The city has two cinemas and a theatre, the Gateway Theatre, and in the summer the city hosts the annual Chester Music Festival, the Chester Midsummer Watch Parade and the Chester Mystery Plays, the latter of which dates from medieval times. Numerous pubs and wine bars populate the city, some of which are medieval, and Chester also has some night-clubs. The city also has a football team, Chester City F.C., who play in the Saunders Honda Stadium and a national basketball team, the Chester Jets, who play in the city’s Northgate Arena leisure centre. Also to the east side of the city are the UK’s largest zoological gardens, Chester Zoo. The Gateway Theatre is due to be demolished at the end of 2006 as part of the city’s Northgate Development. The Northgate Development will include a replacement arts centre, due to open in 2009. The River Dee is also home to several rowing clubs, notably Grosvenor Rowing Club and Royal Chester Rowing Club. The weir is regularly used by a number of local canoe and kayak clubs.

Chester is the city where Channel 4’s soap-opera Hollyoaks is set (although most filming takes place around Liverpool).