INSIDE ENGLAND’S STATELY HOME SUMMER FESTIVALS
Who knew? Many of the UK’s grandest homes become party homes
With world-class music, arts and living history, stunning backdrops of manicured gardens among Bridgerton-esque stately homes… England is home to some incredible summer events. Not all of them are highly publicized, you just have to know. We know.
The festivals are produced by two different promoters. Heritage Live hosts major international musicians playing at different country estates, Classic Ibiza tours the 45-piece Urban Soul Orchestra who play dance club hits from Tricky to the Chemical Brothers. It sounds weird but it’s fantastic. Whichever way you spin it, there’s dancing all around, all at stunning English countryside locations. Who needs an arena!
UPDATE: Since publishing this article, Heritage Live have backed out of their concert series due to low ticket sales. I guess not enough people knew! We are however leaving these spectacular places up as you can obviously still go and visit, minus the music.
Classic Ibiza remains the party to go to.
Engelfield Estate, Reading, Berkshire
Thursday, July 23 – 26th
A gorgeous Elizabethan mansion and country estate just west of Reading where The Kings Speech was filmed, as well as X-Men: First Class, The Crown, and The Thursday Murder Club. So you may know it already. It also has one of the last remaining deer parks in Berkshire.
The outdoor concert series this year features four days of events with headline performances nightly from UB40, Faithless, Leftfield and Tricky, Richard Ashcroft (former front man of The Verve) you knew that, and Ministry of Sound Classical, to Seb Fontaine.
Individual adult day tickets are from £45 – £67.
A multi day festival pass giving access to all four days is £180.
Child tickets, ages 5-14 are £36 per day.
No accommodation is available on site, but there are various options in nearby Theale, Pangbourne and Reading.
Audley End House, Saffron Walden, Essex
Thursday, August 6 – 9th
A magnificent 17th century Jacobean mansion with stunning grounds, designed by Capability Brown, hosts this summer concert and has major acts. Separate to the concert, you can visit the house and see the service wings, the Great Hall and an 1830’s picture gallery. There’s a miniature railway close by and play areas for kids.
The four-day musical lineup features headlining performances by Faithless, The Scissor Sisters, The Streets and Pete Tong with Ibiza classics.
Day tickets are available from £57, or a multi-day pass for £240. There are a few hotel options as well as glamping sites close by.
The Royal Sandringham Estate, Norfolk
Wednesday, August 19 – 23rd
The private country estate of five generations of British monarchs and where the royal family traditionally spend Christmas, sitting on 20,000 acres with a 16th century church. There’s the house and a museum to visit, and a royal vehicle car collection in the stable block.
For Sandringham’s five-day concert series, they are not messing around… Janet Jackson opens on the first night with special guests Soul II Soul and Wyclef Jean. The following days include Lionel Richie, Dave Stewart’s Eurythmics, Christina Aguilera, Ricky Martin, Eric Clapton, and Ronnie Wood.
There are two stages, a music stage, and a comedy big top – comedy begins at midday daily. There’s an amazing line up including Josh Widdicombe, Jasper Carrot and Rory Bremner.
Glamping accommodations are available with luxury canvas bell tents, premium wooden lodges and classic Airstream trailers set up on the estate, with access to a restaurant oasis. You can book tickets and glamping here.
Gold VIP packages start from £595 and include a house tour, a curated picnic basket from the estate and VIP viewing.
General tickets range from £75 per day, child tickets £50 – £70.
£240 for the full four days.
CLASSIC IBIZA
Classic Ibiza tours annually at various country house locations across England. The amazing 45-piece Urban Soul Orchestra, and vocalists from The London Community Gospel Choir come together performing hits from Faithless, Chemical Brothers, The Prodigy and music that feeds a happy soul.
The event is wonderful for families. Starting in the afternoon, families sprawl with blankets and picnics and beer, there are food trucks and artisan booths, as the day disappears the laser light show begins, and everyone is dancing.
Tickets for all Classic Ibiza events are £57.50 adult to pre-book, £65 on the night.
£30 for children ages 5—12. Under 5’s are free.
Ragley Hall, Warwickshire (Middle England)
Saturday, July 4th
Ragley Hall is a 17th century Palladian mansion which serves as the ancestral home of the Marquess of Hertford and can also be hired as an exclusive wedding venue. They hold festivals and shows throughout the year including the Game Fair (July 24 – 26), an air show in May, a classic car show on Father’s Day, as well as Classic Ibiza, July 4th.
