Outdoor Music and Theatre
With the hope of warm weather to come, Alex Middleton tours the country to find idyllic spots for your group to enjoy the outdoor music and theatre season.
As winter finally draws to a close and thoughts turn to the arrival of summer, the outdoor music and theatre season offers your group an entertaining way to enjoy the al fresco life.
Music under the sun and stars
Whether your group members prefer classical or contemporary styles, the nationwide programme of outdoor musical events coming up this year should have something to suit everyone.
Running throughout June and July, the Forestry Commission’s Live Music 2008 programme will see concerts taking place at outdoor sites such as Bedgebury Pinetum in Kent. These include performances by artists ranging from classical superstar Katherine Jenkins to Status Quo. Group discounts are available on certain performances.
Leeds Castle in Kent will also offer groups a number of outdoor concerts throughout June and July as part of its Music on the Lawns series. These include an evening with the Band of the Royal Marines and performances by the English Chamber Orchestra.
Throughout July and August, meanwhile, groups will be able to enjoy the music of the English National Orchestra at the Summer Live 08 Proms and Picnic Concerts series produced by MA Concerts. Featuring rousing tunes such as the Dambusters March and a Spitfire aerial display set to the music, these will run at venues including Weston Park in Staffordshire and Castle Howard in North Yorkshire.
Also running throughout July and August, the Proms in the Park 2008 concert series will tour the UK. This will see music by the London Gala Orchestra and performances by soprano Juliette Pochin as well as laser shows and fireworks displays. The concerts will visit six venues across the nation including Milton Keynes’ Campbell Park, Petworth Park in West Sussex and Bowood House in Wiltshire. Group discounts may be available and chairs, tables and picnics can be pre-booked through the organisers, Eastern Breeze.
July will also see the Battle Proms take place in the grounds of Hatfield House in Hertfordshire. Featuring fireworks as well as cavalry and canon displays all set to rousing classical music, groups receive a discount on admission.
In Merseyside, your group will also be able to attend the annual Southport Summer Classics featuring the Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra this July. Featuring fireworks and lightshows, the event will once again be hosted in the town’s Victoria Park.
One of the biggest names in the jazz world, Jools Holland, will be taking to the stage this June at Bedgebury Pinetum in Kent. The Jools’ Rhythm and Blues Orchestra concert, will feature a number of guest vocalists.
Also for jazz lovers, the grounds of Wiltshire’s Lacock Abbey will be the venue for All That Jazz this July. The outdoor concert will bring together jazz greats including Kenny Ball and, Acker Bilk.
Further north, in the grounds of North Yorkshire’s Castle Howard, the Jazz in the Afternoon concert will take place in the gardens this July. Group discounts are available and include entrance to all of the Castle’s grounds.
July will also see the Summer Swing concerts return to London’s Royal Botanic Gardens at Kew. Offering you the chance to see artists such as Lulu and the Gipsy Kings, picnic hampers can be pre-booked for the event.
Fans of Diana Ross, meanwhile, will be able to see the star perform in West Sussex at the National Trust’s Petworth Park this July. Again, groups can pre-book a picnic to be collected at the event.
Your group will also have the opportunity to see a range of bands and performers at Powderham Castle in Exeter this July with the return of its Concerts Picnic Style events. Boyzone and Katie Melua will be amongst the line up, which includes an 80s Party and Fireworks Night.
Moving to Bristol this August, the Balloon Fiesta will feature two evenings of musical performances during its Night Glow events. Set to rock and classical music, the events see the balloons illuminated in a choreographed aerial performance. Group discounts are available.
The outdoor stage
Your group can also enjoy a number of outdoor theatre productions in beautiful and historic locations.
Bristol begins the season with an outdoor Shakespeare Festival running from May to August. Productions will be staged in the elegant Queens Square or the gardens of Ashton Court Estate. Group discounts are offered on certain performances.
Also beginning in May and running until August, the Canterbury Tales in Kent will adapt several of Chaucer’s works for the stage as part of its Meet Mr Chaucer outdoor theatre series. Including the bawdy Miller’s Tale, performances will be free to attend.
June, meanwhile, sees the start of the Open Air Theatre Regents Park programme. With performances running until the end of August, you can see productions ranging from Romeo and Juliet to Gigi.
Moving to Fountains Abbey in North Yorkshire, your group can enjoy more of the bard this June at an outdoor performance of the Merry Wives of Windsor. This is followed in August by the Hound of the Baskervilles.
In neighbouring County Durham, July will see the return of the Castle Players to the Bowes Museum, where they will be producing Shakespeare’s Measure for Measure in the grounds.
Also in July, the gardens of Hertfordshire’s Hatfield House will be the setting for Shakespeare’s Globe’s touring production of The Winter’s Tale. The production will subsequently visit other venues in July, such as Leeds Castle in Kent, which will also host performances of Bizet’s Carmen in late August.
In the west country, meanwhile, your group will again be able to see the Bournemouth Shakespeare Players move their stage outdoors for a performance of MacBeth in the grounds of Priory House Garden in Dorset. Group discounts are available on tickets.
Lastly, August will see the Lord Chamberlain’s Men tour the country with an outdoor production of Shakespeare’s Much Ado About Nothing. In the south of England the tour will visit venues such as Waddesdon Manor and in the north, Yorkshire’s Harewood House.