One of the reasons I started Cardiff Mummy Says was because I was fed up of hearing about events after they’d happened and missing out on things I knew my children would have loved. Almost three years on and the events listings are among the most popular things I publish on my blog. I’m so pleased they are so useful.

This guide brings together all the family and theatre performance taking place in and around Cardiff over the summer months and beyond, from stage adaptions of books by Julia Donaldson and David Walliams, to classical music shows designed with families in mind, there’s so much happening.

It’s all categorised by date and clicking on the name of the show will take you to the website for more information.

As always, all events are subject to change or cancellation. Please check with organisers to avoid disappointment.

Let me know if I’ve missed anything and please, please help me spread the word by sharing with all the other local parents you know. It helps me massively! Many thanks!

Don’t forget to follow Cardiff Mummy Says on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram for more ideas of local family-friendly events and attractions.

June

ABC of Opera: Family Workshop Day

Wales Millennium Centre, Weston Studio

Saturday 17^th June, 1pm

Part of the BBC Cardiff Singer of the World fringe events, families can discover the world of opera alongside professional opera singers as they unfold the tales of Don Giovanni, Violetta, Papageno, Angelina, the Barber of Seville and so much more.

July

The Scarecrows’ Wedding

Grand Pavilion, Porthcawl

Saturday 1^st July, 2pm

Julia Donaldson and Axel Scheffler’s best-selling book is brought to the stage in this heart-warming musical adaptation by Scamp Theatre. Betty O’Barley and Harry O’Hay are scarecrows in love and about to be married. Until, that is, the smooth Reginald Rake swoops in to try to take Harry’s place. Will Harry make it back in the nick of time to save their special day? Age guidance: 3+

First Hippo On The Moon

Swansea Grand Theatre

Friday 30^th June, 1.30pm and 4pm

Saturday 1^st July, 10.30am and 1pm

Age guidance: 3+

David Walliams’ bestselling paperback comes to the stage in this fantastical adventure featuring puppetry, music, mayhem and a giant space race to the moon!.

Oes Rhaid i Mi Ddeffro? / Do I have to Wake Up?

Wales Millennium Centre, Weston Studio

Friday 7^th and Saturday 8^th July

Welsh language performances:

7 July, 1.30pm; 8 July, 10am

English language performances: 7 July, 10am; 8 July, 1.30pm

Age guidance: 2-8

Featuring music, dance, flying, dreams and a magical world where socks turn into breakfast, Arad Goch’s latest show is an imaginative interactive production for young children and their families.

City Voices Cardiff: Let’s Go To The Movies 2

St David’s Hall, Cardiff

Saturday 8^th July, 7pm

A soundtrack packed with classic songs from films including Mamma Mia, The Wall, Skyfall, Hunger Games, Les Misérables, Happy Feet, Moulin Rouge, The Lord of the Rings, Yentl and many more, the Cardiff choir will be accompanied by a live orchestra in this follow up to their 2011 sell-out show Let’s Go To The Movies.

Milkshake! Live – The Magical Story Book

Wales Millennium Centre, Cardiff Bay

Sunday 9^th July, 11.30am and 2.30pm

This all-singing, all-dancing live showcase of Milkshake favourites stars Bob the Builder, Little Princess, Wissper, Fireman Sam, Pip from Pip Ahoy!, Winnie and Wilbur, Shimmer and Shine, Milkshake’s very own Milkshake Monkey and two Milkshake presenters.

We’re Going On A Bear Hunt

Swansea Grand Theatre

Tuesday 11^th-Thursday 13^th July

Tues 4.30pm, Wed 10.30am & 4.30pm, Thurs 10.30am & 1.30pm

Already a West End and international stage hit, this adaptation of Michael Rosen’s award-winning book We’re Going on a Bear Hunt is brought vividly and noisily to the stage as an intrepid family of adventurers and their musical dog head on their quest to find a bear, and wade through the gigantic swishy swashy grass, the splishy splashy river and the thick oozy, squelchy mud! Expect catchy songs, interactive scenes and plenty of hands-on adventure!

