Henley Royal Regatta:

The rowing event was first held in Henley-on-Thames in 1839 and is held once every year during July, for five days. The races happen on the River Thames. There are qualifying races before Regatta in order to determine who will actually be a part of the final ones during July.

There are two different enclosures at the Regatta; the Stewards’ enclosure and the Regatta enclosure. The Stewards’ enclosure is for members and their guests whereas anyone is allowed to enter the Regatta enclosure providing that admission badges are worn all the time. In the Stewards’ enclosure, there is a strict dress code where women are required to wear dresses or skirts and the hemline must fall below the knee. It is also “customary for ladies to wear hats.”

I think that it would be really interesting to go to this particular event because of how long it’s been going on for and the fact that there are so many different racing events that you can go to over the span of the few days.

Chelsea Flower Show:

The Chelsea Flower show has been happening in Chelsea since 1912, however, it previously started out in the RHS garden in Kensington, in 1862. It was also previously known as the RHS Great Spring Show. It is usually held every May for 5 days. 157,000 people attend the show each year and you have to buy tickets in advance in order to visit and it is also covered on TV by the BBC. I would love to go to the flower show one day because I think it would be incredible to see a wide range of different styles of gardens that have been curated with specific themes in mind. As well as being able to walk around to see all these different gardens, there are official and special awards that are given.

Summer Fest:

One of the events that we have talked about in the office is the Summer Fest at Waddeson Manor due to the fact that Amy has gone to the festival previously and she has talked about how much she has enjoyed it there. She has told us about the many things that you are able to do whilst visiting the manor. One of Amy’s favourite things about the festival is the fact that she went there not really knowing what to expect and she had an amazing time because it was so fun and bizarre.

The summer fest (previously known as Feast festival) is an event which happens in July and it is an event where there’s a lot of different things that go on at the same time. One of the main aspects of the festival is the live music and performances that they have planned to go on throughout both of the days. When I was researching about the festival this year I found out about a performance where “an audience member becomes the central performer and is transformed on stage as styling becomes a showpiece” for a group called OSADIA.

As well as performances and music, they also have over 70 stalls for different types of food that you are able to have there and also buy food products to take home too. And lastly, they also have an area where you will be able to buy arts and handmade crafts.

Royal Ascot:

One of the most awaited events in the summer social calendar is Royal Ascot. It usually happens sometime during the month of June.

Ladies’ Day is of course one of the most popular days during Royal Ascot as it is the day that women come dressed up wearing their best clothes and interesting fascinators or hatinators. On Ladies’ Day there is usually a competition where someone is voted Best Dressed and they normally win an extravagant prize, like a car for example. For each of the enclosures at Ascot (Royal Enclosure, Queen Anne Enclosure, Village Enclosure & the Windsor Enclosure,) there is a specific dress code that visitors have to follow in order to enter each of them.

I would love to go to Royal Ascot one year because I would really enjoy getting the chance to dress up and I also think that it would be fun to see all of the different types of fascinators/hatinators that other women as well. I would also enjoy being in such a lively environment.

The Qatar Goodwood Festival:

Besides Royal Ascot, there are also many other horse racing events that occur during the summer, one of them being the Qatar Goodwood Festival. It is also known as “Glorious Goodwood.” The racing event usually happens at the end of July/beginning of August. Whilst researching I found that like Royal Ascot, the festival has a dress code for the different enclosures (Richmond Enclosure, Gordon Enclosure and the Lennox Enclosure.)

 They also offer a style guide for the certain enclosures and a page dedicated to getting ‘the Goodwood Look.’ What I found so interesting about this page, is the fact that they did their own photoshoot with the outfits that they had styled and the models in the shoot were some of the women taking part in the Magnolia Cup in 2018. I also found out that the women racing in the Magnolia Cup have little to no previous experience in horse racing and are trained before taking part in the race which raises money for Cancer Research UK. The Magnolia Cup occurs on the Thursday, which is also Ladies’ Day.