Enter your pooch into a long-running dog show

Established in 1908, Alresford Show is a one-day celebration of agriculture and rural communities, featuring horse shows, horticultural competitions, vintage farm machinery, a dog show with lots of novelty categories you can enter (dog most like its owner? most adoring eyes?), lots of local food and drink stalls and more.

Alresford Show.
Saturday 5 September. 
📍near Alresford

Rave the weekend away on a farm

Get summer festival season fully out of your system with a final hedonistic adventure at Mucky Weekender, a music festival in the countryside just outside Winchester. Goldie 'Live' is the headliner, alongside Dub Pistols and David Rodigan.

Mucky Weekender at Vicarage Farm.
Thursday 10 - Saturday 12 September 2026.
📍near Winchester

Explore amazing buildings for free

Winchester is full of interesting buildings. Pretty ones, ancient ones and ones filled with intriguing treasures to discover. This September, a whole host of them, from The Great Hall and Winchester Cathedral to Winchester City Museum and Winchester College are totally free to enter, thanks to the Heritage Open Days 2026 festival, which sees museums, houses and more open their doors to members of the history-loving public. Please note: some buildings are free to visit for the duration of the festival while others are running free tours or events on selected dates.

Heritage Open Days 2026. 
Friday 11 - Sunday 20 September.
📍Various locations across Winchester city and district 

Eat your way around Taste of Wickham

A celebration of local food, as well as crafts, live music and family fun. The village of Wickham is transformed for the day with over 75 stalls, delicious local food and drink to sample, plus a kid's area where little ones can get stuck into face painting, bubbles and circus skills.

Taste of Wickham.
Sunday 13 September 2026. 
📍Wickham

Practise your downward dog in the park

Bring a yoga mat (or a towel) and enjoy a free hour of alfresco Park Yoga in one of Winchester's green spaces. There's no need to book, you just turn up and stretch it out in the great outdoors. A wholesome way to make the most of the end of the summery days.

Park Yoga at Garrison Ground (near Winchester Leisure Centre). 
Every Sunday until 13 September. 
📍Winchester city 

Visit an immersive nature festival

Floral installations will be taking over ancient Winchester Cathedral this month for 'Wild! A Festival of Flowers and Nature'. The festival will see the cathedral bursting with colour and creativity as hundreds of floral designers bring the wild beauty of nature to life through stunning installations, live botanical art, talks  and performances. Look out for thought-provoking installations exploring themes of the climate emergency, nature's resilience and our human relationship with the natural world.

Wild! A Festival of Flowers and Nature at Winchester Cathedral. 
Tuesday 15 - Saturday 19 September 2026.
📍Winchester city centre

Celebrate all things sustainable

Winchester's annual Green Week is taking place between 19 and 27 September and is made up of a calendar of events run by local communities and environmental groups, as well as green-minded businesses.

Winchester Green Week 2026. 
Saturday 19 - Sunday 27 September. 
📍Various locations in Winchester city 

Chase a PB at Winchester Half Marathon

Starting and finishing outside the Winchester Guildhall, this 13.1 mile route is as scenic as running routes come. Racers will weave past Winchester Cathedral and Winchester College before running along the Water Meadows, catching views of St Catherine's Hill and The Hospital of St Cross. They'll then head out for a stretch in the countryside before returning to the city's pretty centre. There's also a 1km Kids Fun Run at 12:30pm for little legs.

Winchester Half Marathon. 
Sunday 20 September. 
📍Winchester city centre

Laugh out loud at a comedy festival

Head to Winchester's Theatre Royal for the Winchester Comedy Festival Autumn Gala, a evening of stand-up comedy from Felicity Ward, Ray Badran, Esther Manito and Tom Deacon (MC).

Winchester Comedy Festival: Autumn Gala 2026 at Theatre Royal Winchester. 
Saturday 26 September. 
📍Winchester city centre