A Head In The Clouds

Blackwood Miners’ Institute

Wednesday 19^th July, 11am, 1pm, 3pm

Created especially for babies, toddlers and pre-schoolers, Ipdip Theatre’s A Head In The Clouds is a tactile, interactive performance about wandering sheep, wonderful clouds and a worried dog.

Disney’s Aladdin Jnr

Sophia Gardens, Cardiff

Saturday 22^nd-Saturday 29^th July, various performances

Open air theatre from Everyman with a specially-adapted version of Disney’s Aladdin, featuring magic, mayhem, flying carpets and hit songs from the film including Friend Like Me and A Whole New World.

Ben & Holly’s Little Kingdom

New Theatre, Cardiff

Saturday 15^th-Sunday 16^th July

Saturday 10am, 1pm, 4pm; Sunday 10am, 1pm

Princess Holly, her best friend Ben the Elf, Gaston the ladybird and their other friends come to the stage in this magical musical adventure based on the BAFTA-award winning animated television series.

Tickledom

Aberystwyth Arts Centre

Thursday 13^th-Friday 14^th July;

Princess Royal Theatre, Port Talbot

Tuesday 18^th July;

Muni Arts Centre, Pontypridd

Thursday 20^th-Friday 21^st July;

Memo Arts Centre, Barry

Saturday 22^nd July;

Congress Theatre, Cwmbran

Wednesday 26^th-Thursday 27^th July.

Wales Millennium Centre, Cardiff Bay

Sunday 30^th July, 4pm

A vibrant family musical telling of Princess Violet, her companion Marigold and host of colourful, curious friends, as they journey to find the forget-me-not flowers that will undo the evil curse placed on the land of Tickeldom by the icy cold witch Fluella.

Tiddly Prom: Bert’s Magical Musical Farmyard

St David’s Hall, Cardiff

Saturday 22^nd-Saturday 29^th July, 10.30am (no performances on Sunday 23^rd July)

A fun and interactive show about a busy day on Bert’s farm, featuring catchy songs and live music from orchestral instruments. Part of the Welsh Proms series.

Family Prom 2017: The Dance Off

St David’s Hall, Cardiff

Saturday 23^rd July, 3pm

An afternoon of well-known songs from West Side Story, Beauty and the Beast, Harry Potter, Pirates of the Caribbean, The Hunger Games, Danse Macabre, Puttin’ on the Ritz and Swan Lake, performed by Cardiff Philharmonic Orchestra. Special guest Connie Fisher presents the musical afternoon which will also see squads of local young dancers performing. Part of the Welsh Proms series.

The Wind In The Willows

Bryngarw Country Park

Monday 24^th July, 5.30pm

Boat-loving Ratty, sensible yet curious Mole, Wise Old Badger and the fantastically irrepressible Toad embark on the adventure of a lifetime culminating in a colourful battle with the sly weasel to save Toad Hall. This is an outdoor performance.

Billionaire Boy

Bryngarw Park, Bridgend

Friday 28^th July, 5.30pm

Age guidance: 7+

An outdoor performance of David Walliams’ best-selling story of Mr Spud and his son Joe, as they sell their final belongings to make some money to buy food.

August

The Addams Family

Wales Millennium Centre, Cardiff Bay

Tuesday 1^st-Saturday 12^th August, 7.30pm

Thursday, Saturday and Sunday, 2.30pm

The famously kooky family come to the stage in the UK premier of this musical comedy. Wednesday Addams is all grown up and has a shocking secret – she’s fallen in love with a young man from a respectable family.

