The Jubilee jamboree starts here
Get set for celebrations large and small across the country to mark the Queen’s 70-year reign. Book now for a right royal knees-up!
THE PARTY has almost begun. Across the nation, bunting is at the ready, trestle tables are being dusted down and Union Flags prepared. Yes, the big bash is upon us in celebration of the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee.
It’s not just neighbourhood street parties that await the long Bank Holiday weekend from June 2 to 5.
Official events are planned in major cities; hotels are getting in on the act; river cruises have been launched and just about everywhere there will be concerts, tea parties, exhibitions, parades and all kinds of special offers.
One London hotel is even, a little eccentrically perhaps, offering a free night if you bring your corgi.
Here is our Platinum Jubilee travel lowdown.
TEA AT BALMORAL
AFTERnOOn teas will be served at Balmoral, the Queen’s favourite summer retreat, where you can watch the Jubilee celebrations on screens and listen to the Ballater Pipe Band. The Corgi Society of Scotland is also putting on a show. HOW TO DO IT: £15 adults, £6 ages 5-16; afternoon tea £45 (balmoralcastle.com).
LINCS HIGH JINKS
LIVE music, food stalls and family fun are being lined up around Lincoln Castle,
where a Jubilee Beacon will be lit on June 2. There’s a family story trail with characters explaining the Queen’s decades on the throne. HOW TO DO IT: Entry to castle gardens free; supper with choral performance on June 2, £20 for adults and £10 for children (visitlincoln.com).
WELSH FEAST
PEMBREY Country Park in Carmarthenshire is holding a Great British Craft & Food Festival on June 3. Explore its 500 acres of woodlands and the adjoining eight miles of golden sands after tucking into a royal feast of food. HOW TO DO IT: Free entry, runs from 10am to 4 pm(pembrey county park. wales ).
BLETCHLEY BONANZA
SWING bands and other live music are planned over the long Bank Holiday at the home of the legendary World War II codebreakers. Bring your own deckchairs, tuck into food from stalls and enjoy the shows. HOW TO DO IT: £24.50 per adult, under12s free, family tickets for two adults and two children aged 12-17 from £65.50 (bletchleypark.org.uk).
DRESS UP IN HEREFORD
JOIN the fun at the Platinum Jubilee fete at Whitfield Estate in Herefordshire on June 5, which will have a 1950s theme matching Her Majesty’s early days on the throne. Visitors are encouraged to dress in period style. There will also be a royal fancy-dress competition. HOW TO DO IT: Free entry (whitfieldhereford.com).
CORNISH FLOTILLA
AFTER the lighting of a beacon on June 2 on St Michael’s Mount in Cornwall, events are planned across the weekend, with a flotilla of oar- and wind-powered boats circumnavigating the island on June 4. HOW TO DO IT: Garden admission £10 adults, £6 children aged 5-17, underfives free (stmichaelsmount.co.uk).
PARTY IN GUERNSEY
JOIN in the Platinum Party at Government House, where there is to be brass band music on June 4, plus a live screening of the evening concert at Buckingham Palace. An arts festival takes place the next day. HOW TO DO IT: Events are free (visitguernsey.com).
BLENHEIM FOR FOODIES
BLENHEIM Palace Food Festival returns to the Oxfordshire estate with a Jubilee theme and appearances by Michelin-starred chef Raymond Blanc and the Italian culinary legend Gennaro Contaldo. Expect food galore and cocktail tents. HOW TO DO IT: £20.50 for adults, £10.50 aged 5-16 (blenheimpalace.com).
MUSIC IN MANCHESTER
THE Fit For A Queen Weekend at Sackville Gardens on June 4 features music stars from the 1990s and 2000s including Atomic Kitten and the Cheeky Girls.
Other city events over the
weekend include the Manchester Flower Show. HOW TO DO IT: Tickets are from £25 (visitmanchester.com).
LIVERPOOL RAISES A GLASS
TAKE part in a new festival, Taste Liverpool — Drink Bordeaux, being held over all four days. It’s a celebration of local cuisine, French wine and the Queen all in one, with cookery demonstrations and stalls. HOW TO DO IT: visitliverpool.com/ tasteliverpool.
NORFOLK CHEER
GREAT Yarmouth’s Golden Mile beach is staging The Kees-Gert Friesian Queen’s Jubilee Memorial Ride, with majestic horses parading along the sands on June 2. Meanwhile, the Great Yarmouth Beer and Cider Festival is from June 1 to 5. HOW TO DO IT: Free horse show; festival tickets £3 (visitgreatyarmouth.co.uk).
SANDRINGHAM TREAT
A NEW exhibition, Her Majesty The Queen At Sandringham, showcases the Royal Family’s affection for this country retreat in Norfolk. Musical events over the weekend — including a Katherine Jenkins concert — have sold out. HOW TO DO IT: Exhibition tickets £23, under-17s free (sandringham estate.co.uk).
WONDERS IN WINDSOR
WINDSOR’S celebrations include the lighting of a Jubilee beacon on June 2, a concert held at St George’s Chapel on June 3, a Jubilee Picnic in the Park on June 4 (with live music and displays of cars from every