Whether the true meaning of Easter for you is The Passion, chocolate or new life in the hedgerows, we have suggested activities for every way to celebrate. Many, as always, are free or low cost, and we also offer details of where children can dine out free.
Chocolate
Let's get this one out of the way first, since it appeals to all ages! If Easter is all about the egg hunt and you're looking for something special and local, you've got some egg-cellent options. Coco Noir in Headington sell high-end Belgian chocolates with a wide range of flavours and fillings. Wicked in the Covered Market is an emporium of all shapes, sizes, flavours, and strengths of chocolate, at pocket money to extra mortgage prices. Also home to IScream Gelateria.
To learn more about the dark arts, head to Thame and the famous Rumsey's Chocolaterie. Buy chocolates, relax in the cafe, or for a more in-depth sticky-fingered exploration book a chocolate workshop and design your own bar! Even if you're not tempering it yourself, you can watch through the beautiful little window into the kitchen.
Baby Animals
At Farmer Gows there are chicks and lambs about, and while children cannot cuddle them, they are allowed to pat and admire. At Millets Farm there are ducks, chickens, rabbits, goats, alpacas and donkeys in the animal walkway (free) or for falcons, mongeese, wallabies, and generally wilder animals you can visit the little Wildside Zoo on the same site (£12.95 adults, £9.95 children). No animals should be fed no matter how tame / persistent they are!
Sandy Lane Farm is also a very lovely place to hang out. On Fri 3rd and Sat 4th April their shop doors are open wide. The main attraction is of course the veg (glossy, fresh, zero food miles) but the meat, cake and coffee and lino cut cards are pretty good too. This is not a farm visit as such but the pig sty in the yard often has some sweet residents to say hi to.
And of course you can see all the spring sights across the county in many green areas, big, small, inner city, rural, free and paid for. We particularly love BBOWT who manage many green spaces. Their seasonal guide tells you the best reserves for bluebells, birdsong, and other highlights for this time of year (including the Snakes Head Fritillaries at Iffley). Be aware not all reserves are suitable for dogwalking.
If a ramble seems too aimless, sign up to volunteer with Oxford Conservation Volunteers. They organise weekly trips (with minibus pickup from the city if you want) to go and bash brambles, lay hedges, trim unruly weeds, and build boardwalks in the various green spaces they help to manage. Children are allowed though they'll need supervision (especially with tools around) and may hamper your ability to get much conservation done! We think this is a great way to get out past the ringroad and meet a bunch of enthusiasts, especially if you don't have your own transport.
Christian Easter and Passiontide
We know it's not hard to find a church in Oxfordshire... and you're spoilt for choice over Easter weekend - the biggest Christian Festival of all (yes, bigger than Christmas). For Roman Catholics, Easter weekend contains a vigil on Easter Saturday (a bit like Midnight Mass on Christmas Eve). The Oratory is probably the finest Roman Catholic church in Oxford so if you want to experience the full weekend of services, head there. Some CofE churches are holding welcoming family-friendly services on Easter Day followed by egg hunts, including St Alban's and SS Mary and John around the Cowley Road. Whereas All Saints' Headington is holding a children's session on Good Friday to make an Easter garden and eat hot cross buns.
Passion plays have a long and noble tradition and we have two plays being staged in Oxford - a community Passion Play in Bonn Sq on Sat 4th April, and a play by pro company LAMPS in the BT Studio on Fri 27th March. There's also a new musical piece, Passia, for women's voices, in St Mary Mags (Magdalen St, sandwiched by bus stops) on Tue 31st March. Last but not least, St Clements Church are inviting people in for a self-directed Stations of the Cross installation on Sat 28th March, as a different way to traverse the Easter story. We hope you find whatever spiritual drama or peace you desire, in one way or another.
Kids Eat Free (or for £1)
The Daily Info brood seem to be starving all the time at the moment. If your children also have bottomless appetites you might like to know where cheap children's meal deals can be had this holidays. Money Saving Central have compiled a list of big chains, offering children's meals free or for £1, usually but not always with an adult meal. To this list we can also add Zizzi (you need to join their Zillionaires app but this is free), and Marston's Pubs including The Cow and Creek in central Oxford, who are serving up a Matilda-themed menu at the moment (complete with gooey chocolate cake, though this is not free). It's also worth remembering that Waste 2 Taste cafe have a Freezer of Love - meals to take home and eat, available on a donation basis, and a Kindness Menu where you can pay it forward or claim a free meal if you need one. This is always available, not just in the holidays. Flo's Cafe in Florence Park also has a Me & You pay it forward scheme using beautiful little wooden hearts. Don't go hungry! There is help available.