You think it’s all over? The Diamond Jubilee celebrations in London might have come to an end but events marking the Queen’s 60 years on the throne will continue throughout the summer and across the British Isles the spate of festivals, fairs and shows will be greater than ever. Some will have royal connections and many will provide an ideal opportunity for a short break or holiday, especially for those who stayed at home to enjoy jubilee weekend events.
The first is almost upon us: the Royal Cornwall Show opens tomorrow at Wadebridge, between Bodmin and Padstow, and among visitors will be the Duchess of Cornwall, who stood at the Queen’s shoulder in the absence of the Duke of Edinburgh as Monday night’s Diamond Jubilee Concert ended.
Displays by the RAF Falcons Parachute Team, polo matches and the Devil’s Horsemen’s Cossack and Jousting Show will take place on all three days of the event. There will be a flower show, rare breeds tent, entertainment and competitions for the children and the Band of the Royal Corps of Signals will perform on Saturday.
Cornish Traditional Cottages has a choice of properties in the area for a week from Friday, ranging from a cottage for four to lodges for six in a resort with a leisure centre and many sports facilities. Chapel Cottage in St Mawgan, two miles from the coast and five from the showground, is £456 for the week and the Jasmine and Lavender lodges in the Hustyns resort, three miles from the show, are £895 each.
The weekend after, June 15 to 17, brings the Three Counties Show at Malvern, celebrating Gloucestershire, Herefordshire & Worcestershire with rural activities such as livestock competitions, sheep-shearing and a horse village where Horse of the Year Show qualifiers will take place. It also offers a big wheel, medieval tournaments and military and parachute displays. Hatherley Manor in Gloucestershire has family rooms for two adults and two chidren from £102 a night.
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Typical of country town celebrations is the Dereham Festival in North Norfolk, which continues until June 16 with music, competitions and entertainment. The Iceni Choir performs on Saturday and a brass band concert and evening of seafaring songs raise the rafters on Sunday. A musical based on the The Railway Children plays at Dereham Station until Sunday.
Three miles from the market town is Pound End, a cottage for six with use of an indoor pool and which adjoins a dairy farm which produces ice cream. It costs £394 for a week this month with Norfolk Country Cottages.
The Isle of Wight stages the first major music festival of the summer at Seaclose Park, Newport, from June 22 to 24 with Madness, fresh from its stint on the roof of Buckingham Palace on Monday night, joining Tinie Tempah and Jessie J on the Saturday night bill. Sunday’s programme features Bruce Springsteen, Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds and Joan Armatrading. The festival opens on the Friday with Elbow and Noah & The Whale.
Wightlink has a last minute allocation of three-day weekend packages available, with tickets and camping from £214 a person for foot passengers and £286 for a car and driver, while four adults travelling in one car will pay £930. Packages including travel and tickets but without camping or any accommodation are also on offer.
www.royalcornwallshow.org — 01208 812183
www.corncott.com — 01208 821666
threecounties.co.uk — 01684 584900
www.hatherleymanor.com — 01452 730217
derehamfestival.org.uk — 01362 693277
norfolkcottages.co.uk — 01603 871872
wightlink.co.uk — 0871 3761000