Tag Archives: Winchester Festival

Win Guide to July

It’s summer in the city.  Let’s see some of the highlights on offer this month:

It’s the Winchester Festival, 7 to 15 July.  Celebrating its twentieth year, this is one of the city’s oldest festivals.  Enjoy nine days of curated music, talks, drama and visual arts in a programme that includes homages to Rachmaninoff, Queen Victoria, Shakespeare and, in the year that marks the 200th anniversary of her death, Jane Austen. There will also be Winchester walks on offer. For full details, visit the website here.

The Chesil Theatre will also be celebrating Jane Austen with their sold out production of Persuasion, 15 to 22 July.  Fear not, if you missed out on a ticket this time, as Chamber Opera Tours present Jane Austen’s Persuasion: A New Musical Drama at the Theatre Royal Winchester.  For more details, and to book tickets, visit here.  The Bank of England will be unveiling a brand new £10 note at Winchester Cathedral on 18 July, featuring Jane Austen from 2.30pm. Registration for tickets has closed now but the Cathedral will remain open as normal.  For other Jane Austen events, don’t forget to visit the Jane Austen 200 website.

The Pedal, Paddle, Pace triathlon will take place on 16 July, in support of Macmillan.  With a 20k cycle ride, 5k run and 2k kayak (supplied), individuals or groups can enter.  PPP was established in 2004 and has raised over £100,000 since. For more details on how to participate, visit the website here.

The 2017 edition of the Winchester Science Festival will take place 28 – 30 July.  There are plenty of events for all age groups, with talks and participatory exhibits.  The festival takes place at the Winchester Discovery Centre.  For a full schedule of events and details about how to book passes, visit the festival website here.

Don’t forget to take a look at the Popcorn in the Planetarium  programme at the Winchester Science Centre. It’s a good chance to watch a big blockbuster movie screening for little ones, teens and grown-ups in the planetarium cinema space.  For the full schedule, visit here.

Finally, for food connoisseurs, keep an eye on the Hampshire Fare Food Festival running all month.  For a tasty programme of events across the county, visit the website here.

We’ll bring you more tips on Twitter throughout the month @Win_Guide, meanwhile enjoy!

Win Guide to July

July is here and Winchester will not fail to deliver its share of weird and wonderful events to brighten what has been a temperamental summer thus far:

Stonemasons-Festival-Have you ever experienced live stone masonry?  Winchester Cathedral will be hosting a Festival taking place in the Inner Close, 8-10 July, where stone masons from across the UK will be showing their carving prowess, culminating in a public auction of works on Sunday 10 July and a chance to meet the masons. The event is free.

hampshire-fare-Foodies will be pleased to hear that July is also the Hampshire Food Festival, with various events taking place across the county all month.  On Friday 15 July 2016, Winchester’s Forte Kitchen will be opening its doors afterhours for a unique evening of food and drink. “Kitchen Cabinet” is a collaboration between Forte Kitchen and Cabinet Rooms. For a comprehensive list of all the events on offer, visit the online programme here.

Winchester Festival of the ArtsThe Winchester Festival of the Arts runs until Saturday 9 July, a series of music, talks and drama throughout the city. Speakers include Michael Morpurgo, Robert Hardy and Sandi Toksvig. There is a lunch time recital programme at St Lawrence’s Church, a selection of visual arts exhibitions and some interesting city walks. We like the sound of Alfred’s Kingdom (a dramatised walk) described as a journey ‘back through time’ to Anglo-Saxon Winchester with a dramatic twist! Booking is recommended. For a full programme visit the Festival website here.

Wessex Dance Academy will be presenting an exciting evening of choreography and film at the Theatre Royal, 14 July at 7pm.  A new company of dancers will share their 12 week journey with  three new pieces of dance. The event is free although donations are welcome.

logoThe Winchester Science Festival takes place  22-24 July. A fantastically curated programme of speakers will take over the Discover Centre for a weekend of stimulating talks on space, nature, the future and of course, powerful lasers. Various exhibitions and other events will be taking place throughout the month, and a full programme is available on the Winchester Science Festival website.

Plenty of food and thought this month – enjoy!