Framework Knitters Museum's Christmas: knitted wreaths £27, felting £35, a free fayre 5 Dec, Victorian Christmas 12 Dec and Tricity Vogue's cabaret 19 Dec.

Ruddington’s Framework Knitters Museum has published its Christmas programme: three weeks of making workshops in November, a free craft fayre and a free Victorian Christmas in December, Father Christmas in the workers’ cottages on two Saturdays, and a cabaret night on 19 December that started life at Nottingham’s Theatre Royal. Most of it is ticketed and priced on the museum’s events calendar; the two free days need no booking.

One thing to know before you plan a trip: the museum says the main museum is closed throughout December, and visitors that month can get in only to the advertised festive events.

Christmas at the Framework Knitters Museum, Ruddington. Saturday 14 November: Framework Collage Workshop, 12.30pm to 4pm, £20. 15, 19 and 22 November: knit your own Christmas wreath, 12pm to 3pm, £27. 20 and 28 November: Christmas pudding needle felting, 1pm to 4pm, £35. Saturday 5 December: Christmas Craft Fayre, Chapel Gallery, 10am to 3pm, free. 5 and 12 December: Father Christmas, 11am to 4pm, £8, on sale 11am on 4 November. Sunday 6 December: Words and Music, Twelve Days, 2pm to 3pm, £6. Saturday 12 December: Victorian Christmas, 11am to 4pm, free. Saturday 19 December: Tricity Vogue's Christmas Sauce, 7pm to 9pm, £8.50.
The museum's Christmas dates and prices. Graphic by West Bridgford Live
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Tricity Vogue in a red beret and zigzag knitted dress, holding a ukuleleTricity Vogue walking between rows of old knitting frames at the museumA group of people seated around tables with yarn and partly made knitted wreaths in white, red and purpleTwo people standing by a Christmas tree, each holding a knitted wreath, one white and one green with small knitted figuresA ring of needle-felted Christmas puddings with white tops and red berries on a wooden boardA hand holding up a needle-felted Christmas pudding ornament on a red and white string

Photos: James Millar, supplied by Framework Knitters Museum; supplied by Framework Knitters Museum

“There’s something very fitting about making things together here,” David Longford said. “This was a place where people lived and worked with textiles, and we want that connection with making to continue. We hope people will come for a workshop, a visit to Father Christmas or a performance, and discover a part of Ruddington they might not have visited before.”

December: fayre, Father Christmas, poetry and a Victorian Christmas

  • Christmas Craft Fayre, Saturday 5 December, 10am to 3pm, free. Local makers sell handmade gifts and seasonal crafts in the Chapel Gallery. It falls on Ruddington Village Market Day, and Parker’s Yard café is open for refreshments.
  • Father Christmas, Saturdays 5 and 12 December, 11am to 4pm, £8. He receives visitors in a grotto inside the museum’s Victorian workers’ cottages. The museum’s listing says visits are booked in 10-minute slots with three places in each, and each child gets a wrapped gift. Tickets go on sale at 11am on Wednesday 4 November and the museum expects high demand. Our Santa’s grotto page compares it with the other grottos near West Bridgford.
  • Framework Words & Music: Twelve Days, Sunday 6 December, 2pm, £6. Poet Stuart Henson reads from his collection Twelve Days, with John Crawford on melodeon and guitar. The museum says it lasts about an hour and celebrates “Christmases past and present”.
  • Victorian Christmas, Saturday 12 December, 11am to 4pm, free. Carols, seasonal storytelling, traditional parlour games, Christmas crafts and a chance to try the museum’s historic circular knitting machines. Father Christmas visits that day are ticketed separately.
People in Victorian dress in a cottage parlour, holding up knitted stockings in red and white
People in Victorian dress with knitted stockings in one of the workers' cottages. Photo: supplied by Framework Knitters Museum
A cottage parlour with a black range, a mantelpiece hung with greenery, a candle-lit Christmas tree and wrapped parcels
A workers' cottage parlour dressed for Christmas. Photo: supplied by Framework Knitters Museum
A pile of small knitted mice on the floor in front of a cottage range
Knitted mice gathered by the range in one of the cottages. Photo: supplied by Framework Knitters Museum

What it means for you

  • Want Father Christmas? Be ready at 11am on Wednesday 4 November. Slots hold three children each, so a bigger family books more than one.
  • Want a workshop? Places are on sale now through the museum’s ticket portal. The museum says prices, times and booking arrangements vary by event, so check each listing.
  • Just want a look round? Do it in November. In December only the festive events are open.
  • Getting there: the museum is on Chapel Street, Ruddington, NG11 6HE.

Prices and times are from the museum’s events listing, checked on 27 October 2026.