125th Birthday Party

Tickets sold out – some capacity on the door.

At this free celebration, you’ll find activities in every corner of the Gardens – find the map on site showing where each zone is below.

If you can’t make it on Saturday join us at our bumper 125th Birthday Market with 50+ traders, bouncy castles and more on Sunday 28 June.

The Gardens will be closed for the event but the Museum, and birthday activities in the Museum, remain open to all.

Please note – the Butterfly House and Animal Walk may close to party-goers at short notice due to the extreme temperatures.

Pink Zone 

Tree Shadow Tracing
Drop in, 12pm to 4.45pm, Everyone 3+ 

Enjoy a quieter moment of colouring in. Can we trace in the entire shadow of a tree by the end of the day? 

Hedgehog Highway
Drop in, 12pm to 4.45pm, Everyone 3+ 

One of the best ways to encourage hedgehogs to visit a new area is to cut holes in fences. We have our own series of fence holes between the Nature Trail and the Gardens, but no sightings of any spiky friends yet. Help us encourage them to pop in by making tiny signs for our hedgehog highway. 

Oops (Almost Right)
Drop in, 12pm to 4.45pm, Aged 5+ 

Inspired by the Horniman’s famously overstuffed walrus, you’ll explore how misunderstandings, guesses, and imperfections can be used to make sense of the world by creating your own artwork. 

The Multicultural Traveling Book Carnival
Drop in, 12pm to 4.45pm, Everyone 

Meet the team from BookLove and explore their travelling bookshop filled with an amazingly, spectacularly, colourful collection of books and dolls. 

Story Corner: Beanstalk Arts

1pm to 1.30pm, 2.15pm to 2.45pm, 3.30pm to 4pm, Aged 0–7

Join Beanstalk Arts for musical storytelling for under 5s.

Story Corner: The Best Jollof Rice Ever!
1.40pm to 2.10pm, 2.55pm to 3.25pm

Enjoy interactive storytelling and colouring sessions with Onyinye Iwu, author of The Best Jollof Rice Ever!. Onyinye will be signing copies of her book at the end of each session.

Kusuma Nature Play
Drop in, 12pm to 4.45pm, Aged 0–11 

Nature Trail
Drop in, 12pm to 4pm, Everyone 

BCO Street Band 

Enjoy an eclectic mix of music, from New Orleans swing to drum and bass to pop, from the BCO Street Band as they wander through the gardens. 

Purple Zone

Unseen Orchestra
Drop in, 12pm to 4.45pm, Everyone 5+ 

Hidden within the Gardens, unseen creatures are waiting to be heard. You’ll meet them, collect their sounds, and build a micro-orchestra in this playful scavenger hunt created by the team from the Royal College of Arts. 

Quiet Area
Drop in, 12pm to 4.45pm, Everyone 

If you need a quieter space away from the hustle and bustle of the event, you can find a bench on our beautiful Stepped Terrace opposite the Butterfly House. The top of the terrace is accessible by wheelchair, but the lower levels have step access. 

Animal Walk
Drop in, 12pm to 4.30pm, Everyone 

Walk in between the enclosures for a close encounter with its furry and feathered residents. 

Butterfly House
Ticketed, Drop in, 12pm to 4pm (last entry 3.30pm) 

Get up close to hundreds of beautiful butterflies in our tropical indoor garden. Please note this activity has an additional fee. 

Bouncy Castles
Drop in, 12pm to 4.45pm, Everyone 

Please note this activity has an additional fee. 

UrbanCrazy Mini Golf
Ticketed, 12pm to 4.30pm, Everyone 

Take on nine holes themed around your favourite Horniman attractions – tee-off from the Clocktower, putt past the Walrus, and try for a birdie at the Butterfly House. Please note this activity has an additional fee. 

Green Zone 

Bandstand Stage: Jlte
12.30pm to 2.30pm

South London-based DJ and electronic artist Jlte brings multi-genre sets encompassing global club sounds including Amapiano, Grime, Techno, UK Funky, Reggaeton and Dembow.

Bandstand Stage:  Seth DS

2.50pm to 4.45pm

SethDS is a Sri Lankan-born, South East London-raised DJ, producer and radio host. His genre-bending sets and productions are inspired by the bubbling scenes in his local South London, as well as ritual rhythms from his Sri Lankan heritage.

Future Garden Guardians
12pm to 4.45pm, Aged 4+ 

It’s 2151. Summers are hot and dry. Winters bring heavy rain and sudden flash floods. Become a Gardens Guardian and design the future you’d like to see with the team from the Royal College of Arts. 

Papel Picado Workshop
Drop in, 12pm to 4.45pm, Everyone 6+ 

Explore the traditional pre-Hispanic Mexican paper crafts and create a beautiful flag to add to the birthday decorations. 

Memories Map
Drop in, 12pm to 4.45pm, Everyone 

Add your memories of visits to the Horniman to our big map. 

