Jazz, cider and a hidden kitchen garden lead the Wells weekend diary

What's On Wells is sponsored by Wells Festival of Literature, celebrating the written word in the heart of Wells. The festival returns to Cedars Hall from 16 to 24 October 2026, with another programme bringing writers, readers and ideas together.

Wells and the surrounding area have put together a weekend that moves rather efficiently from vegetables to saxophones and then cider. Thursday brings Free Kitchen Garden Open Day in the Mendip Hills to Leigh-on-Mendip, before Wells Jazz and Blues Festival begins on Friday and Wells Cathedral Cider & Cheese Festival 2026 arrives on Saturday.

Taken together, it is a reasonably convincing argument against staying in.

Thursday, 24 September starts in Leigh-on-Mendip, where Free Kitchen Garden Open Day in the Mendip Hills runs from 10am to 4pm at Asterion & Co., The Old Vicarage. The free event is being held in collaboration with Pennard Plants and gives visitors the chance to explore its Kitchen Show Garden, including open beds, a glasshouse, polytunnel, orchard and ornamental borders. Heritage fruit, vegetables, herbs and edible ornamentals will be labelled, while horticulturalist Chris Smith and heritage seed specialist Mike Milligan will be on hand to offer advice. For anyone whose own vegetable patch has become an elaborate method of feeding slugs, professional guidance may be timely.

Later on Thursday, Lilith: The Other Side of the Story comes to Strode Theatre in Street. Katy Cawkwell's one-woman storytelling show explores the mythological figure of Lilith through traditions from Arabia, Ethiopia, Mesopotamia and Jewish storytelling. The production is for audiences aged 16 and over and is described by the listing as highly auditory and suitable for visually impaired people. Anyone expecting a quiet retelling of Eden may wish to recalibrate before taking their seat.

Friday, 25 September sees Wells Jazz and Blues Festival begin a three-day run across central Wells. The festival continues until Sunday, 27 September, with performances at The White Hart, The Swan Hotel, Blossom's at Wells and The Rose and Crown. Organisers say 40 bands are confirmed for the weekend, including returning performers and new additions. That is enough jazz and blues to make claiming there is "nothing on in Wells" particularly difficult this weekend.

Saturday, 26 September then arrives with the diary apparently determined to fit in everything at once.

At Wells Cathedral, Wells Cathedral Cider & Cheese Festival 2026 brings together West Country cider and cheese, with local produce and live music also forming part of the event. The festival is intended to celebrate producers from the region while raising funds for the cathedral. Cider and cheese in a medieval cathedral is a combination that feels so Somerset it may require very little further explanation.

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At the Bath & West Showground, meanwhile, This Ain't Texas brings a one-day country and western-themed festival to Shepton Mallet. The programme includes live country tribute acts, dancing sessions, American-style barbecue and street food, merchandise and axe throwing, with country fancy dress encouraged. The organisers describe the event as family-friendly. Cowboy boots are therefore optional, although this does appear to be one of the relatively few Somerset Saturdays where they would require no explanation.

Over in Glastonbury, My Birth My Voice - Exhibition opens at the Assembly Rooms on Saturday and continues on Sunday. The free exhibition is part of the Sacred Birth Centre's Birth Stories project, funded by The National Lottery Community Fund, and brings together art and poetry created through community workshops exploring people's experiences of birth. An opening ceremony is scheduled for 10.30am on Saturday, with the closing ceremony at 3.30pm on Sunday. Entry is free and the organisers say all are welcome.

The weekend continues on Sunday, 27 September with Autumn Equinox Gathering with Amanda Randell Cox at Heal Somerset, near Witham Friary. Beginning at 7.30am, the morning includes refreshments, a guided walk through the rewilding site, a botanical creative session and a seasonal vegetarian brunch. Guests will work with seasonal grasses and seed heads before making their own wire insect to take home. The event ends at 11am. An early start, admittedly, but at least there is brunch waiting at the other end of it.

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