Museum of Oxford

20/10/2026

🌇Afterhours Acoustics: Robin Bennett & friends and Premium Leisure

Join us for stripped-back live performances in the MOX basement from local artists Robin Bennett (+ special guests) and Premium Leisure on Friday 6 November.

About the artists:

Oxford singer-songwriter and music scene legend Robin Bennett will perform a unique stripped-back set featuring special guests. Robin and the Bennett family are known as the founders of Truck, Wood and Septembersong festivals, and have helped shaped Oxford's independent music landscape. Blending indie-rock with Americana, Robin has performed with Saint Etienne, Danny & the Champions of the World, super-group Wilson Poole, and Oxford bands Dusty Sound System, Dreaming Spires, and Goldrush.

Premium Leisure is the unfettered outlet of producer and guitarist Chris Barker. A home for Chris's Stash of guitar lick-laden songs, the project began as a means for Chris to make music with friends, and has evolved into a space for Chris's clunky tone-sculpting and studio explorations. Premium Leisure's upcoming EP 'Pea', the follow-up to debut album 'Bug Blood', is quietly radial in its celebration of domesticity, family life, and love.

Friday 6 November
6.30pm-9pm
Doors open 6.30pm, with a chance to explore the museum and exhibition before performances start at 7pm
Tickets £8/£10/£12 at the link in bio

[Image description: The first image is a black and white photo of Robin Bennett playing an acoustic guitar. Robin is wearing a black turtle-neck and looking away from a microphone, focused on strumming. The second image is of Premium Leisure's Chris Barker. Chris is in a music studio leaning against a sound engineering deck. Chris is wearing a white tshirt and dark trousers.]

19/10/2026

Get ready for spook-tacular workshops at MOX this half-term 🎃

Monday 26 October
🐈‍⬛Mystic Pets: Halloween Crafting
Create your own spooky friend using craft materials
11am and 1.30pm
£2 per child

Tuesday 27 October
🎃Halloween Fam Jam
Halloween-themed sensory disco and activities for under 5s
11am and 2pm
£3 per child

Thursday 29 October
🪩Stories in Motion
Bring the stories of MOX to life through Bharatanatyam dance!
11am and 2pm
£4 per child

And don't miss our next free entry day on Wednesday 28 October. Visit the MOX galleries for free and have a go at handling some of our museum objects at our Hands-on History stall.

All event tickets include free entry to the museum galleries on the day of the event.

Book tickets and find out more at the link in our bio!

[Image description: A series of 4 images advertising halloween-themed fun at the Museum of Oxford. In the first image, two young people dig for treasure in an archaeology digging pit. Text asks 'What will you discover?' at MOX this October half-term. In the second image, text reads 'Mystic pets: halloween crafting'. A cartoon child is dressed as a witch and doing craft activities on a table. In the third image, text reads 'Halloween Fam Jam - under 5s sensory disco'. Two cartoon adults and a cartoon child dance under a disco ball. In the fourth image, text reads 'Stories in Motion'. An adult wearing a colourful outfit demonstrates Bharatanatyam dance.]

15/10/2026

Looking for things to do with the kids during October half-term? 🎃

Join us for fun-filled family workshops on the Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday of the half-term week.

Plus, enjoy free entry to the museum on our next free entry day, Wednesday 28 October.

🦇Book your tickets in advance at the link in our bio, or visit our website: museumofoxford.org/events

All workshop tickets include free entry to the museum on the day of the event.

[Image description: A poster showing the half-term workshops available at MOX this October. The poster is Halloween-themed, featuring cute illustrations of bats and black and orange colours. The workshops are: Monday 26 October, Mystic Pets - Halloween crafting, £2 per child; Tuesday 27 October, Halloween Fam Jam, £3 per child; Thursday 29 October, Stories in Motion bharatanatyam dance workshop, £4 per child.]

14/10/2026

Sounds from the Basement 🔊

Join us in the MOX basement for an evening of intimate performances with local rising stars Dolly Mavies and Aris Sabetai (of Mount St. Helen).

Rising star Dolly Mavies is an ethereal post-folk artist hailing from Oxford, known for blending folk's heartfelt storytelling with rock's driving rhythms and an atmosphere that is both haunting and electric. Dolly Mavies creates a unique sonic tapestry that channels the energy of Fleetwood Mac, the ethereal intensity of Florence and the Machine, and the emotional depth of Daughter.

Mount St. Helen is the alias of Oxford-based multi-instrumentalist Aris Sabetai. Founded in 2024, the project blends shoegaze, post hard-core, and 2010s indie tropes and string arrangements. Mount St. Helen is one of the city's fastest-rising alternative acts, with Nightshift Magazine calling it "the next big thing out of Oxford".

Friday 30 October
6:30-9pm
Doors open at 6:30pm, with a chance to explore the museum and exhibition (included in entry) before the performances start at 7pm
Pay less: £8 | Pay standard: £10 | Pay more: £12

Limited tickets – get your tickets now before they sell out. These intimate live music performances are unique one-off opportunities to experience the Sounds of the City exhibition brought to life. Tickets via this link: https://wegottickets.com/f/29401

This event is part of the Sounds of the City events programme, kindly funded by Arts Council England.

