With the Chelsea Flower Show well under way, the start of the English summer social season is upon us: people quaffing champagne by the Thames and ladies hats taking over Royal Ascot. Your-Hols.com has teamed up with www.visitengland.com to bring you the lowdown on the best events to be seen at this summer.
The Centenary of the RHS Chelsea Flower Show, London
Until May 25
This year marks the centenary of the Royal Horticultural Society’s Chelsea Flower Show – one of the most celebrated annual events in the world and a showcase for horticultural excellence. Since its beginning, the show has gone from strength to strength and grown from 244 exhibitors in 1913 to more than 500 today. It also attracts 157,000 visitors every year. Highlights this year include the Trailfinders’ Australian Garden (above) and Welcome To Yorkshire‘s homage to the Tour de France that features a Lady’s Slipper orchid, one of the rarest in the UK with just a handful in existence.
Glyndebourne Festival, East Sussex
May 18 – August 25
There’s no place in the world like Glyndebourne for experiencing opera. The quintessentially English opera house sits in the rolling green hills of East Sussex, surrounded by luscious gardens and a lily pad-topped lake. With an eclectic programme that boasts everything from Mozart’s Don Giovanni to contemporary productions of Hansel and Gretel, the world-renowned festival brings the three-tier auditorium to life with the robust sounds of sopranos and tenors singing their hearts and lungs out.
Royal Ascot, Berkshire
June 18-22, 2013
Along with Wimbledon and the Henley Regatta, this has to be one of the best English sporting days out. It’s probably also the poshest. Dating back to 1711, this five-day, Champagne-soaked jolly is steeped in tradition – with a strict dress code for those privileged enough to get access to the Royal Enclosure. For the gents this means morning suits and the whole shebang, while ladies are encouraged to go all out with glamorous dresses and ostentatious hats.
Wimbledon, London
June 24 – July 7
Strawberries and cream, jugs of Pimms and the world’s greatest grass tennis tournament, it’s easy to fall in love with the iconic sporting event that is Wimbledon. Late June sees a fortnight of world-class tennis played out on an amazingly compact site in South West London and it’s an incredible sight with 19 emerald green courts, close-up views of white-clad champions, cream teas and a deluge of tennis fanatics crowded onto Henman Hill.
http://www.wimbledon.com/en_GB/index.html
Henley Royal Regatta, Henley
July 3 to 7
Every first weekend of July, a mixture of rowers, socialites and sun worshippers gather on the banks of the River Thames in Berkshire for five days of racing. In all there are 19 Cups to be won, with teams travelling from across the world to compete for the prestige of winning here. Henley is steeped in tradition, having been an established part of the social calendar since 1839. And while the Regatta is in full swing, Henley Festival (www.henley-festival.co.uk) causes a genteel raucous along the riverbank with five glorious days of art, fine dining, and big name acts that include the likes of Sting and Tom Jones taking to a floating stage.
Goodwood, West Sussex
Festival of Speed July 11-14
Glorious Goodwood July 30 to August 3
Say hello to the Goodwood Estate, an English institution that ought to be on every socialite’s bucket list. Along with Goodwood Revival – celebrating all things vintage with a glamorous step back in time to the golden age of motor racing in mid-September – Goodwood is famous for hosting two other highlights of the sporting and social calendars. The Festival of Speed at the end of June attracts celebrities from both on and off the race track, while Glorious Goodwood in late July-mid August sees dapper crowds gather for five days of fine dining, champagne, elaborate hats and of course, horse racing. If you want to fully immerse yourself in Goodwood, book yourself into the estate’s four-star hotel with its 91 elegant bedrooms and luxurious spa.