Variety

New Theatre, Cardiff

Saturday 5^th August, 7.30pm

Young people from across Cardiff present a modern and exciting approach to the variety show, with performances from musicians dancers, actors, circus performers and artists showing the diverse talent of the city’s youth and arts scene.
The Wiggles

St David’s Hall, Cardiff

Sunday 6th August, 2.30pm

Age guidance: 2-7

Netflix family favourites The Wiggles are coming to Cardiff this summer with their all-singing, all dancing stage show. Emma, Lachy, Simon and Anthony will be joined by their best pals Dorothy the Dinosaur, Captain Feathersword, Wags the Dog and Henry the Octopus.

Alice Through The Looking Glass

Bryngarw Country Park

Monday 7^th August, 3pm

When Alice climbs through the mirror on her mantelpiece she finds herself in Looking Glass world; a world everything familiar is strange and nothing behaves as it should… An open air theatre performance of Lewis Carroll’s enchanting story.

Three Billy Pigs

Grand Pavilion, Porthcawl

Saturday 12^th August, 2pm

Age guidance: 3+

The Three Billy Pigs set off to build their dream houses in the green field on the other side of the river. But then these homes are put to the test by a misunderstood wolf who has a little bit of a problem. And who is the grumpy person who lives under the bridge?

Hairspray

Wales Millennium Centre, Cardiff Bay

Wednesday 16^th-Saturday 26^th August, various performances

Age guidance: 5+, no under 2s

Baltimore, 1962 and Tracy Turnblad, a big girl with big hair and an even bigger heart, is on a mission to follow her dreams and dance her way onto national TV – not to mention overturning the racism which stops black and white dancers appearing on the their favourite dance show together. The smash-hit musical features songs including Welcome To The 60s, You Can’t Stop The Beat and The Nicest Kids In Town.

Dogs Don’t Do Ballet

Bryngarw Country Park. Bridgend

Wednesday 23^rd August, 2pm

Age guidance: 3+

Based on Anna Kemp and Sara Ogilvie’s bestselling book, Dogs Don’t Do Ballet tells of Biff, who thinks he’s a ballerina, rather than a dog. Brought to the stage by acclaimed Blunderbus, this new story for ages 3+ tells the very funny tale of a small dog with big dreams.

Paw Patrol Live

Motorpoint Arena, Cardiff

Saturday 27^th-Sunday 27^th August, 10.30am, 1.30pm. 4.30pm

Ryder, Chase, Marshall, Rocky, Rubble, Zuma, Skye and Everest take to the stage with a live action musical version of the hit animated TV Nickelodeon series. When Mayor Goodway is nowhere to be found during the day of the Great Adventure Bay Race, the pups come to the rescue.

The Lost World

Bryngarw Country Park, Bridgend

Wednesday 30^th August, 6pm

An outdoor theatre adaptation for older children and their families of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s classic tale of four intrepid explorers who travel to South America where they find flora and fauna beyond their wildest dreams, become involved in tribal warfare between ape men and indigenous humans, and encounter terrifying dinosaurs previously believed to be extinct. But when their camera is destroyed in an accident what evidence can they produce to prove that these creatures actually exist? Unless, of course, they bring live specimens back to London in “unbreakable” crates to reveal to an astounded public. What could possibly go wrong?

The Gruffalo

Swansea Grand Theatre

Tuesday 29^th-Wednesday 30^th August

Tuesday 1.30pm and 4.30pm

Wednesday 10.30am and 1.30pm.

New Theatre, Cardiff

Thursday 31^st August-Sunday 3^rd September

Thursday 2pm; Friday-Sunday 11am-2pm

Running time: 55 minutes. Age guidance: 3+

A musical stage adaptation of Julia Donaldson and Axel Scheffler’s famous children’s picture book. While searching for nuts in the wood, Mouse meets the cunning Fox, eccentric Owl and party-mad Snake. He escapes their clutches by scaring with talk of the Gruffalo – but does the mythical creature exist after all?

September

Oz With Orchestra

St David’s Hall, Cardiff

Sunday 10^th September, 3pm

A screening of the classic 1939 Judy Garland film, The Wizard of Oz, complete with orginal vocals – but with a live musical accompaniment from Welsh National Opera’s Orchestra.

