HENLEY
MUSIC & ART FESTIVAL
Summer Glamor on the Thames Floating Stage
‘Why,
why, why, Delilah…” bring your hotel room keys
ladies, Tom Jones is in the house. The annual Henley Festival celebrating
its 29th year in 2011, The Henley Festival is an elegant five night, formal black tie event which takes
place on three beautiful glorious acres overlooking the meandering River
Thames in Oxfordshire’s Henley-on-Thames. In an idyllic setting on
one of the most scenic stretches of the river the festival showcases some
of the best loved artists and performers from the classical, jazz and contemporary
music worlds, as well as talent drawn from the global cultural scene, along
with street theatre acts, poetry, sculpture and art. For
a week in early July, the market town of Henley-on-Thames, home of the Royal
Regatta,
casts off its genteel aura and goes into full bore glamour.
The Henley Festival is the hottest ticket of the British Summer Social Season.
From 6pm each evening, over twenty
acts from the world of jazz, opera, classical and theatre, from the around
the world, perform live. Quirky
street artists known as the Roving Company of Eccentrica, wander the
lawns. The evening ends with
spectacular firework display lighting the summer starry skies at around
10pm while live musicians keep partiers in the mood to dance until closing
time
at the ChinaWhite Night Club or the Water’s Edge Bar. If you can’t
make the big sold out shows, the whole town of Henley becomes a showplace
for the bizarre and eccentric, picnics by the river and boat deck champagne
parties.
What to Wear?
The
dress code for the Henley Music and Art festival is strictly black-tie,
and this year is touted as the most glamorous of them all. Think Ascot
British
lawn
Chic.
Ladies
come decked out in sizzling cocktail dresses and jewels, or sumptuous summer
evening gowns. But being outdoors with covered tents, bring jackets or
wraps should the air take a chill after sunset. Gents arrive in Black Tie
and younger festival goers also put on their best bib and tucker, leave
the jeans and fleece behind.
Where to Eat?
While
at
the Henley Festival, dine in splendid style at Albert and Michel Roux's
Riverside Restaurant (from £110 for 3 courses, wine is additional)
with a classical French menu, complimented with exquisite champagnes. Or
for a less formal fare afaire, take a spot at the Terrace Restaurant and
Café du
Soir, or indulge your appentites with Heston Blumenthal’s Scotch Quails
eggs at The Hinds Head at Henley.
Ticket Prices
Festival
tickets range from £35 to £110 and sell out fast. Book
tickets at Henley
Fesitval.
Getting
To Henley-On-Thames
Only
90 minutes from Paddington London by rail traveling via Twyford, Henley-on-Thames
makes the ideal weekend getaway. By car, about 40 minutes frol London on
the M4 motorway from London or M3 from Bournemouth and south west. For the
truly privileged, land your helicopter at the Danesfield House Hotel helipad.
Make it a Fab Weekend
Henley is overlooked by beautiful Chiltern landscapes of wooded hills and
green fields, ideal for walks and picnics. Just a few strides from the riverbank
is the very heart of Henley with its historic church, town hall and market
square, the latter bustling with busy stallholders and shoppers on market
days. Browse the town's many boutiques and soak up the post Regatta buzz.
Discover the heart pulse
of Henley at award winning River & Rowing Museum
(see Henley-on-Thames
Rowing), 5 minutes walk from the town center along
the river, featuring the history of the upper Thames and Olympic achievements
of Sir Steve Redgrave and Sir Matthew Pinsent, the world’s finest rowers.
Take a boat tour down the course of the famed Henley Regatta, in a small
cruiser, or prove your oarsmanship, in a hired rowing boat. Don’t forget
to keep your eyes peeled for celebrities who flood into town for the festival
and secure those choice moorings. © Bargain
Travel Europe
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Web Info
Henley Festival
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WILLIAMS FORMULA 1 COLLECTION - OXFORDSHIRE
