Upcoming Holidays and Festivals in England
- Before planning a trip around a festival, verify the festival dates on the festival's website or with a local tourist information office. For more information about these and other events, contact the Visit Britain office.
- This list includes major festivals in major cities, plus national holidays observed throughout England. Many sights and banks close down on national holidays — keep it in mind when planning your itinerary. Note that this isn't a complete list; holidays can strike without warning.
- See upcoming holidays and festivals in Scotland, Wales, and across Europe
2021
April 2–April 5: Easter Weekend (Good Friday through Easter Monday; closures)
May 2–5 (iffy for 2021): Keswick Jazz Festival
May 3: Early May Bank Holiday (closures)
May 28–June 13: Bath Fringe Festival (alternative music, dance, and theater)
May 29–30 (shortened in 2021): Bath Festival (music and literature)
May 31: Spring Bank Holiday (closures)
May 31: Cooper's Hill Cheese Roll, Gloucester, Cotswolds
June 4–5 (iffy for 2021): Keswick Beer Festival (music, shows)
June 12: Trooping the Colour, London (Queen's birthday parade, with military bands and pageantry)
June 15–19: Royal Ascot horse races, near Windsor
June 18–27: Golowan Festival, Penzance (midsummer celebration)
June 28–July 11: Wimbledon Tennis Championship, London
July 2–4: Love Supreme, Sussex (jazz festival)
July 9–17: Early Music Festival, York
Mid-July–mid-September (iffy for 2021): The Proms, London (series of classical-music performances in Royal Albert Hall)
July 22–25: WOMAD Festival, Malmesbury (between Bath and Oxford; world music)
July 23–25: Tramlines Festival, Sheffield (indie rock and more)
July 29–August 1: Cambridge Folk Festival
August 6–8: Pride Festival, Brighton
August 7–15 (iffy for 2021): Kettlewell Scarecrow Festival, Yorkshire
August 29–30 (iffy for 2021): Notting Hill Carnival, London (costumes, Caribbean music)
August 30: Summer Bank Holiday (closures)
September 1–30 (iffy for 2021): Totally Thames, London (free events on the south bank of the Thames)
September 3–January 3: Blackpool Illuminations (waterfront light festival)
September 10–19 (likely): Heritage Open Days (free entry to many historical sights across England)
September 10–19: Jane Austen Festival, Bath
September 11: London Pride Parade
September 17–26 (likely): York Food and Drink Festival
September 21–26: Chelsea Flower Show, London
October 6–17 (likely): BFI London Film Festival
October 16: Live at Leeds (city-wide music festival)
November 5: Guy Fawkes Night (fireworks, bonfires, effigy-burning of 1605 traitor Guy Fawkes)
November 13: Lord Mayor's Show (traditional pageants in the City of London, including horse-drawn coach parades and fireworks)
November 13 (likely): Glastonbury Carnival
November 14: Remembrance Sunday (two minutes of silence at 11:00, people wear poppies on lapels, royals lay wreaths at Cenotaph on Whitehall in London for WWI dead)
Late November–mid-December: Christmas festivals, across Britain; York's St. Nicholas Fayre and Keswick's Victorian Fayre are especially fun (markets, music, entertainment)
December 24–26: Christmas holidays
2022
January 1: New Year's Day (closures)
February 13–21 (likely): Jorvik Viking Festival, York (costumed warriors, battles)
Late March or early April: Oxford vs. Cambridge Boat Race, southwest London
April 15–April 18: Easter Weekend (Good Friday through Easter Monday; closures)
Early May (likely): Leeds International Festival (forward-looking arts and culture festival)
May 1–4 (likely): Keswick Jazz Festival
May 2: Early May Bank Holiday (closures)
Early May–early June (4 weeks): Plymouth History Festival
Mid-May: Bath Festival (music and literature)
May 17–21 (likely): Chelsea Flower Show, London
May 27–June 12 (likely): Bath Fringe Festival (alternative music, dance, and theater)
June 2: Spring Bank Holiday (closures)
June 2: Cooper's Hill Cheese Roll, Gloucester, Cotswolds
June 3: Platinum Jubilee of Elizabeth II (fanfare and pageantry in London and other big cities; nationwide closures)
June 3–4 (likely): Keswick Beer Festival (music, shows)
June 11: Trooping the Colour, London (Queen's birthday parade, with military bands and pageantry)
June 14–18 (likely): Royal Ascot horse races, near Windsor
June 22–26 (likely): Glastonbury Festival, Somerset (indie pop/rock music)
July 28–August 8: XXII Commonwealth Games, Birmingham (giant quadrennial sports competition)