Subject to change)
Live Event Days: Dress rehearsals and previews on 5th, 8th and 10th July 2022 with main screenings from 13 July to 31 July (Wednesday to Sunday only)
Operating Hours: Wednesday to Friday 17:00 to 23:30 (site clear) Saturday and Sunday 14:00 to 23:30 (site clear)
NB: This event is subject to licensing and planning permission.
Book your free ticket for this event
Talks and Tours
West London Rocks! A Musical Tour of Chiswick
Sunday, 12 December, 11am – 12.30pm
£12
Join a circular tour exploring Chiswick's musical connections. On this musical history tour you ’ll pass the studios where the Rolling Stones and The Who recorded their last albums, visit the place where many a pop artist has their tracks mastered, find the headquarters of Island Records and see the home of the writer of A Hard Days Night. Not forgetting Liberace!
3 December 2021, 6pm – 8pm
£5
Bring your instruments, singing voices, or poetry and take centre stage!
Gunnersbury Park & Museum is organising monthly open mic sessions for children and families from October 2021.
Sessions are led by Edwin Addis, an experienced open mic host.
Email learning@visitgunnersbury.org if you would like to perform. Book early to avoid disappointment because slots will be allocated on a first come first served basis.
Tickets £5 (free for children aged 5-11)
These open mic sessions are suitable for anyone with a disability.
Cabinet of Living Cinema presents ‘The Snowman’
11 December 2021, 2.30 - 4pm
Price: £10
Hear a unique live score to the 1982 animation of Raymond Briggs’ The Snowman featuring contributions from your good elves...sorry, selves!
Join live cinema performers - Cabinet of Living Cinema – for a short rehearsal and live sound effects workshop. Use these to contribute to the 26-minute performance of a festive classic. And don’t forget to brush down your vocal chords for the unforgettable Walking in the Air chorus.
Free Family Trail: Bedtime for Lionel
2 December 2021 to 2 January 2022
Thursday - Sunday: 12 - 4.30pm
Join Lionel the baby hedgehog on a mission around the museum to find his brothers and sisters and help them prepare for their winter hibernation!
Pick up the trail from the front desk!
Father Christmas at Gunnersbury
SOLD OUT
Saturdays 4, 11, 18 December and Sundays 5, 12, 19 December, 10.30am – 4.30pm
£12.50
Pay a very special visit to a Victorian Father Christmas, dressed in his traditional green robes, in Gunnersbury’s Historic Kitchens.
Help the kitchen maid make decorations to take home with you and then visit Father Christmas in his festive Study. Children will receive a traditional wooden toy as a gift.
The initial ticket price secures your timeslot but is for one child only. Any additional children must be paid for on the day at a price of £10 per child. All adults are free.
23, 24, 27, 28, 29, 30 December, 12.30 – 3.30pm
Free
Get crafty over the Christmas holidays. Come to Gunnersbury Park Museum for our free family drop-in activities and take something festive home.
Drop in between 12:30 – 15:30. No booking required but space will be allocated on a first come, first served basis.
Suggested donation £2 per child, adults free. Children must be accompanied by an adult at all times.
A Magic Lantern Christmas Show
Tuesday 28 December, 11.30am – 12pm
£7
A seasonal Magic Lantern entertainment for families in the magnificent drawing room of Gunnersbury Park House.
Burning ships, exploding volcanoes, spectacular fireworks and the Man who eats Rats! Presented by internationally renowned magic lantern performers Jeremy and Carolyn Brooker.
A Grand Gothic Magic Lantern Show
Tuesday 28 December, 2 – 2:45pm
£8.50
Book your ticket for a Grand Gothic Magic Lantern Show.
Christmas has always been a time for ghost stories and the supernatural. Enter the bizarre and fantastical worlds of the magic lantern with internationally renowned magic lantern performers Jeremy and Carolyn Brooker. A seasonal celebration of goblins, ghosts and the downright weird. Accompanied by the acclaimed silent film pianist Costas Fotopoulos.
The shows will feature an authentic triunial (or Triple) magic lantern combining three projectors in a single device, creating the most spectacular effects the lantern can produce.
Gunnersbury Park Farmers Market
Weekly farmer's market each Sunday. Run by RMS Markets, you'll find everything you could want from a farmers markets with top quality, fish, meat, artisan bread, cheese, fruit and veg.
Every first Sunday of the month they'll be joined by artisan craft traders.
Find it in the field next to the car park from 10am - 3pm.
Like Reading Articles Like This? Help Us Produce More This site remains committed to providing local community news and public interest journalism. Articles such as the one above are integral to what we do. We aim to feature as much as possible on local societies, charities based in the area, fundraising efforts by residents, community-based initiatives and even helping people find missing pets. We've always done that and won't be changing, in fact we'd like to do more. However, the readership that these stories generates is often below that needed to cover the cost of producing them. Our financial resources are limited and the local media environment is intensely competitive so there is a constraint on what we can do. We are therefore asking our readers to consider offering financial support to these efforts. Any money given will help support community and public interest news and the expansion of our coverage in this area. A suggested monthly payment is £8 but we would be grateful for any amount for instance if you think this site offers the equivalent value of a subscription to a daily printed newspaper you may wish to consider £20 per month. If neither of these amounts is suitable for you then contact info@neighbournet.com and we can set up an alternative. All payments are made through a secure web site. One-off donations are also appreciated. Choose The Amount You Wish To Contribute. If you do support us in this way we'd be interested to hear what kind of articles you would like to see more of on the site – send your suggestions to the editor. For businesses we offer the chance to be a corporate sponsor of community content on the site. For £30 plus VAT per month you will be the designated sponsor of at least one article a month with your logo appearing if supplied. If there is a specific community group or initiative you'd like to support we can make sure your sponsorship is featured on related content for a one off payment of £50 plus VAT. All payments are made through a secure web site. |