13/10/2026

Photos from our first gig in the museum basement as part of the Sounds of the City: LIVE programme!

Thanks so much to the performers for some great intimate sets and to all of you who turned out to make it such a vibrant atmosphere 🌟

Don’t worry if you missed out! This Saturday evening we’re hosting another live event… Beats, Rhythms & Rhymes is a musical collaboration to mark Black History Month. We have a super exciting line-up for the evening, featuring spoken word, performance poetry, music, and song. Visit this link for more information and to book your ticket now: https://wegottickets.com/f/29397

Image credit to Jeff Slade (excluding slide 6 and 7).

These events are all part of the Sounds of the City events programme, funded by Arts Council England.

10/10/2026

One Week to go!

Beats, Rhythms & Rhymes

Join us at MOX for a musical collaboration marking Black History Month, featuring spoken word, performance poetry, and song. Whilst showcasing different generations and genre, the evening echoes around how music is used to tell our stories and celebrate our history, our communities, and our resilience.

We have a super exciting line-up for this event:

• Fimber Bravo — internationally-known steel pan maestro
• Jali Fily Cissokho — virtuoso kora player & singer
• Euton Daley — Unlock the Chains Collective
• Asher AJ Dust — singer, songwriter, and poet
• Amantha Edmead — Unlock the Chains Collective
• Kemastry — hip-hop and spoken word artist
• Rawz — hip-hop and spoken word artist

Saturday 17 October 🗓
6:30-9pm ⌚
Doors open at 6:30pm, with a chance to explore the museum and exhibition (included in entry) before the performances 🎫

This event has been produced in collaboration with Unlock the Chains Collective. Unlock the Chains Collective make and produce theatre and cultural engagement that explores the Black experience through the fusion of dance, music, song, and spoken word / performance poetry. They bring artists together to explore, make work, and develop a Black Arts aesthetics. More about Unlock the Chains Collective can be found on their webpage here: https://www.eutondaley.com/unlock-the-chains-collective.html.

Photo credit to David Fisher

This event is part of the Sounds of the City events programme, funded by Arts Council England.

07/10/2026

Next Wednesday: Growing the grass roots - Live music in Oxford in the 1970s, a lunchtime talk at the Museum of Oxford

In this original talk, guest speaker Chris Church will look at how the music and action of the 70s fitted into the changing face of Oxford during the decade.

Tracing the cultural movement of music from pop and ballrooms to pubs, colleges, festivals, prog-rock and punk, Chris will share why the 70s were a pivotal decade for music in Oxford and pay tribute to great bands that came and went, and how all this turned into the roots of what we have today.

Get your tickets at the link: https://book.plinth.org.uk/e/B5e1HGGq0oR2q6nPXwKe
£6. Wednesday 14 October, 1pm-2pm.

Part of the Sounds of the City Live events programme.

Thanks to Chris Church for use of the poster images.

[Image description: A collection of gig posters from the 70s. 1: A hot pink poster with neon yellow text advertising Lynyrd Skynyrd at Oxford Polytechnic. 2: A poster with a rainbow gradient background advertising the Mayday Mayfly festival. 3: A poster for a Reggae nite at the Oxford Poly. 4: A poster for the 'Marquee Rock Show' featuring the name of a number of bands. 5: A poster for Oxford Carnival Against Racism. The poster features a black-and-white illustration of a clown. The clown's features (eyes, nose, mouth) are mirrored and coloured alternately black and white.]

06/10/2026

Things we learned on a music venues walking tour of St Clements and the Cowley Road:

👀 The building that’s now the O2 Academy (and was once the Co-Op Ballroom/The Venue/The Zodiac) is over 100 years old (peep the date stone!)
🍊The Oranges and Lemons was the home of Oxford’s punk movement in the 70s and 80s 🍊Oranges & Lemons 🍋
🎸Supergrass played a host of Oxford venues when they were starting out, including the Elm Tree (now Oxford's Freshest Hangout )
🏳️‍🌈 East Oxford Community Centre was a hub for community resistance and organising, as well as local gigs
🎵One Direction played The Regal (now the Christian Life Centre) in 2011

Grab tickets to the tour this Sunday 11th October to find out more - tickets £15pp at the 🔗link in bio ‘Finding the Sounds of the City walking tour - St Clements + Cowley Road’

A massive thank you to local historian/tour guide Maurice East for platforming Oxford’s music heritage and sharing it with the public 🙌

02/10/2026

This is happening tonight Oxford! - Don't miss your chance to be there 🎸

Stripped-back performances from both the DB Band (featuring Supergrass' Mick Quinn) and Emma Hunter — live in the Museum of Oxford basement.To kick off the Sounds of the City: LIVE events programme, we are welcoming Mick...