Autumn Fest at Blenheim Palace PIC Pete Seaward

Enjoy Blenheim Palace’s Autumn Fest on October 1-2 with a stunning market, live music, family games, theatre and circus entertainments and more.

The woman behind ‘Autumn Fest’ Charlotte Lloyd Webber, says it aims to celebrate estate traditions and our connection to the land as a reimagined harvest festival.

There will be artisan and food markets, workshops, demonstrations and a packed programme of talks and guided activities as well as live entertainments( see below for more details).

There’s also the chance to find out more about Blenheim’s work to support declining bee and insect populations, woodland renewal and clean waterways as part of its wider sustainability goals.

Visit the Harvest Sports Arena, the Sculpture Trail, WhatNot Theatre‘s new show based on The Garden Jungle, guest speaker David Goulson as well as Plunge Boom Theatre’s fantastic Vegetable Nannies.

Children playing on hay bales at Blenheim Palace’s Autumn Fest PIC Pete Seaward

There’s an excellent live music line-up, a stunning performance from Chivaree Circus, plus scarecrow competitions, wish bugs, Sunningwell Art Tent and activity pop-ups with Nicholson’s.

Don’t miss the fantastic autumnal food offering and the Blenheim Orange Bar, social enterprise brewery Tap Social will be running the bar.

The Michaelmas Market features 50 independent Oxfordshire traders alongside artisanal food stalls, visit the regenerative farming plot created by Worthy Earth in the Walled Garden and try tastings from Rowse Honey and Hotel Chocolat.

Sculpture trail at Blenheim Palace’s Autumn Fest PIC Pete Seaward

There will be many additional events and activities taking place over the weekend including Hook Norton Brewery Shire Horses, talks by award-winning authors, foraging and photographic walks, workshops and demonstrations, plus nature, photography and foraging trails, all of which can be booked in advance. 

WHAT TO BOOK: TALKS AND ACTIVITIES

  • The Wellbeing Gardener: Annabelle Padwick – Sat Oct 1 11.30am – using nature and human connection to support anyone struggling with low confidence, self-esteem, isolation and mental ill health. Join founder Annabelle Padwick to hear about her extraordinary life journey and work. Tickets: £5
  • Foraging Walks – Sat 1 Oct and Sun 2 Oct at 11am, 1pm and 3pm. Foraging walks and talks in the Blenheim grounds. Tickets: £15
  • Sustainable Projects at Blenheim – Sat 1 Oct and Sun 2 Oct 10.30am. Blenheim CEO Dominic Hare, Estate Manager Roy Cox and forestry partner Nicholsons, shares the exciting sustainability projects currently underway at Blenheim. FREE.
  • Averting the Insect Apocalypse: Dave Goulson – Sat 1 Oct and Sun 2 Oct 2pm. Author of Sunday Times best seller, The Garden Jungle & Silent Earth: Averting the Insect Crisis. Professor Dave Goulson is a leading expert in the vital role that insects play in our lives and our future. Tickets: £10.
Autumn Fest’s Charlotte Lloyd Webber
  • Encounters with Nature: Rob Cowen – Sat, 1 Oct 12.30pm. Join award-winning journalist and author of Common Ground for a talk about nature.
  • Mindful Photography Walk – Sat, 1 Oct 12.30pm and 2pm. Parents and children are invited to join Woodstock photographer Jonathan Self for a walk through Blenheim’s woods while learning how to take beautiful nature photographs. Tickets: £10
  • Bees vs. Wasps – Sun, 2 Oct 11.30am. Join Blenheim Bee expert Filipe Salbany for a discussion on whether wasps deserve their much-maligned reputation, compared with that of the beloved bee. FREE.
  • Going Zero Waste: Kate Hughes – Sun, 2 Oct 12.30pm. Kate Hughes is the author of Going Zero: One Family’s Journey to Zero Waste and a Greener Lifestyle. Join Kate for an insight into an inspiring journey to “zero waste”, how we can empower ourselves to preserve the climate, forests and seas and how that can lead to a more relaxing life. Tickets: £5.
  • Sustainable(ish): Jen Gale – Sun, 2 Oct 3.30pm Join Jen Gale, an ‘ordinary knackered mum of two’, who sets out on a mission to buy nothing new for a year and recounts her family’s adventure in her brilliant book, The Sustainable(ish) Living Guide: Everything you need to know about making small changes that make a big difference. Tickets: £5
Blenheim Estate’s Rachel Furness-Smith with Rowse’s Marketing Manager Clare Allman, Managing Director Ian Ainsworth and Blenheim Estates Director Roy Cox
  • Leisa Stewart-Sharpe‘s interactive talks on her BBC Green Planet book series, children’s author Charlie P. Brooks and his real ponies, Busby’s Bees Children’s talks, Harrison Fannon from Worthy Earth, and Sunday Times best-selling author Fiona Stafford on the secret life of trees, in the Orchard Tent.

For details and to book visit www.blenheimpalace.com/whats-on/events/autumn-fest.html   

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