Events in and around Aylesbury: a local guide

Aylesbury has a full calendar for a market town. Some events are a few minutes from your door. Others mean a longer drive across the Vale or over the county border. This guide covers four of the biggest, the time of year each one happens, and how Butlers Airport Cars can take you there and bring you home. We provide the transport only and do not sell event tickets.

Pantomime at Aylesbury Waterside Theatre

The Waterside Theatre on Exchange Street is the town's main stage, with touring musicals, comedy and concerts through the year. Its longest run is the family pantomime, which plays from early December into the first days of January. This winter the show is Sleeping Beauty. The theatre's pantomime page has the details.

From most Aylesbury addresses the theatre is a short ride, and a car saves hunting for a parking space on a busy show night. Tip: book your return before you leave home and ask to be collected a few minutes after the curtain, once the crowd has thinned.

Steam trains at the Buckinghamshire Railway Centre

The Buckinghamshire Railway Centre is a railway museum with working steam engines, on the edge of Quainton village. Its steaming season runs from spring into autumn, with family days such as Day Out With Thomas. In the weeks before Christmas it runs steam trains with Father Christmas, and this season's event adds a pantomime. The centre's what's on page lists what is running.

The centre is about 6 miles from Aylesbury, along the A41 through Waddesdon and then the turn for Quainton. The nearest railway station is around 4 miles away, so a car is the practical way to arrive. Tip: the centre says pre-booking is essential for its Christmas events, so buy your tickets first and book your car second.

The Bucks County Show at Weedon Park

The Bucks County Show is a one-day agricultural show held in late August at Weedon Park, just north of Aylesbury. Expect livestock and horse classes, vintage tractors, a food hall and more than 200 trade stands. The show's website carries the programme.

Weedon is about 3 miles from the town centre, off the A413, so the ride is quick. Tip: book the return journey ahead and allow extra time around closing, when most visitors leave together.

The British Grand Prix at Silverstone

Silverstone hosts the Formula 1 British Grand Prix each summer, usually in early July, along with other race meetings through the season. It is one of the biggest sporting weekends in Britain, and the roads north of Aylesbury are at their busiest then.

The circuit is roughly 30 miles north of Aylesbury by the A413 through Buckingham. Tip: Silverstone says it does not provide a drop-off facility at the circuit for the Grand Prix, so read its getting here page first and tell us which drop-off point you plan to use.

Planning your journey

• Book early for December weekends and for Grand Prix weekend.
• Give us the venue, the start time and the time you want to be collected.
• Tell us how many are travelling so we send the right car: saloon, estate, executive or MPV.
• Ask for a child or booster seat if you need one.