The Easter weekend is finally here! And there are some great family activities taking place around the county over the next few days...

Fans of BBC series Call The Midwife are in for a treat at this year’s Medway Festival of Steam and Transport at the Historic Dockyard Chatham. The dockyard was used as a location for the popular drama, and over the Easter weekend visitors will be able to see how it was transformed for the programme, with vintage vehicles, washing lines, bicycles and music used recreate a 1950s experience. There will also be all the traditional elements of the popular event, including a display of steam traction engines and locomotives, hundreds of classic and vintage vehicles, live music, land train and shire horse wagon rides and the opportunity to take a trip on a vintage bus or try riding a Penny Farthing. And in the interactive Modelling Zone, young visitors can make and take home an Airfix model - for free.
Open: From 10am to 6pm, Easter Sunday and Easter Monday
Cost: Adults £13.50, children £8.50, family £36.50, under fives free
Address: The Historic Dockyard Chatham, ME4 4TE
Contact: 01634 823807

Buoyed by the success of the Broadstairs Food Festival, held at the beginning of October, the historic seaside town is hosting a three-day Spring Festival over the Easter weekend. It will feature over 50 stalls showcasing the finest food and drink produce from the Garden of England, along with local arts and crafts. There will also be a programme of children’s events, including an Easter bonnet parade and egg hunt.
Open: 10am to 5pm, Saturday, March 30 to Easter Monday.
Cost: Free
Address: Pierremont Park, Broadstairs, Kent, CT10 1JX
Contact: 01843 871102

Dover Castle is holding its annual Children’s Festival over the Easter weekend. A host of activities will be on offer for youngsters, from medieval hobby horse jousting to an Indiana Jones-inspired archaeological assault course. Plenty of audience participation will be required in shows of medieval madness, as maidens and knights volunteer to help King Arthur and Queen Guinevere on a ride to save Camelot from a ferocious dragon. Popular fool Peterkin will balance the world’s largest egg on his nose and eat fire while balancing precariously on stilts. He’ll also be running a school for fools, giving tips on tomfoolery and teaching young comedians the tricks of the trade. And while at the castle also take the opportunity to explore all the attractions on offer, including the Secret WartimeTunnels, now featuring the exciting and dramatic Operation Dynamo: Rescue from Dunkirk experience, and the colourful medieval Great Tower.
Open: 10am to 5pm, Good Friday to Easter Monday
Cost: Adults £17, children £10.20, family £44.20
Address: Castle Hill, Dover, CT16 1HU
Contact: 0870 333 1183

The Kent & East Sussex Railway in Tenterden will be getting into the Easter spirit. From Good Friday to Easter Monday, kids can be kept amused during their train ride with an Easter Egg Hunt, Easter Quiz and activity sheets, all included in the usual admission price. And from Tuesday, April 2 to Friday, April 12 the railway is running a Kids for a Quid offer, allowing up to two children to travel for only £1 each with one full paying adult or senior citizen. Simply visitwww.kesr.org.ukand print off the railway voucher. Every ticket includes all day travel between Tenterden and Bodiam on a choice of either a steam or diesel train. These gently wind their way along the 10.5 mile line through stunning Wealden countryside and the Rother Valley.Open: 10am to 5.30pm (last train leaves Tenterden at 3.30pm)
Cost: Adults £15, children £1 (with promotion)
Address: Station Road, Tenterden, TN30 6HE
Contact: 01580 765155

A touch of animal magic will be on offer at the Rare Breeds Centre during the Easter weekend. There will be chicks, piglets, bunnies, kids and calves to see and stroke in the children’s barn and there may even be a chance to see new arrivals being born in the lambing tunnel. There will also be a pantomime in the marquee, a birds of prey demonstration and the first pig racing event of the year. Families can also enjoy walking through the 100 acres of beautiful rolling countryside, including the Discovery Garden and Creepy Crawlies Hideout.
Open: 10.30am to 5.30 pm, Good Friday to Easter Monday
Cost: Adults and children £6
Address: Rare Breeds Centre, Highlands Farm, Woodchurch, Ashford, TN26 3RJ
Contact: 01233 861493

Step back in time at spectacular Penshurst Place. Youngsters can transform into knights and noblewomen by creating their own medieval bonnets in a craft workshop, before hunting for dragon eggs in the gardens.
And on Easter Sunday and Easter Monday, Aardvark Productions will present Easter Bank Holiday Tales in the medieval buttery.
The actors will enact the story of Lambert Simnel; how his life was spared, how he served the king and how he invented the simnel cake.
There will be performances at 2pm, 2.45pm and 3.30pm each day.Open: All Easter events will take place daily from Good Friday to Sunday, April 14. The craft workshops run from noon to 4pm, and the trail from 10.30am to dusk
Cost: Adults £10, children £6.50 (includes admission to house and grounds)
Address: Penshurst Place and Gardens, Penshurst, Tonbridge, TN11 8DG
Contact: 01892 870307

• See this week's bumper 64-page What's On for a full round-up of what to do around the county this Easter