A day out to remember - The Coronation Festival

I wanted to tell you a bit about my visit to the Coronation Festival in July as a guest of Halcyon Days.
The Festival, running from the 11th to the 14th of July 2013 took place in the Gardens of Buckingham Palace.

The event was to promote and celebrate the work of the companies who hold Royal Warrants of Appointment, as it said in the booklet :" Promoting the very best of UK plc, the Festival celebrated innovation, excellence and industry through trade and craft."

The Thursday was for the Royal family, VIPs, government, ambassadors, they looked at the stands and watched the Gala evening events and Friday Saturday and Sunday was for the Royal Warrant Holders' guests.

We went on the Saturday, it was sunny and very hot and it was such a beautiful experience to walk in the gardens of the Palace, the rich greens of the foliage contrasting with the bright colours of flowers and marquees, and I now regret not having taken enough pictures. I have to add that until the evening Gala event, I didn't see anybody famous apart from Camilla, who was admiring the Halcyon Days new Tiger print scarf.

It was a great chance too to see the beautiful range of antique Halcyon Days boxes which celebrated various events in Royal history as well as their new collection comprising the latest Royal birth boxes and their most famous designs printed onto silk scarves. I also had a good look at the Bentley and Range Rover stands, and it was quite incredible to see all these examples of British manufacturing history gathered in one place.

The Gala concert was the icing on the cake though, it was  a celebration of music and dance over the past 60 years and I enjoyed every minute of it. There was Katherine Jenkins, Russell Watson and Dame Kiri Te Kanawa , there were songs from Les Miserables and other musicals, dancing and amongst a range of specially commissioned pieces, Mike Batt (the Wombles man! OK, I know he does so much more) created a song for Katie Melua, it was truly a great concert and such an amazing setting.

When we came out we walked across the courtyard across the front of the Palace, exiting out of the small entrance near the Main Gate, I looked back at the Palace, which was now ablaze with lights and I thought this is probably the closest I'll ever get to the Palace - it really had been a special day.

Comments

Popular Posts