You cannot stay in the hall here, but can stay on the estate. There are three luxury self catering options on the grounds — Arrow Lodge, the original gate house is a one bedroomed retreat and sleeps two. The countryside Ridgway Farmhouse sleeps eight, and The Hunting Lodge complete with games room and wood-fired hot tub, sleeps sixteen. Arrow Mill is a highly rated hotel opposite the estate gates.
Chatsworth House, Derbyshire
Saturday, July 11th
Chatsworth House in the Peak District National Park in Derbyshire is a wonderful place to visit, having year-round events up to their packed Christmas markets. Drive over cattle grids to enter the breathtaking estate, where deer and sheep roam free.
It has been the seat of the Duke of Devonshire and the Cavendish family since 1549, gardens again designed by Capability Brown include a cascading waterfall, a giant hedge maze and a working farmyard with a children’s playground.
The house appeared in the 2005 adaptation of Pride and Prejudice, Peaky Blinders, The Wolfman, and Jane Eyre.
Stay close by at the luxury Cavendish Hotel in Baslow, or The Pilsley, or Beeley Inn, old coaching Inns from 1726. There are also many holiday cottage options from restored farmhouses to converted barns scattered across Chatsworth Estate parkland, as well as camping, and glamping in hand-crafted shepherds huts.
Bowood, Wiltshire
Friday, July 17-18th
A Georgian stately home near Chippenham that hosts various events, including seasonal garden tours, open air theater productions like The Great Gatsby, the Wiltshire Game & Country Fair August 8 – 9th, and family-themed fall and Halloween trails.
Their premiere event however is Classic Ibiza, featured over two days. Building from a chilled-out lounge set at sunset into a high octane nightclub experience complete with a spectacular laser light show.
Stay at the Bowood Hotel, Spa & Golf Resort, a luxury 4-star boutique hotel nestled into the surrounding parkland.
Burghley House, Lincolnshire
Saturday, July 25
A grand 16th century Elizabethan country house built by Sir William Cecil who was the lord high treasurer to Queen Elizabeth I. It features spectacular Baroque state rooms, and a 300-acre deer park again designed by Capability Brown who passed away in 1783, and was known as England’s greatest landscape architect, designing over 170 grand parks. Burghley is also known for its three-day-event horse trials in early September.
You can stay on the estate at The Dairy, if you’re in need of ten luxury bedrooms. It has open log fires and direct views of Burghley House. The William Cecil, a charming 26-roomed four star hotel next to the estate’s main gates, or The Bull and Swan, a traditional 16th-century coaching inn situated on the estate’s grounds. It serves real ales and gastro-pub food and has nine luxury, boutique bedrooms.
Blickling Hall, near Aylsham, Norfolk
August 1st
A lavishly decorated 17th century mansion surrounded by beautiful ornamental gardens designed by Norah Lindsay. Prior to that, in the 11th century the estate was the site of a medieval manor house owned by the last Anglo-Saxon king, later becoming the home to the family of Anne Boleyn, the second queen of Henry VIII, then falling into disrepair before being renovated in the 1620’s to the current Jacobean style.
Besides Classic Ibiza, the estate offers various adventures throughout the year from nature walks to living history performances, and Norfolk’s large agricultural Aylsham Show on August 31st.
You can stay on the estate, managed by The National Trust, who offer character-filled rental cottages scattered across the grounds, including a 17th-century renovated dairy, and a blacksmith’s cottage, and a tower with a spiral staircase.
If you prefer a hotel stay, The Buckinghamshire Arms is another traditional coaching Inn turned luxury boutique, offering rooms with four-poster beds, local beers, and great Sunday roasts.
And here’s the wild card….
Greenbelt Festival
Boughton House, Northamptonshire
Thursday, August 27 to 30th
Roughly sixty miles northwest of London.. It’s a fusion of artistry, activism and inclusive spirituality, an eclectic mix of live music, theater, comedy, and workshops. Rooted in Christian heritage and running since 1974 and now bringing together almost 20,000 people annually.
The speaker program focuses on climate justice, there are alternative workshop sessions and festive beer and hymns gatherings. Yes that’s right, drink beer and sing hymns.
Boughton House dates back to 1528 when a Tudor manor was built on top of a defunct monastery. It has striking 17th-century French inspired Baroque architecture, spectacular state rooms and masterworks of fine art, and beautiful historic gardens. It’s often called the English Versailles. Tours are available from April through August.
For the festival, weekend tickets are £184
Under 18’s – £61. Children ages 5 to 12 – £12.
Stay in nearby Kettering at Barton Hall Hotel & Spa, a luxury 4-star country house hotel, or the magnificent historic 15th-century Grade-I listed Rushton Hall Hotel & Spa.
