👋 Hi Devon Friends,

Welcome to Go Devon!, a weekly newsletter with fun, interesting and unique things to do in Devon. Thanks for being here!

This week’s newsletter has 12 new prize competitions for Devon leisure breaks. 🤿 Dive in!

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More than your average truck show

The Devon Truck Show is not just impressive displays of gleaming haulage trucks.

If you’re a truck-loving petrolhead, or just want to see trucks in a new light, you might want to make a weekend of it and enjoy live music, truck rides, bike stunts, a fun fair and motorcycle wall of death.

In the main arena monster trucks perform crushing action (video) while music is provided by Radio 2’s Scott Mills and The Wurzels among others.

For the kids there’s face painting and glitter, circus workshops and shows and mini truck rides.

Camping and glamping is available including pitches for tents, motorhomes, and caravans.

Friday 17th to Sunday 19th May. Smeatharpe Airfield, Honiton EX14 4SP

Day tickets. Family £40.50, Adult £15.50, child £7.50

Wanna bathe in some soaring crescendos?

Experience 3 classics by candlelight performed by some of the country’s best classical musicians in Exeter Cathedral.

London Concertante are playing Mozart’s Marriage of Figaro Overture, Vivaldi’s The Four Seasons and Vaughan Williams’ The Lark Ascending.

If you don’t consider yourself “in the know” about classical music, fear not, this is the orchestra for you. London Concertante has an impressive record in which half of their audiences are first time classical concert goers.

The orchestra has audiences laughing at jokes, gasping at virtuosity, moved by gorgeous string playing and leaving with a smile on their faces.

6.45pm, Thursday 18th April. Tickets from £22.38

A fun mix of sun, sand, music and ball games

Back for a 3rd year, the rugby and netball festival on Exmouth beach offers a weekend of friendly sporting fun for all ages and standards.

Squads with a maximum of 10 are invited to enter 5-a-side competitions with rolling substitutes. There are mens, women and mixed/family sections.

Exmouth Beach Rugby and Netball Festival kicks off with a launch BBQ party on the Friday night, competitions all weekend with live music on Saturday and Sunday nights.

May Bank Holiday Weekend. Friday 24th to Sunday 26th May.

Enter a team.

Wine tours with a difference

Wine tasting is wine tasting, right?

Not according to the folks at Kenton Park Estate who never stop coming up with new ways for you to enjoy a tipple.

How about wine tasting and paddleboarding, wine and 4×4 driving, wine safari with lunch, or even wine and fishing?

Back on land, all tours include tasting at least 4 estate wines, outdoors exploring different plantations and overlooking beautiful Devon countryside.

They last between 2.5 and 4.5 hours including lunch.

And if you are a bit worse for wear after that you can stay in the wine lodge, which sleeps 2 and has a swimming pool.

Kenton Park Estate opens on 9th April. Exeter EX6 8NW

Create your own pet portrait

Ever fancied painting your pet and making a reasonable job of the outcome?

Join a 2-day weekend short-course in Plymouth where even complete beginners can make lifelike artwork.

Artist Sally Holt will teach and support you to create an acrylic portrait from a digital or printed photograph.

The steps seem easy. First learn drawing techniques to create a structure, then use colour blocking and colour choices to develop the painting.

You will aim to finish with a painting showing off the personality of your pet and making their eyes come alive.

10am to 3pm, Saturday 20th and Sunday 21st April.

Ocean Studios, The Factory Cooperage, Royal William Yard, Plymouth PL1 3RP

All experience levels welcome. Tickets £95.71

Bring your own Tupperware for Plymouth’s first vegan market

Some of the best independent vegan brands will gather in Plymouth for the first time on Saturday 27th April.

The event showcases a range of vegan food from street to kitchen plus ethical fashions, zero waste household ideas and cruelty-free skincare.

And in line with best eco-warrior principles, organisers have banned plastic bags and cutlery. They recommend bringing your own tote bag and Tupperware containers to fill up with goodies.

Public transport is encouraged and if you have to drive, you can even offset your emissions by planting a tree.

10am to 4pm. Central Park PL2 3DG. Free. Dogs allowed.

Listings

🌊 North Devon 

APRIL

Sat 6th

MARKET | 🌽 Eat Festival | Try some of the West Country’s best food and drink | Bideford Quayside EX39 2EY | Free

CHARITY | ⚓️ RNLI Appledore Race Night | St Mary’s Church, Appledore EX39 1RL | Tickets £6.13

Sun 7th

ENTERTAINMENT | 🌼 Spring Family Rave | Crafts, games and more! | The Landmark Theatre, Ilfracombe EX34 9BZ | Tickets £5

Tue 9th

SKILL | 📷 Sunset Photography Walk with Mark Johnson | Woolacombe Down EX34 7DL | Tickets £5

Sun 14th and Sun 21st

NATURE | 💐 Immerse yourself in the spring bluebells at Hartland Abbey | Stoke, Bideford EX39 6DT | Adult entry £10, Child (5-15) £1

