Getting started
Your step-by-step guide to making a Fun Palace. Take it one step at a time – you don’t need to do them in order, and you definitely don’t need to do them alone.
Jump to a step
Before you start: big, tiny or online?
A Fun Palace can be open to your whole community, Tiny – just you and a few friends, neighbours or family – or online, in any digital format you like – a video call, a writing collaboration in a shared Google Doc, community voice notes, or even building a Fun Palace on a Minecraft server. All three count, and all three are brilliant.
Making a Tiny one? You mark it as Tiny when you put it on the map, and you don’t need to add your address – the pin just shows your nearest town.
Short on time?
It’s almost never too late. Makers add Fun Palaces right up to the Weekend of Action – sometimes on the morning itself. Keep it small, keep it simple, and these guides will help:
1
Find your people
Start with who you already know – friends, neighbours, family, colleagues, the people at your local group. Ask them: what do you love doing? Everyone has a secret skill, from bread-making to bike repair.
You can absolutely make a Fun Palace on your own, but it’s more fun (and less work) together. Local groups, venues and organisations are often keen to join in too.
“I have learned that just because I have an idea does not mean that it’s everyone’s idea.”
Future Producer, Watershed Fun Palace, Bristol, 2014
Helpful for this step
2
Pick your thing
What will people do at your Fun Palace? Think about what you and your people love – arts, sciences, history, heritage, tech, crafts, sport, food. If you can share it, it counts.
The magic is in doing it together: a Fun Palace isn’t a show to watch, it’s a chance for everyone to have a go, share and learn from each other.
Ask your neighbours. Before you decide, ask the people around you what they’d love to do, try or share – at the school gate, in a local group, or with a big sheet of paper asking “What would you like your Fun Palace to look like?” Asking local people what they’d like to do was one of the very first Fun Palaces promises back in 2014, and it’s still the best way to make sure your Fun Palace belongs to everyone.
Helpful for this step
- Activity ideas – over 50 tried-and-tested ideas from other Makers
- Ideas for getting started PDF
- Sustainability checklist PDF – ideas for a greener Fun Palace
- Maker Stories – see what other Makers have done
3
Find a place
A Fun Palace can happen anywhere – a library, community centre, park, café, school hall, church, front garden or living room. Lots of venues are happy to lend their space for free, especially libraries.
No space? Make it Tiny at home, take it outside, or make it online – a shared doc, a voice-note swap, a video call or a Minecraft server all work.
Tip: keep a ghost budget. Jot down what things would have cost if you’d paid for them – the hall, the borrowed kit, the hours people gave. Gladstone’s Library did this for its very first Fun Palace in 2014. It shows your venue, partners and any future funders the real value of what your community made together.
Helpful for this step
4
Choose a date
Join the Weekend of Action, 1-3 October 2027, and be part of something big happening everywhere at once. Or pick any date that works for you and your community – Fun Palaces happen all year round.
It can last 15 minutes or three whole days. Start very small if you like – you can always do more next time.
Helpful for this step
5
Put it on the map
Sign up and add your Fun Palace to the map, so people can find you and so you’re part of the movement. It only takes a few minutes, and you can change the details later in My Fun Palaces.
Making a Tiny one? Mark it as Tiny and you don’t need to add your address – the pin just shows your nearest town.
6
Spread the word
Tell people! Put up posters, post on social media and local groups, tell your neighbours, contact local press and invite your local councillor or MP. Word of mouth is still the best way people hear about Fun Palaces.
Helpful for this step
7
Make it welcoming and safe
Think about how everyone can take part – access, quiet spaces, clear information about what to expect. Then do a simple risk assessment and check your insurance. It’s all far easier than it sounds, and we’ve got guides for each bit.
Helpful for this step
- Accessibility PDF · web version
- Free 30-minute access chat with Faith, our Access Consultant (Zoom)
- How to complete a risk assessment PDF · template Word
- Insurance briefing from Creative Lives
- Young people and Fun Palaces PDF
8
The day and afterwards
Enjoy it! Say hello to everyone who comes, have a go yourself, and don’t worry if things don’t go exactly to plan – that’s part of the fun.
Take photos if people are happy for you to (use the consent form), then tell us how it went. Your story helps other people take their first step.
“Torrential rain. Got to the centre at 8.30, everyone turned up to help like drowned rats but in fantastic moods.”