Horniman History
Drop in, 12pm to 4.45pm, Everyone 

Look back over 125 years of the Horniman with a timeline of posters from across the last century. 

Resonance of Breathing
12pm to 4.45pm, Everyone 

Breathe with a 300-year-old oak tree and help carry its breath into a digital space created by the team from the Royal College of Arts. 

Horniman Future Station
Drop in, 12pm to 4.45pm, Everyone 

What will the Horniman be like in 125 years’ time? Help shape the near future at our interactive insights station. 

Hidden Stories’ Community Textile
Drop in, 2pm to 4.45pm, Everyone 

Explore this community textile telling the hidden stories of members of our African and Caribbean Collections Hub and the Horniman’s collection. 

Find Out About Volunteering Pop-up 

Meet our Volunteering Team and learn how to get involved in our volunteering community. 

Horniman Shop Pop-up
12pm to 4.45pm 

Peruse an exclusive range of Horniman-branded products inspired by our collections. 

Blue Zone 

Tours and Trails Tent
12pm to 4.45pm, Everyone 

See the Museum and Gardens from new and surprising perspectives with tours from experts or self-led trails. 

Sunken Garden DJ
12pm to 4.45pm, Everyone 

DJ, broadcaster and curator Rohan Rakhit brings expansive, genre-spanning sets rooted in soulful music and global sounds. 

Grassland Grace
Drop in, 12pm to 4.45pm, Everyone 3+ 

Discover handmade insects hidden in grass bundles and create bug headwear while reflecting on biodiversity through play. 

Basket of Light
Drop in, 12pm to 4.45pm, Everyone 7+ 

Join Artists Stone Tellers to be a part of creating a new artwork The Hands That Dreamed of New Suns. You’ll weave materials into a large-scale basket sculpture while enjoying weaving songs and music.

Bee Buddies
Drop in, 1pm to 4pm, Everyone 

Meet our Bee Buddies in the Sunken Gardens and learn about pollinators, plants and bee-friendly gardening. 

Giant Sun Print
2.45pm to 3.15pm, 3.30pm to 4pm 

Help create an enormous cyanotype artwork and watch the power of the sun print silhouettes onto a 10-metre banner. 

Smallympics
12.30pm to 1.30pm, 2pm to 3pm, 3.30pm to 4.30pm, Everyone 

One trolley, two umpires and classic eccentric games for all. Watch, take part and cheer on competitors in this unique sports-day-style experience. 

Yellow Zone  

Birthday Hat Craft
Education Centre, drop in, 1pm to 4pm, Everyone

Get ready for the party of the year by making your very own birthday hat. 

Caring for Objects
Drop in, 12pm to 4pm, Everyone 

Learn about the Horniman’s Handling Collection and discover how we use, pack and store objects. Have a go yourself and investigate mystery objects. 

Object Handling: Open for All
Hands On Base, 10am to 11.30am, 12.30pm to 2pm, 3pm to 4.30pm, Everyone

Get hands-on with the Horniman’s incredible Handling Collection with activities led by our Learning and Engagement Team. 

The Horniman Library
Drop in, 12pm to 4pm, Everyone 

Meet the team behind the Horniman Library and explore 125 years of books about nature and the environment. 

Airborne
Music Gallery, drop in, 10am to 5pm, Everyone

Explore Sarah Stirk’s ongoing multimedia art project examining the impact of air pollution on children’s health and climate change. 

Tours, Talks and Workshops 

Wild Ends Birdwatching Tour
12.40pm, 1.55pm, 3.15pm, Everyone 5+ 

Join urban ecologist and wildlife storyteller Akash Barua to discover the birds that call the Horniman Nature Trail home. 

Airborne (Music Gallery)
12.25pm, 1.10pm, 1.40pm, 2.40pm, 3.25pm, Everyone 8+ 

Experience Sarah Stirk’s multimedia artwork exploring air pollution and its impact on communities. 

Airborne: Spotlight Talk
1.55pm, Everyone 12+ 

Join artist Sarah Stirk and guest experts for a discussion on air pollution, children’s health and the power of art in driving change. 

Garden Tour
1.55pm, 3.55pm, Everyone 10+ 

Join our Gardens Volunteers on a guided tour of the highlights of the beautiful Horniman Gardens. 

Planting Workshop
12.55pm, 2.55pm, Adults only 

Plant your own drought-resistant plant with guidance from our Gardens team and take it home to enjoy. 

Conservation Lab Tour
12.55pm, 1.40pm, 2.25pm, 3.10pm, 3.55pm, Ages 12+ 

Meet our Conservation Team and discover how they care for thousands of objects in the collection. 

Project Coral Lab Tour
12.10pm–2.40pm (multiple sessions), Everyone 7+ 

Go behind the scenes of Project Coral and learn how the Horniman became the first place in the world to spawn corals in an aquarium. 

When the Walrus Returns Tour
12.55pm, 1.55pm, 2.55pm, Everyone 10+ 

Take a sneak peek at the exciting plans for the new Natural History Gallery opening next year.