You can get up close and personal to the 120 fun-loving goats at BUTTERCUPS GOAT SANCTUARY. The goats will be meeting the visitors at the centre in Wierton Road, Boughton Monchelsea, near Maidstone, at the first open day of the year on Sunday, May 4. The charity, which celebrates its 25th anniversary this year, holds family open days on the first Sunday of every month from May to October, between noon and 4pm. Visitors can buy food to feed goats as well tickle them behind the ears. There will also be stalls and refreshments. There is no entrance fee but a donation to the running of the sanctuary is asked for. More details at www.buttercups.org.uk

Families are invited to a two-day May Day Festival at HEVER CASTLE, near Edenbridge. See Lady May crowned Queen of the May followed by May Day dancing. Visitors can learn to maypole dance with brightly coloured ribbons and watch morris dance displays on the castle forecourt, accompanied by 16th-century music from the king’s musicians’ Kit and Kate. Children will be invited to wake up the plants for summer with magical May bells. Discover the heritage of May Day by participating in an interactive playlet where the Holly and the Oak King battle it out to see which season will prevail. The adventure playground and water maze will also be open. The festival runs from Saturday, May 3, to bank holiday Monday. The gardens open at 10.30am and the castle opens at noon. Last admission is 4.30pm. Tickets cost £15.50 for adults and £8.70 for children. Call 01732 861709.

Celebrate our local traditions at KENT LIFE Heritage Farm Park’s first-ever Country Fair. The rural attraction near Maidstone will host falconry displays, fairground rides, local produce and craft stalls from Saturday, May 3 until bank holiday Monday. On Monday there will be a host of extra May Day celebrations, including morris dancing, a May Queen parade, and maypole dancing on the green. Kent Life opens at 10am each day. Tickets cost £9.25 for adults and £7.25 for children over three. Call 01622 763936.

Meet the falconer at LEEDS CASTLE and get up close to one of their birds of prey. It is a chance to learn more about these amazing birds and to ask questions to the expert handler. The event takes place each day from Saturday, May 3, to bank holiday Monday at 11.30am at the Birds of Prey Centre behind the maze. The castle grounds open daily at 10am. Annual tickets to Leeds Castle cost £24 for adults and £16 for children over four.
Call 01622 765400.

Kids can enjoy cuddling cute lambs just a few weeks old as MOUNT EPHRAIM GARDENS, near Canterbury, celebrates the joys of spring. Pat-a-Lamb Day has been entertaining young families for 28 years. Children can also enjoy well-loved children’s tales read aloud in the gardens. Mount Ephraim’s Lucy Dawes says: “We hope to see lots of visitors both old and new, enjoying the lambs and the springtime beauty of the gardens this year.” Glorious blossom is in full bloom throughout the gardens, and in particular in the arboretum where flowering cherry and malus blossom is abundant. Pat-a-Lamb Day runs from 11am to 5pm on Sunday, May 4, and again on bank holiday Monday. Tickets cost £6 for adults and £2.50 for children. Call 01227 751496.

A month-long First World War theme at PENSHURST PLACE kicks off this bank holiday weekend with activities that create a fascinating insight into the life of a frontline soldier. The exciting bushcraft adventure for children takes place on the woodland trail within the grounds of this historic house near Tonbridge. Trainee recruits have the chance to enter survival training sessions held every hour, on the hour. Hone your skills and learn about surviving from the land with shelter building and knots for survival, fire lighting and scavenger hunting. Visit the education room between noon and 4pm to write secret messages and make a mini parachute. The event is on Sunday, May 4, and bank holiday Monday, from 11am to 5pm. Entry is £10 for adults and £6.50 for children over five. Call 01892 870307.

Over a thousand morris dancers will descend for the annual ROCHESTER SWEEPS FESTIVAL. Now in its 34th year, the festival from Saturday, May 3, to bank holiday Monday is a throwback to the tradition of chimney sweeps processing, dancing and singing through the city to raise money for the unpaid months ahead.
New for this year will be a ‘cleansing’ ceremony by witches on Saturday following the 10.45am opening of the festival by Medway’s mayor.
An extensive programme of folk music has expanded this year, with the introduction of two more open-air stages in Rochester High Street. Guest musicians from as far afield as the USA, France, Sweden and Holland feature in the programme of free music.
The main stage is in the castle gardens along with a food, drink and lifestyle fair, a clog factory, a real ale bar and even a pixie hut.
Download the full Sweeps Festival listings at www.enjoymedway.co.uk

Shell cases, dress medals, badges and embroidered picture postcards are just some of the First World War collectables that will be on sale at WALMER BROCANTE on bank holiday Monday. Organised by Walmer Parish Council, the annual antiques, collectables and crafts fair will feature more than 120 stalls selling vintage clothing, furniture, homewares, kitchenalia, musical and military memorabilia, books, toys and jewellery, as well as local arts and crafts. Valuers from the Canterbury Auction Galleries will be at the event from 10am to 1pm to advise visitors about their items and how to convert these into cash at auction. Parking is available for a small donation to local charities. The brocante is on Walmer Green from 8am to 4pm. Free entry. Call 01304 362363.

Meet the mythical Jack-in-the-Green and follow the green man from folklore through WHITSTABLE in the town’s customary May Day procession and fete. The celebrations grew out of the folk club at the Duke of Cumberland pub, which attended a London folk festival and, led by Dixie Lee, decided to run a better festival in Whitstable. Their first was held at Whitstable Castle back on May 1, 1976. In 1978 the Government created the first May Day bank holiday. The Whitstable celebrations have been held on the bank holiday Monday ever since. Later the Oyster Morris was formed and have been part of the celebrations, run by the Whitstable and Herne Bay Lions Club, ever since. Morris dancing will be held outside Whitstable Library from 10am on bank holiday Monday. The main parade leaves from Harbour Street at 1pm and a fete will run all day at Whitstable Castle.

Hear the story of Jack-in-the-Green at WILDWOOD at Herne, near Canterbury. Meet the team’s tame owl, and make a wish at the wishing tree in the Spring Stories and Wishes event on Sunday, May 4, from 2.30pm to 4pm. This event costs £3 per person and must be booked. General entry costs £9.95 for adults and £7.75 for children. Call 01227 712111.

And don't forget Kent's National Trust properties...

There are outdoor activities to set kids’ pulses racing planned at each of the National Trust sites in Kent throughout the weekend. IGHTHAM MOTE, near Borough Green, has organised a trail and a 50 activities ticklist as you enjoy a self-guided trail around the beautiful estate. KNOLE invites families to join a gentle guided walk to hear more about the deer, the people who’ve lived here, and events associated with the stately home, near Sevenoaks. SCOTNEY CASTLE is running hour-long archery sessions with expert tutors for £18 an hour. Booking essential on 01227 752375. Entry to Ightham Mote and Knole costs £11.50 for adults and £5.75 for children, while Scotney Castle costs £14.30 for adults and £7.20 for children. More details at www.nationaltrust.org.uk