Poggle

Memo Arts Centre, Barry

Tuesday 19^th September, 10am, & 1.30pm

Age guidance: 6 months-4 years

A sensory dance theatre piece with live music, clapping rhythms and comedy, Poggle is the story of Vince, who wants to explore the forest but is too scared, until one day he meets Poggle, a friendly creature. Together they go on an adventure through the forest where they discover the magical musical tree.

Around The World in 80 Days

New Theatre, Cardiff

Tuesday 19th-Sunday 24th September, 7pm

Plus Thursday, Saturday and Sunday matinees 2.30pm

The mysterious and fabulously wealthy Phileas Fogg wagers his life’s fortune that he can circumnavigate the globe in just 80 days. Coming to Cardiff on a 6-month UK tour, this acclaimed production sees a cast of 8 play over 125 characters in an imaginative, high-spirited escapade including six trains, five boats, four fights, three dances, two circus acts and an elephant!

October

Slava’s Snowshow

Wales Millennium Centre, Cardiff Bay

Tuesday 17^th-Saturday 21^st October, 7.30pm

Thursday and Saturday, 2.30pm

Described by the Daily Mail as “utterly breathtaking” and globally acclaimed, Slava’s Snowshow is a multi-sensory theatrical adventure, filled with heart, humour and stunning spectacle.

Age guidance: 8+. No under 2s.

Peppa Pig’s Adventure

New Theatre, Cardiff

Wednesday 25^th-Thursday 26^th October, 10am, 1pm, 4pm

Age guidance: 3+

Join Peppa Pig, George and friends in this new live stage adventure featuring lots of songs and heaps of fun. The gang love having fun outside, especially when it’s an adventure – with tents! And muddy puddles, of course!

Tap Factory

New Theatre, Cardiff

Saturday 28^th October, 7.30pm

The family-friendly international hit show features urban tap dance, percussion, comedy and acrobatics, full of rhythmic drumming and percussive sounds created from the most ordinary of objects by a highly talented cast.

Milkshake Live – The Magical Story Book

Swansea Grand Theatre

Monday 30^th October, 12pm and 3.30pm

This all-singing, all-dancing live showcase of Milkshake favourites stars Bob the Builder, Little Princess, Wissper, Fireman Sam, Pip from Pip Ahoy!, Winnie and Wilbur, Shimmer and Shine, Milkshake’s very own Milkshake Monkey and two Milkshake presenters.

The Snow Dragon

The Riverfront, Newport

Tuesday 31st October, 11.30am and 2.30pm

Form Tall Stories, the company behind stage adaptations of The Gruffalo and The Snail and the Whale, comes The Snow Dragon. Billy, a young goat who has everything he needs, is looking forward to the annual visit of the legendary Snow Dragon, who will bring him even more goodies… But when Billy bumps into some hungry wolves in the forest, New Year’s Day seems along way off. How will Billy escape? And has he been naughty or nice?

November

Dracula: The Bloody Truth

Wales Millennium Centre, Weston Studio

1^st-2^nd November, 7pm

Age guidance: 8+

The dangers of vampires and how to deal with one is the theme of this new comedy theatre show for families with older children, Described by The Stage as “Ingenious and effortlessly hilarious”.

Little Shop of Horrors

St Donats Arts Centre, Vale of Glamorgan

Thursday 2^nd-Saturday 4^th November, 7pm plus 2pm Saturday matinee

Llantwit Major amateur theatre company Stage Door 1 present the sci-fi comedy musical about meek floral assistant Seymour and a man-eating plant he names Audrey II after his crush.

The Magic Porridge Pot / Hud Y Crochan Uwd

Sherman Theatre, Cardiff

Saturday 3^rd-Sunday 4^th November

(then touring South Wales including Riverfront Newport, Saturday 11^th November);

Saturday 25^th November-Saturday 30^th December; various times

The classic Brothers Grimm fairytale is brought to life in the Sherman’s annual Christmas offering for younger children, with performances in both Welsh and English. When a girl does a good deed, she is rewarded with a magic pot which makes tasty porridge on demand – just what her hungry family needs. But one day her mother can’t make the pot stop and soon the whole town begins to fill up with porridge. Who can stop the pot?