Radio Chinatown Fun Palace Maker, Liverpool, 2014
Helpful for this step
- Media consent form Word
- Share your story with us
- Sustainability toolkit PDF – for clearing up kindly
For you, the Maker
Look after yourself
Making a Fun Palace is joyful – and it can also be a lot. When the very first Fun Palaces were evaluated in 2014, the biggest risk wasn’t money or venues: it was Makers taking on too much. So here are a few promises worth making to yourself.
- Share the load. When someone offers to help, say yes – and give them a real job, not just “let me know if you need anything”.
- Keep it small. A Tiny Fun Palace with three neighbours counts just as much as a big one. You can always grow it next time.
- It’s fine to say no. To one more activity, one more meeting, one more anything. Free and fun beats big and stressful.
- Let it be imperfect. Something will go wrong on the day. That’s part of the fun – and nobody minds as much as you do.
- Rest, then hand it on. Celebrate, sleep, and when you’re ready, think about who could lead next time – with you there to cheer them on.
“I’m exhausted, my house is a tip… and my husband said he’s never seen me happier.”
Fun Palace Maker, 2014
There’s more in our full Look after yourself guide, including a quick check-in and how to pass the baton. Feeling stretched? Ask for a friendly chat with the team, or share the load with other Makers through the Maker Network.
Quick answers
The questions Makers ask most often. Tap a question to see the answer.
Does it cost anything?
No. It’s free to sign up, and your Fun Palace is free for everyone who comes. Around 80% of Fun Palaces are made without any extra funding, using things Makers already have or can borrow. If you’d like a bit of money for something bigger, Funding your Fun Palace has lots of ideas.
Do I need to be an expert?
Not at all. Fun Palaces are about sharing secret skills – the thing you love doing, whether that’s baking, birdwatching, coding or fixing bikes. If you can help someone else have a go, that’s perfect.
Do I need a venue?
No. Fun Palaces happen in libraries, parks and community centres, but also in front gardens, living rooms, cafés and online. If you’d like to find a venue, Finding a venue shows you how to ask.
Does a Tiny or online Fun Palace count?
Yes! A few neighbours round a kitchen table, a WhatsApp skill-share or a Minecraft co-build are all real Fun Palaces. Mark yours as Tiny or digital when you add it to the map.
Why should I put my Fun Palace on the map?
So people can find you and come along – and so you’re part of something much bigger. Every Fun Palace on the map is counted, which lets everyone see just how much culture communities are making together across the UK, and shows funders, decision-makers and the media why it matters.
Being on the map also means the Fun Palaces team knows you’re there, so they can support you, send you resources and spotlight what you’re doing. Put yours on the map.
Do I have to share my address?
No. Choose the Tiny Fun Palace option when you sign up and your pin will show in your general area, not your exact location.
Does it have to be on the Weekend of Action?
No. The Weekend of Action is 1-3 October 2027 and it’s brilliant to be part of it, but you can make a Fun Palace any time of year. More on choosing a date.
Is it too late?
Almost never. Makers add Fun Palaces right up to the weekend, and sometimes on the morning itself. See the short-on-time guides.
What can a Fun Palace be?
Anything you like – there’s no right size, length or format. A Fun Palace can be one activity or fifty, last ten minutes or a whole weekend, happen on a doorstep, in a museum, in a park or online, and be made by one person, a few friends or a whole town. If it’s free, hands-on and made with your community, it’s a Fun Palace. Need inspiration? Browse over 50 activity ideas from other Makers.
Do I need insurance and a risk assessment?
For an in-person event open to the public, yes – but it’s simpler than it sounds. If you’re in a venue or working with a group, check with them first, as they’re often already covered. Step 7 has a guide and a template.
How do I find people to make it with?
Start with who you already know, then ask around. Julia, a Maker at Grange Big Local, shares how she does it in How do you find your Makers?
Can I make a Fun Palace outside the UK?
Yes! Fun Palaces have popped up all over the world, from Muriwai in Aotearoa New Zealand to Canada, Australia and Bergen in Norway. One even happened in five places at once, linking London with Germany, Iceland and the USA. Wherever you are, sign up just the same – and if you get stuck, get in touch.
Can someone help me?
Yes. Ask for a friendly chat with the Fun Palaces team, or come along to a free workshop to meet other Makers.
Stuck on a step?
Fancy a friendly chat with one of the team? Drop us an email and we’ll find a time to talk – no question is too small.
Prefer it on paper?
Download our printable guides: