The English Social Season
Exotic flowers in full bloom at the Chelsea Flower Show, dapper gentlemen in bowties quaffing champagne along the banks of Henley, and ladies crowned with lavish hats cheering on their favourite horses, it can only mean one thing: the English social season is in full swing. There's nothing as quintessentially English as this hubbub of classy affairs flowing across the summer months. Here's our guide to some of the highlights of the social calendar.
The Centenary of the RHS Chelsea Flower Show, London
21 - 25 May 2013
2013 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 over 500 today, attracting 157,000 visitors every year. Featuring cutting edge designs and reflecting the fashions of the time - from rock gardens in the 1980s to today's sculptural gardens - the 2013 show will no doubt be the biggest and best in its history. While celebrating its fragrant history, this year the Show will also seek to look forward and showcase sustainable living concepts for a greener world. What's more, the usual Chelsea Plant of the Year will become the Chelsea Plant of the Centenary - that'll be quite the accolade!
rhs.org.uk/chelsea
sentebale.org
rhs.org.uk/shows-events/rhs-chelsea-flower-show/2012
Glyndebourne Festival, East Sussex
18 May - 25 August 2013
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. Between May and July - when the annual Glyndebourne Festival is held - you can catch more than 70 spellbinding performances. 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.
glyndebourne.com
Royal Ascot, Berkshire
18 - 22 June 2013
Along with Wimbledon and the Henley Regatta, this has to be one of the most quintessentially 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 - there are a lot of people watching you know!
ascot.co.uk
Wimbledon, London
24 June - 7 July 2013
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.
wimbledon.com/en_GB/index.html
Henley Royal Regatta, Henley
3 - 7 July 2013
When it comes to English sporting events, they don't come much more spiffing than this. 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 (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.
hrr.co.uk
Goodwood, West Sussex
Festival of Speed 11-14 July 2013
Glorious Goodwood 30 July - 3 August 2013
Say hello to the Goodwood Estate, an English institution that ought to be on every socialites 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.
goodwood.co.uk
BBC proms, various locations
12 July - 7 September 2013
Witness one of the world's greatest classical music festivals, with the finest musicians performing everything from classical and opera, to jazz and modern experimental works. The Royal Albert Hall is the beating heart of proms, holding the majority of concerts. This includes the raucous Last Night, which spills out onto Hyde Park with hundreds of people armed with flags and picnic hampers soaking up a mix of classical and modern sounds from high-profile orchestras and musicians.
bbc.co.uk/proms
For more information, visit visitengland.com.
