Half-term crafts, contemporary art and palace trails fill Wells this week

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Wells has half term rather thoroughly covered this week. Half Term Family Activities continue at The Bishop's Palace, while Half-Term Holiday Activities: Taking Time bring three days of clock, hourglass and optical illusion-themed crafts to Wells Cathedral from Tuesday. Wells Art Contemporary is also continuing at the Cathedral, so anyone claiming there is nothing to do may have chosen a difficult week for the argument.

Saturday offers two very different reasons to get out in Glastonbury and Street. Glastonbury Dragons Wild Hunt brings the Red and White Dragons, drummers, Morris dancers and an ancestors fire ceremony to Glastonbury, while Northern soul takes over the Royal British Legion in Street. Dragons in the afternoon and vinyl on the dance floor later is a Saturday itinerary with very little wasted space.

Saturday, 24 October begins in Glastonbury with Glastonbury Dragons Wild Hunt, part of the Glastonbury Dragons' 10th anniversary year. The free event starts with the Wild Hunt Magic Market at Tor Leisure Centre from noon before performances at the Market Cross from 3pm. The Red and White Dragons begin their procession at 4pm, with a symbolic "battle for the season" at the Market Cross before moving along Benedict Street towards Tor Leisure Centre. An ancestors fire ceremony follows from 5.15pm, with the event ending at 6.30pm. The Pentacle Drummers are among this year's guests, joining Glastonbury Border Morris, Savage Sisters Morris, Glastonbury Dragon Drummers and others. Anyone who has ever wanted to spend Saturday afternoon helping a dragon walk down the High Street may also volunteer as a "Dragon leg".

Street keeps Saturday moving with Northern soul at the Royal British Legion. DJs will be playing Northern soul on vinyl, with the fairly straightforward intention of keeping people dancing. Sometimes an event description does not require several paragraphs of explanation, and this would appear to be one of those occasions.

Families in Wells can also make use of Half Term Family Activities at The Bishop's Palace, which continues until Sunday, 1 November. The programme includes trails in the gardens, a children's multimedia tour inside the Palace, crafts and the Dragon's Lair play area, giving families options whether the weather behaves itself or decides it has other plans.

Also continuing in Wells is Wells Art Contemporary at Wells Cathedral. The exhibition runs until 7 November and features 20 installations around the Cathedral and 100 artworks in the Cloisters, all responding to this year's theme, "For what is time?". A month-long exhibition about time remains admirably committed to the concept.

Tuesday, 27 October brings the first of three Half-Term Holiday Activities: Taking Time sessions at Wells Cathedral. Tuesday's activity invites children to make and decorate a mini hourglass between 10.30am and 3.30pm. On Wednesday, families can learn about the Cathedral's astronomical clock and make a moving paper version, while Thursday turns to spinning seasons and optical illusions. Activities are included with Cathedral admission, there is no need to book, and children must be accompanied by a responsible adult. Three days devoted to clocks, time and optical illusions should at least make the half-term week feel suitably complicated.

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Wednesday, 28 October takes the outdoor route near Shepton Mallet with Wild Wednesday! School Holiday Club at the Somerset Earth Science Centre in Stoke St Michael. The forest school-style session includes den building, natural arts and crafts, campfire cooking and time to explore outdoors. Families can choose between a five-hour session from 10am to 3pm at £27.50 or a two-and-a-half-hour session from 10am to 12.30pm at £16, with concessions available on a sliding scale. Half term involving den building and a campfire is at least considerably more ambitious than another afternoon negotiating screen time.

Wednesday also marks the start of Hellblock - Halloween at Shepton Mallet Prison, which runs until Sunday, 1 November. The 75-minute live-action horror experience transforms the former prison using actors, theatrical sequences, sound, lighting and interactive elements. Organisers warn that it includes darkness, loud and sudden noises, flashing or strobe-style lighting, smoke, confined environments, jump scares and disturbing scenes, so visitors should check age restrictions and accessibility information before booking. It is less "gentle seasonal cobweb" and rather more "you are now inside the horror film", which at least sets expectations clearly.

Over in Street, Waiting For Godot opens at Strode Theatre on Wednesday, 28 October and continues until Saturday, 31 October. Strode Theatre's in-house production follows Vladimir and Estragon as they wait beside a tree for the mysterious Mr Godot, only for other travellers to interrupt proceedings. Samuel Beckett's play mixes comedy and tragedy while circling questions about time, memory and meaning. Waiting for somebody who never seems to arrive may be existential theatre, although it also has a faint resemblance to certain delivery windows.

Wednesday's programme in Wells Cathedral continues with the astronomical clock activity from Half-Term Holiday Activities: Taking Time, before the final session on Thursday, 29 October focuses on seasons and optical illusions. Children can make either a four-seasons wheel or a day-and-night agamograph between 10.30am and 3.30pm.

Longer-running events also continue across the area. Moments of Light remains at Dorothy House Hospice Care in Winsley until the end of December, with Bruce Munro's large-scale light installation marking the hospice's 50th anniversary. Group Soundscape with Helen Stillwell is also continuing at Mells Barn on selected Tuesdays through December.

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