Here are some excuses to actually leave the house this weekend 👀
We’re deep into October now. The nights are drawing in, pumpkins are appearing absolutely everywhere and the East Midlands has apparently decided the sensible response is to fill the weekend with Lara Croft, giant suns, outdoor horror films, monster invasions, secret supper clubs and an alarming amount of Halloween.
Derby is going particularly big because Lara Croft is turning 30, Nottingham has a music festival taking over Hockley, Lincoln is being invaded by monsters and Leicester is warming up for Halloween with everything from drum & bass to spooky live music.
Cancel the boring plans.
Here’s what’s worth getting off the sofa for this weekend.
⭐ EDITOR’S CHOICE
Hockley Hustle is taking over Nottingham on Sunday
If you’re only going to do one thing this weekend, make it this.
Hockley Hustle returns to Nottingham on Sunday 25 October, with the annual festival taking over the Hockley area for a day of live music and entertainment. Visit Nottinghamshire lists the 2026 event among this weekend’s major highlights.
It’s one of those events where the best strategy is probably not to plan every minute of the day.
Turn up. Wander. Hear something interesting coming through a doorway. Go inside.
[TICKETS]
📍 Hockley, Nottingham
📅 Sunday 25 October
THE VERDICT: One of Nottingham’s great wander-around-and-see-what-happens days.
🔥 BEST EVENTS THIS WEEKEND
☀️ DERBY: A seven-metre sun has appeared inside Derby Cathedral
Yes, really.
Artist Luke Jerram’s Helios is a spectacular seven-metre model of the sun, and it’s currently hanging inside Derby Cathedral as part of the cathedral’s centenary celebrations.
The installation runs from 22 to 31 October, meaning this is its first weekend on display.
📍 Derby Cathedral
📅 All weekend
This has serious“looks incredible on Instagram but is actually worth seeing in real life too” potential.
🎮 DERBY: The city is going Lara Croft mad
And rightly so.
Derby is celebrating 30 years of Tomb Raider this weekend with a frankly impressive amount of Croft-related activity.
There’s Lara Croft Day at Derby Market Hall on Saturday, a TR30 event at QUAD, cosplay at Pickford’s House and a Tomb Raver dance party at the Market Hall on Saturday night. Pickford’s House also has a special Sunday opening on 25 October as part of the anniversary celebrations. [visitderby.co.uk]
There’s even a temporary appearance from the new Lara Croft statue at the Museum of Making on Sunday. [visitderby.co.uk]
📍 Various venues, Derby
📅 Saturday 24 & Sunday 25 October
Basically: Derby has given Lara Croft her own weekend.
👻 LINCOLN: Monsters are invading the city
Things are getting weird in Lincoln.
The Big Spook begins on Saturday 24 October, bringing its Monster Invasion back to the city with a week of spooky activities.
If your small humans prefer monsters to museums, this is probably your move.
📍 Lincoln city centre
📅 From Saturday 24 October
[DETAILS]
🗺️ FIVE PLACES YOU MIGHT NOT HAVE DISCOVERED YET
This week, let’s make the overlooked places the destination.
1. Pickford’s House, Derby
A Georgian townhouse on Friar Gate that’s currently leaning heavily into Derby’s most famous digital adventurer. Its Lara Croft: 30 Years On exhibition transforms the house into Croft Manor and runs until 28 November. [visitderby.co.uk]
2. Gibraltar Point, near Skegness
Since we’ve been talking about Skegness this week, go slightly further south and discover the much wilder side of the Lincolnshire coast.
No arcades. No 2p machines. Quite a lot more sky.
3. Foxton Locks, Leicestershire
Ten locks, two staircases and one of the most distinctive pieces of canal engineering in the region. And if you’ve never wandered up to the remains of the old inclined plane, don’t just stop at the pub.
4. Calke Abbey, Derbyshire
Calke is especially interesting right now because its On Screen exhibition explores how Peaky Blinders: The Immortal Man came to life at the National Trust property. It runs from 22 October to 1 November. [Details]
5. The Museum of Making, Derby
If you haven’t been since it reopened, this is a good weekend to put that right. Assemble, Derby’s Making Festival, takes place there on Saturday, bringing makers together and letting visitors discover what they can make themselves. [visitderby.co.uk]
🎸 LIVE MUSIC PICKS
LEICESTER: The Halloween D&B warm-up
If your preferred method of preparing for Halloween involves considerably more bass, Breakin Science x Drumatics takes over O2 Academy Leicester on Saturday night.
The line-up includes SOTA, Benny L, IC3, Carasel MC and others, with the event running into the early hours of Sunday.
📍 O2 Academy Leicester
📅 Saturday 24 October
[TICKETS]
NOTTINGHAM: Pick a venue and take your chances
Nottingham’s smaller venues are particularly busy this weekend, with listings including Skindred at Rock City and a string of punk shows at The Old Bus Depot, while Groovebox brings DJ EZ, TS7 and others to The Nest. [allevents.in]
Then Hockley Hustle arrives on Sunday.
Not a terrible weekend to like live music in Nottingham.
LEICESTER: Halloween In Concert
Want the spooky season without being chased around a field by somebody wielding a fake chainsaw?
Halloween In Concert comes to De Montfort Hall on Sunday evening, putting a live band behind a night of suitably spooky pop and rock favourites. It starts at 7.30pm.
📍 De Montfort Hall, Leicester
📅 Sunday 25 October, 7.30pm
[Tickets]
🍴 FOOD & DRINK
Derby has a secret Saturday Supper Club
Hidden away inside Derby Market Hall is a more intimate way of doing Saturday night.
The Saturday Supper Club on 24 October promises three courses in the Market Hall’s secret dining room. [visitderby.co.uk]
📍 Derby Market Hall
📅 Saturday 24 October
Ideal if your idea of weekend excitement involves dinner rather than someone shouting “LAST ORDERS”.
Leicester Restaurant Week is your other excuse
Leicester’s food scene is worth paying attention to anyway, but Restaurant Week means there’s even more reason to make eating your way around the city the plan.
If you’ve been meaning to try somewhere new, this is the weekend to stop saying you’ll go “sometime”.
👨👩👧 FAMILY FRIENDLY
🎃 Pick your own pumpkin at Doddington
Doddington’s pumpkin picking is underway, with visitors invited to hunt down everything from perfectly round pumpkins to considerably more characterful, gnarled specimens. [visitlincoln.com]
📍 Doddington, Lincolnshire
🎃 Or go full pumpkin festival at Rand Farm Park
Rand Farm’s Frontier Pumpkin Festival is running throughout the second half of October, giving Lincolnshire families another suitably autumnal option.
📍 Rand Farm Park, Lincolnshire
[WEBSITE]
🧙 Derby has opened a School of Witchcraft and Wizardry
Bluebells School of Witchcraft and Wizardry begins on Saturday and runs until Halloween at Bluebells, Brunswood Farm.
No word on whether Ofsted has rated the potions department yet.
📍 Brunswood Farm, Derbyshire
📅 24–31 October
[DETAILS]
👀 ONE MORE THING…
Take a boat through the middle of Derby
Here’s one for people who constantly say“I’ve lived here for years and never knew you could do that.”
Derby Riverboat Trips are still running on selected dates through October, offering eco cruises along the River Derwent from the Museum of Making, complete with onboard café, children’s activities and commentary from David Suchet. [visitderby.co.uk]
There are sailings listed for Saturday 24 October.
📍 Museum of Making, Derby
Just don’t expect the Orient Express.
