Here is Part Two of our Summer Events round-up, showcasing the best outdoor events to enjoy during the balmy weather.
London – Opera Holland Park London
Until 28th July
Few companies have done as much to popularise and make opera accessible as Opera Holland Park: its Inspire Project brings new audiences to the art form through free tickets for the old and young, disability-friendly performances and two-for-one tickets for NHS staff. This season, OPH will present La Traviata, Cosi Fan Tutte, Isabeau and Ariadne auf Naxos, as well as performances by the Royal Ballet. Pack a picnic and head to west London for one of the best nights out in town. From £20. www.operahollandpark.com
Holland Park Opera © Robert Workman
The South East – Cambridge Folk Festival
Cherry Hinton Hall Park, Cambridge
2nd – 5th August
Attracting top-class performers and audience from all over the globe this is one of the longest-running and most respected folk festivals in the world. Patti Smith, Peggy Seeger, Eric Bibb and Rhiannon Giddens, are among the stellar line-up. And there’s plenty to enjoy away from the stages including music, craft and healing workshops, plus music and dance clubs for children.
Day tickets: adults from £29; £18 for under-21s. www.cambridgelivetrust.co.uk/folk-festival/
Arundel Gallery Trail
Various venues, Arundel, West Sussex
18th – 27th August
Celebrating its 30th anniversary in 2018, the Arundel Gallery Trail gives art lovers an opportunity to meet the town’s painters, jewellers, printers, textile designers, ceramicists and glassmakers in their own workshops and homes. Follow the trail from studio to studio or follow your interest from one gallery to the next. With more than 100 local artists exhibiting, you’re bound to find something you love.
Free. www.arundelgallerytrail.co.uk
Stay at Bailiffscourt Hotel and Spa
The South West – Moulin Rouge
Lulworth Castle, Dorset
15th August
Luna Cinema has chosen some of the UK’s most spectacular locations for its screenings, and 17th-century Lulworth Castle is right up there with the very best of them, sitting in a blessed position overlooking the Jurassic coast. Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone is showing the day after.
Adults, £15; children, £10. www.thelunacinema.com
Stay at The Priory
Alice
Minack Theatre, Penzance, Cornwall
30th August–3rd September
Carved into the cliff face, largely by one remarkable woman – Rowena Cade – the Minack Theatre is one of Cornwall’s most precious landmarks. Productions are held come rain or shine and even in unkind weather are a joy. Among the delights are Hamlet, Dr Dolittle, Journey’s End, Sense and Sensibility and The Cherry Orchard.
From £10, adults; £5 children. www.minack.com
The North – The Big Lebowski
Muncaster Castle, Cumbria
11th August
Picnic Cinema has built its reputation on screening cult classics in great locations in the North and is just one of the ventures run by Eden Arts, which aims to bring cinema, theatre and music to remote parts of Cumbria. (REMOTE: Rural Touring Cinema is another of its projects.) Its Picnic Cinema parties are an absolute hoot – lots of music, fun, games and, of course, films, in castles, courtyards and forests. Also on the programme are Withnail & I at Uncle Monty’s Cottage (Sleddale Hall), Dog Soldiers, Hamsterley Forest; Sightseers, Lowther Castle; The Adventures of Priscilla Queen of the Desert, Muncaster Castle and 24th Party People, Kirklinton Hall.
£15, £25 with camping. www.picniccinema.co.uk
Stay at Armathwaite Hall or Gilpin Hotel and Lake House
Scotland – Kadamati
Palace of Holyrood House, Edinburgh
22nd August
Kadamati brings together hundreds of dancers in a moving performance to mark the centenary of the end of WWI. Choreographed by Akram Khan and set to music by Nitin Sawhney, this profound work – just six minutes long – is a collaboration between 14–18 NOW (the UK’s arts programme for WWI), Edinburgh International Festival, Théâtre du Châtelet and Théâtre de la Ville, and will also be staged in Paris at a later date. A beautiful elegiac piece that is well worth seeing despite its brevity.
Free. www.eif.co.uk
Stay at Dunstane House
Kadamati © Kios Miah
Article written by Xenia Taliotis