Wed 24th

BALLET | 🩰 Royal Opera House screening of Swan Lake | The Landmark Theatre, Ilfracombe EX34 9BZ | Tickets from £14

Fri 26th

MUSIC | 🎙️ The Sensational 60s Experience | Music nostalgia | Queens Theatre, Barnstaple EX31 1SY | Tickets from £33

MAY

Sat 11th

CHARITY | 🚶80s themed Nightwalk for North Devon Hospice | Barnstaple Rugby Club EX31 1JH | Adult tickets £21.92, children (11-17) £11.26

Sun 12th

FOOD | 🍄 Foraging course | Bulworthy Forest Lodges, Bideford EX39 4PU | Adult tickets £60, U16s £30

Fri 31st

ENTERTAINMENT | 📽️ Outdoor Cinema screening Top Gun | Arlington Court, Barnstaple EX31 4LP | Tickets from £16.98

🐬 South Devon

APRIL

Mon 1st

ENVIRONMENT | 🌊 Easter Eggcase Hunt | Explore the shore of Langdon beach whilst looking for marine treasures | Wembury Marine Centre, Church Rd PL9 0HP | Family ticket £5.94

Mon 1st to Sun 21st

ART | 📷 Wildlife Photographer of the Year Exhibition | Seaton Tramway, Harbour Road EX12 2WD | Adult tickets £6.80, U16s free

Sat 6th

HORTICULTURE | 🪴 Garden Design Workshop with Frances Tophill | Southcombe Barn, Widecombe TQ13 7TU | Tickets £157.80

SPORT | 🥊 A night of boxing at the Plymouth Life Centre | 40 Mayflower Drive PL2 3DG | Tickets £33.22

Sun 7th

FAIR | 🥙 Food and Craft Market | Royal William Yard, Plymouth PL1 3RP | Free

Tue 23rd

HISTORY | ⚓️ A presentation by Dr Cathryn Pearce on the Shipwreck Imposters | Lecture Theatre, Roland Levinsky Building, Plymouth PL4 8AA | Tickets £6

Sun 28th 

ANIMALS | 🐑 Feed lambs and meet the new calves and piglets this spring | Martinsfield Farm, Exeter EX5 3JH | Adult tickets £5, children free.

MAY

Fri 3rd to Sun 5th

MUSIC | 🎶 Mad Dog Mcrea | Exeter Phoenix, Gandy St EX4 3LS | Tickets £19.50

Thu 16th to Sat 18th

FAIR | 🎪 Devon County Show | Westpoint, Clyst St Mary, Exeter EX5 1DJ | Adult tickets £20, U16s £7.50

Sat 25th

CHALLENGE | 🏃‍♀️ The Langstone Fell Race | Peter Tavy Village Hall PL19 9NN | Adult registration £10, children £4

🏆️ Win Devon prizes

We find Devon prize competitions so you don’t have to.

Closing dates in brackets. Terms and conditions apply, see individual websites for details.

You could win:

New!  🏰 A family ticket to the Gone Wild Festival at Powderham Castle, Exeter, in August, worth £524 (Today, 28 March)

New!  🍾 A champagne afternoon tea at a top Plymouth hotel (No date given)

New!  🌊 A VIP spa day for 2 including afternoon champagne tea at a North Devon resort hotel worth over £400 (31 March).

🍺 A Salcombe Brewery Company “Pub in a Box” (31 Mar)

🪙 £250 worth of vouchers towards a Devon break (31 Mar)

New!  🎷 A 2-night hotel stay for 2 at the 2024 Sidmouth International Jazz and Blues Festival 23-27 May (1 April)

🛌 A bumper Dartmouth leisure package including B & B for 2, private sauna and paddleboarding (1 April)

New!  💪 2 tickets to the Magic Men show at Exmouth Pavilion on 3rd May (2 April)

New!  🚢 A family ticket for a Dartmouth to Totnes river cruise (2 April)

New!  🍾 3 bottles of English sparkling wine and a vineyard tour (18 April)

New!  🍇 One of 4 vineyard tours and lunch for 2 with Dartmoor views (19 April)

New!  🐕️ A 3-night stay in an eco-conscious, dog-friendly luxury lodge, with up to 4 guests, and a welcome hamper for humans and canines. (21 April)

New!  🏇 2 four-day tickets to the Bicton International Horse Trials, a food hamper and free camping pass on 23-26 May (25 April)

👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 1 of 4 amazing 2024 family park holidays (30 April)

New!  🏡 An escape to a newly refurbished cottage in South Devon (10 May)

New!  🍷 A one‑night stay for two in a boutique North Devon venue and pub, a three‑course dinner for two and a farm tour worth a total of £375. (15 May)

Got a competition? Let us know.

That’s all for this week, but…

Can we ask a favour? Please forward this email to ONE friend today and invite them to subscribe here so they can keep up with Devon events and competitions.

With Devon love,

Andy, Esme, Lara and the Go Devon! team.