THIS year’s Archaeology Festival at Salisbury Museum, in the Cathedral Close, on Saturday and Sunday 27th and 28th July, will be one of the biggest for years, with a packed programme of events in the museum garden, the new hall and a demonstration marquee, featuring talks, participatory activities, folk music and more.

As well as the new hall, the refurbished museum has three new galleries and the popular cafe. Entry is by donation and all talks and activities are covered by the entrance donation. The event is open both days from 10am.

From delving into the history of the long bow to uncovering Georgian surgery practices, from discovering how buzzards are adapting to ever-changing climate and environmental conditions to exploring new insights into the Cerne Abbas Giant, there is something for everyone, children and adults alike.

Organisations and individual speakers include the Companions of the Long Bow, the Council for British Archaeology, Wessex Archaeology, the Ancient Wessex Network, the Young Archaeologists Club, the Salisbury Cathedral education team, television star and famous archaeologist Phil Harding talking about flint knapping, the New Forest Guild of Weavers, Spinners and Dyers, English Heritage Stonehenge, the College of Chivalry, Maerefolk musicians, Avon Valley Archaeological Society, the friends of Clarendon Palace and ancient music expert Damian Clarke.

Other features, activities and talks include the Cerne Abbas giant, the Strange Old Things Mobile Museum, a real ale bar, a talk on Bronze Age and Anglo-Saxon funerary landscapes, the Rockbourne Roman Villa and a family art workshop.

And while you are at the museum, visit the summer exhibition, Rex Whistler: The Artist and his Patrons, which continues until 29th September.