Disney’s The Little Mermaid JR

Swansea Grand Theatre Arts Wing

Friday 3^rd and Saturday 4^th November, 2pm and 7pm

Stage 8 Theatre School Gowerton and Sketty present Disney’s The Little Mermaid JR, a special adaptation of the Disney classic animated musical film as mermaid Ariel falls in love with a human.

Tiger Bay

Wales Millennium Centre, Cardiff Bay

14^th-25^th November

Age guidance: 8+, no under 2s

Tiger Bay, early 1900s, Extreme poverty meets supreme wealth as gangs of children roam the street and coal is king. A revolution is brewing I the drk and restless world beneath the genteel surface of Cardiff’s Butetown, as a young woman is determined to challenge society. A new production from Wales Millennium Centre in association with Cape Town Opera.

Joseph And The Amazing Technicolor® Dreamcoat

Swansea Grand Theatre

Tuesday 14^th-Saturday 18^th November,

X-Factor winner Joe McElderry stars as Joseph in Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice’s famous musical. The show retells the Biblical story of Joseph, his eleven brothers and the coat of many colours, including unforgettable songs including Those Canaan Days, Any Dream Will Do and Close Every Door.

December

The Wind in the Willows

Sherman Theatre, Cardiff

Friday 1^st-Saturday 30^th December

Following the success of 2016’s The Borrowers, Kenneth Graham’s much-loved family classic The Wind In The Willows will be the Sherman’s Christmas production for older children. Join Mole, Rat, Badger and Toad on an adventure of a lifetime as Kenneth Grahame’s classic book is brought to the stage.

Santa In Love

Memo Arts Centre, Barry

Tuesday 5^th December, 1pm

A fun-filled family musical with games, giggles and Christmas songs answering all those questions about Santa. Incudes a meeting with the man himself and a small gift after the show.

Aladdin

The Riverfront, Newport

Tuesday 5^th December-Sunday 7^th January

Details to be announced.

Beauty and The Beast

Paget Rooms, Penarth

Thursday 7^th-Friday 8^th December, 7.30pm

Saturday 9^th-Sunday 10^th December, 2.30pm

Penarth Operatic and Dramatic Society present their annual pantomime, based on the classic tale of Beauty and the Beast. More details to follow.

Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs

New Theatre, Cardiff

Saturday 9^th December-Sunday 14^th January 2018

Samantha Womack, Gareth ‘Alfie’ Thomas, Mike Doyle, Chico and Tam Ryan star in the New Theatre’s annual family panto, with comedy, music, dance numbers and spectacular costumes and scenery.

The Snow Queen: A Frozen Tale

Memo Arts Centre, Barry

Thursday 14^th and Friday 15^th December, 7.30pm; Saturday 16^th December 11am and 2.30pm, Sunday 17^th December 2.30pm

Barry’s amateur dramatics company Billboard Ensemble give the Hans Christian Andersen fairy tale the panto treatment. The tale of the struggle between good and evil experienced by young sisters trying to find their way in the world also features some of the songs from the Disney hit film Frozen.

Aladdin

Swansea Grand Theatre

Friday 15^th December-Sunday 14^th January

Follow Aladdin, his brother Wishee Washee, and his mother Widow Twankey on a spectacular adventure full of flying carpets, a wish-granting genie, an evil sorcerer and a lamp-full of laughs.

Cinderella

Pavilion Theatre, Porthcawl

Saturday 16th December to Sunday 7th January

Will Cinders go to the ball in the Pavilion’s panto? Spectacular scenery, breathtaking costumes, stunning special effects, fabulous song and dance routines and hilarious slap stick comedy, as Cinderella’s Ugly Sisters plot to stop her getting to the ball.