Date |
Event |
Details |
|---|---|---|
Jun 20th - Jul 3rd |
Wimbledon | Anyone for tennis? The Official Wimbledon Web Site, provides fast and comprehensive coverage of The Championships. |
Jul 1st - 3rd |
Banbury's Hobby Horse Festival | The Hobby Horse Festival in Banbury features everything from Morris dancing and tours to theatrical performances and processions. Locals dress up as white horses and fine ladies, marking the nursery rhyme the event is dedicated to:-
"Ride a cock horse to Banbury Cross,
To see a fine lady ride on a white horse. With rings on her fingers and bells on her toes, She shall have music wherever she goes." |
Jul 4th - 10th |
International Musical Eisteddfod |
Held in Llangollen, Wales. This is the international festival of music, song and dance. This year they are embracing technology and providing a webcast of the events. |
Jul 9th |
The World Mountain Bike Bog Snorkelling Championships |
As if bog snorkelling weren't daft enough, now they do it on mountain bikes! |
Jul 9th |
World Pea-Shooting Championships | This international event brings challengers from as far afield as New Zealand and the USA to compete for the World Pea Shooting trophy. Accuracy, not distance, is the aim of this competition, with contestants shooting a pea through a 12-inch tube, 12 feet towards a 12- inch target. Competition is fierce and laser-guided shooters for specialists are not uncommon, taking pea shooting into the 21st Century. Pea shooters and peas can be bought at the event (check out the new rules). Oh and there's lots of other stuff to do. |
Jul 10th |
The World Bog Snorkelling Triathlon |
You might get the idea now that there's not much to do around Llanwrtyd Wells, you'd be wrong, but they do like their bogs! |
Jul 15th |
Doggett’s Coat and Badge Race | This is the oldest single sculling race in the world and is the oldest organised race in English history. It all started in 1715 in honour of King George I’s accession to the throne. In order that the race be continued, Irish actor and comedian Thomas Doggett bequeathed money to the Worshipful Company of Fishmongers who still organise it. In his legacy, Doggett provided for prizes, including a splendid red coat and silver badge, which is awarded to the champion oarsman. The winner is especially fitted for the Doggett livery. The coat is a reddish orange colour and is tight-waisted, full-skirted and buttoned down the front. When the coat and silver badge have been made for the winner, he attends a colourful ceremony dating back many years at Fishmongers’ Hall at London Bridge. He enters the banqueting room to a fanfare of trumpets and passes a guard of honour of previous winners who are also wearing their Doggett’s livery. The course covers just over four and three quarter miles (7.24 km) and is only open to young watermen or women under the age of 26 on the day of the race. The race is watched by crowds of people on London’s bridges as well as from boats moored along the route. Some 15-20 boats also follow the race down the Thames. |
Jul 15th |
St Swithin's Day | If it rains today - watch out! According to an ancient myth, if it rains on St Swithin's Day, it will rain for the next 40 days.
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Jul 15th - |
The Proms | Pom tiddly om pom. The Proms is held every year at the Royal Albert Hall it aims to present the widest possible range of music, performed to the highest standards, to large audiences. Now there is also "Proms in the Park", a series of concerts to celebrate the Last Night of the Proms, which takes place in five locations accross the country. |
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Jul 16th |
The World Snail Racing Championship | Ready! Steady! Slow... More than 300 snails slug it out for the title of ‘Fastest Snail in the World’ at the World Snail Racing Championships. Anyone with a snail can enter and a number of heats are held before the grand final. The winner receives a silver tankard stuffed with lettuce. The world record is held by a snail called Archie who completed the 13 inch course (set up on top of a table) in two minutes. The championships are held as part of the Congham Fete which raises funds for the town’s 13th Century St Andrews Church. |
Jul 15th - 17th |
The Sea and International Folk Festival | An annual festival in and around the harbour area of Scarborough, North Yorkshire. One of Britain’s premier seaside resorts. The festival celebrates Scarborough and the Yorkshire Coasts proud connections to fishing, the sea and maritime heritage, with the sound of sea shanties and folk music |
Jul 23rd - 29th |
Whitstable Oyster Festival | This is when the oyster season starts. The people of Whitstable celebrate by hosting a range of different fun activities, and of course eating lots of oysters! |
Jul 29th - 31st |
WOMAD | World of music, art and dance at Rivermead Leisure Centre, Caversham. The annual celebration of international music and dance with performers on various stages in and around the leisure centre. Craft and food village and workshop. |
Jul 31st - Aug 7th |
Cowes Week | The annual world-class yachting event with over 1,000 yachts and 8,500 competitors taking part in some very challenging first-class sailing, it attracts a wide range of local, national and international entrants, from true amateurs to Olympic and World champions. |
Third week in July |
Tolpuddle Martyr Procession | Every year in Dorset a procession is held to commemorate the bravery of the Tolpuddle Martyrs. |
| May - July | Glyndebourne | Glyndebourne is a 700-year old country house and opera house near Lewes in East Sussex, England. Since 1934 it has been the venue of the annual Glyndebourne Festival Opera. The festival is regarded as part of the London/English summer season. Performances, which start in the afternoon, enable Londoners to leave town after lunch, and finish in time for them to catch the last train back. A long interval allows opera-goers the opportunity for picnic dinners on the extensive lawns or in one of the restaurants in the grounds. |
Throughout July |
Royal Garden Parties | In the past young women from the British upper classes would be presented to the Queen in a series of Courts or Presentation parties. These parties and balls were known as coming out parties and the young women were known as debutants. By the end of the party season all the girls should have found themselves a husband. Thankfully this custom is now a thing of the past and Garden Parties have taken over. |
July - August |
Rushbearing Ceremonies | Throughout July and August rushbearing ceremonies are carried out in many villages in north-west England. Rushes are harvested and made into special sculptures (called bearings), these sculptures are carried around in a procession. It is thought that the practice began in the Middle Ages when people used rushes as a floor covering. |
May - August |
Well Dressing | Well dressing is an ancient art carried out in the county of Derbyshire,
especially the Peak District. Every year from around May to August wells
in the area are beautifully decorated with natural objects (usually petals
from flowers) to form elaborate pictures, often nowadays with a religious
theme. The origins of well dressing are something of a mystery, but it is thought to predate Roman times. It was most likely a form of sacrifice to give thanks for the supply of water supplied by wells in the community, |
| Special Features | ||
| The English Magazine | Check out this month's English Magazine. With poetry, short stories, articles, recipes, jokes and much, much more. | |
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Beginners Lessons on-line | A series of free lessons on-line, which include grammar, vocabulary and day-to-day English. |
| Pen Pals on-line | Want to get in touch with other English speakers? Then look at my EPals page. | |
