The Jubilee jamboree
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; and there will also be a whole host of 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 4pm (pembreycountypark.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, under-12s free, family tickets for two adults and two children aged 12-17 from £65.50 (bletchleypark.org.uk).
KELSO CROWNING GLORY
ENJoY a bumper weekend of fantastic Jubilee celebrations in Kelso in the Borders, where primary school children will re-enact the Queen’s coronation.
A parade through the town led by Kelso pipe band will also be a highlight of Saturday’s celebrations followed by the coronation and an afternoon of dancing and entertainment with a funfair.
A fleet of cars from the Border Vintage Automobile Club will visit the town on Sunday, arriving in Kelso Square at 12.30pm.
A picnic in the park is also being planned by Kelso Cricket Club. HOW TO DO IT: Free entry. (www. visitkelso.com)
MUSSELBURGH PARTIES
THE HISToRIC Musselburgh Racecourse – visited by the Queen in 2016 when it marked its 200th anniversary – will host a street party extravaganza as well as two days of racing.
A Big Jubilee Lunch will be held on Saturday, when the £50,000 Inch’s Cider Scottish Sprint Cup will be the day’s big race at the East Lothian racecourse.
Racegoers can enjoy a family party on Sunday, and there will be a funfair and face-painting with prizes up for grabs for the best-dressed prince and princess. HOW TO DO IT: Tickets are on sale now and booking before midnight on June 3 will save £5 per person. Under-17s get in free (www.musselburghracecourse.co.uk)
PERTH PERFORMS
A FREE concert called Music Through the Jubilee Years on Thursday evening will mark the start of a weekend of celebrations in Perth. Three bands will perform and there will be an audience singalong at the event at Perth Concert Hall.
Classic cars – including those from 1952 – will be on display in the city centre on Saturday, and there will be a parade celebrating music, dance and culture on Sunday. HOW TO DO IT: Events are free but the concert is ticketed (www.horsecross. co.uk)
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)
GIRVAN ADDS SOME FIZZ
GLENAPP Castle, a five-star hotel in Girvan, Ayrshire, is hosting a Platinum Jubilee afternoon tea throughout June, with the centrepiece being a tonka bean macaron topped with a crown. Anyone called Elizabeth will be treated to a free glass of champagne. HOW TO DO IT: Prices for afternoon tea in the hotel’s new Azalea glasshouse start at £35 per person (www.glenappcastle.com)
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 (sandringhamestate. 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 year since 1952), plus another foodie event on Sunday.
HOW TO DO IT: windsor.gov.uk.
GARDEN DELIGHTS
ACROSS the country, the Royal Horticultural Society is marking the Platinum Jubilee with planting of new trees at its gardens. There are also to be red, white and blue floral displays over June 2-5 and brass band performances from Surrey to Salford.
HOW TO DO IT: rhs.org.uk.
BIRMINGHAM GALA
THE BIG Jubilee Gala Concert at Symphony Hall in Birmingham on June 2 will feature pieces by Ralph Vaughan Williams, Edward Elgar and composers from across the Commonwealth. HOW TO DO IT: Tickets from £13 to £55 (cbso.co.uk).
BEDFORDSHIRE ROCK
ENJOY a Jubilee party performance by Queenergy, one of the UK’s leading tribute bands to Freddie Mercury’s rock group Queen, at the Stairway music venue in Biggleswade, Bedfordshire, from 6pm to midnight on
June 2. HOW TO DO IT: Tickets £5 (stairwaybiggleswade.com).
HUMBER HUBBUB
SEVENTY vessels will set sail along the Humber from Hull Marina on June 2 for the Flotilla Platinum Jubilee Celebrations.
Lifeboats will join tugs, trawlers
and pleasure boats. HOW TO DO IT: visiteast yorkshire.co.uk.
PARADES IN DERBY
TO TIE in with the Jubilee, Royal Crown Derby has released a new collection of handcrafted items inspired by the Queen’s Coronation dress.
Elsewhere in Derby, a military parade, stage show and swing dancing on Cathedral Green is planned from June 2 to 5. HOW TO DO IT: royalcrownderby. co.uk; visitderby.co.uk.
LINCS FIREWORKS
CELEBRATE by the seaside with a Jubilee festival on June 4 featuring music in tribute to Great British Bands that have risen during the Queen’s reign.
The evening will be topped off with a beachside firework display. HOW TO DO IT: visitlincs coast.co.uk.
ABERDEEN FAMILY FUN
A FAMILY picnic hosted by Aberdeen’s Lord Provost will bring families together to mark the Queen’s reign.
Live music and children’s entertainers will be at the Queen’s Jubilee Family Picnic in Duthie Park, Aberdeen, between 11.30am and 2.30pm on Sunday. HOW TO DO IT: Free to attend but people need to bring their own picnics.
CARDIFF SINGSONG
ALED JONES and Bonnie Tyler will perform at Cardiff Castle’s Jubilee Celebration on June 4, as will the Pendyrus Male Choir, pop bands and a full-piece orchestra. Later, screens will show the
evening concert in London. HOW TO DO IT: Adults £32.50, children under 16 free but must register (liveunderthestars.wales).
LINLITHGOW A BEACON
A BEACON will be lit at an event in Beecraigs Country Park in Linlithgow, West Lothian, on Thursday, June 2. The beacon was installed to mark the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee in 2012 and will light up the sky again a decade on.
HOW TO DO IT: Free to attend and no booking required.
DEVON RED ARROWS
THE English Riviera Airshow at
Paignton, Devon, coincides with the Jubilee on June 4-5. Red Arrows, Spitfires, Hurricanes and Lancasters take pride of place in fly-bys. HOW TO DO IT: Entry free (english riviera.co.uk).
WARWICK PARTY TIME
JUBILEE events are being held in Warwick on June 2 including live music, food stalls and classic car displays. There’s also a Wiggle Of Corgis trail for children, with corgi
stickers to discover around the city centre. HOW TO DO IT: warwicktown council.gov.uk.
BELFAST LOOKS BACK
A JUBILEE beacon will be lit, there are themed tea dances at City Hall, Belfast, plus a service of thanksgiving at St Anne’s Cathedral. An event at 2 Royal Avenue on June 4 will highlight life at the time of the Coronation. HOW TO DO IT: belfastcity.gov. uk/jubilee.