30 things to do in York this weekend, September 26-27 2015

Yorkshire’s very own Pigeon Detectives, The Sunshine Underground and The Sherlocks headline a new one-day music festival on Saturday at York Racecourse As well as a packed main stage, there are also fantastic food outlets, a good range of bars and the heard once and never forgotten Irie Vibes group. More

With a successful ten-year track record, York 50+ Festival is now firmly on the city’s calendar for citizens and visitors to enjoy, with this year’s programme topping 150 free events over nine days, including this Saturday and Sunday at various venues across the city. You can try everything from yoga and photography to quilting and drumming. More

The theme for this year’s festival is Food in Words & Pictures, so expect lots of chef art demonstrations, a festival cookery book and photography and poetry competitions across various venues around Parliament Street on Saturday and Sunday as well as the usual markets, cookery classes and free sampling. Here are our top festival choices.

Remarkable photographs from the archives of the National Railway Museum show the changing face of York Railway Station in a dynamic new exhibition on Saturday and Sunday. Destination Stations, which runs until January, is a free-entry collection that takes visitors on a journey through the evolving architectural history of Britain’s railway stations, chronologically exploring their changing roles and appearances. See our full feature here

It’s not every day you get to meet a world champion – and then challenge him to a game. That’s your opportunity at the Golden Ball in York on Saturday (2pm-10pm) when reigning bar billiards champ Dave Ingram will take you on for a donation to St Leonard’s Hospice. Full details here.
World champion celebrates astonishing revival of pub game in York

The Cherry Orchard arrives in York over 15 years since the last production (staged at the Theatre Royal) and just weeks after director Michael Billington included it in his personal list of 101 most important plays. York Settlement Community Players’ production promises to bring out the humour in Chekhov’s tragi-comedy as director Helen Wilson cites the host of colourful characters who are grappling with change, both social and financial. Saturday & Sunday, Friargate Theatre – more here.