Bedlington school pupils storm Alnwick Castle to officially open its 2026 programme
Alnwick Castle has been officially opened for the summer by pupils from St Bede’s Primary School in Bedlington.
Draped in English and Scottish colours and led out by Andrew Davison, the official piper to his grace the Duke of Northumberland, students stormed the barbican to officially open Alnwick Castle for 2026.
Having students from a local school open the castle for visitors has become a tradition at Alnwick Castle, with those lucky enough to take part in the day using the trip to learn more about Kings and Queens of both England and Scotland.
Visitors from as far as Birmingham joined the youngsters in being some of the first through the doors on Friday with the launch of a new exhibition, ‘The Shot Heard Round the World’, and greater public access to the Victorian kitchens available to guests throughout 2026.
In summer, Adventure Cinema returns to the castle grounds after a sell-out run in 2025 with this year’s programme featuring a diverse line up, including screenings such as Andrea Bocelli, Dirty Dancing, Queen, Wicked Sing-A-Long, and Star Wars: A New Hope.
Alnwick Castle’s learning manager Daniel Watkins said: “If you come on certain weekends and school holidays, you can get special performances.
“It might be a Northumbrian piper, some historical food, a jester or birds of prey and falconry.
“The library has been recently restored and we have a new exhibition about Earl Percy and the Revolutionary War.”
He added: “You might have seen the state rooms or wandered the grounds before, but there will be new things that nobody has ever seen before, until now.”