Hampton Court Palace Fanfare and Fireworks

WHAT: HAMPTON COURT FANFARE & FIREWORKS FESTIVAL
WHY: HAMPTON COURT PALACE FESTIVAL 2015
WHEN: SATURDAY 13TH JUNE 2015
HOW MUCH: £45 - £70
WHAT TIME FOR FIREWORKS: THE FIREWORKS DISPLAY WILL START 15 MINUTES AFTER THE CONCERT FINISHES
WHERE: HAMPTON COURT PALACE, LONDON, KT8 9AU

Hampton Court historically has had a slightly chequered past, being associated with murder, war and political intrigue. It was in this very place that King Henry VIII first learned of Catherine Howard’s sexual indiscretions, which ultimately lead to her losing her head. Some years later General Eisenhower (as he was before becoming President of the USA) planned the Normandy landings from Hampton Court.

In 1494 Giles Daubeney, who later in life became the Lord Chancellor, leased the manor house of Hampton Court with a view to “modernising” it, although Wikipedia lists the building as being erected in 1514 so there is some discrepancy there but we are working on the assumption that it takes some while to erect a building of that size but 20 years is a little on the long side.

Although the Tudors and the Stuarts lived on site, the current royal family, the Windsor’s have never actually lived there and in fact, the late Queen Victoria changed it to Grace and Favour apartments for those who had given great service to the Crown or country which includes some other royals too.

Today, it remains a beautiful historic building with lots of tales to tell but it also has a practical purpose as the home of the Royal school of needlework is based there, also Hampton court has featured in several Hollywood blockbusters the best known would be Pirates of the Caribbean: on stranger tides. These days, the Palace plays host to the glitterati of the music world.

The Hampton Court Festival was established in 1993 and has played host to Eric Clapton, Sir Tom Jones and Andrea Bocelli over the last few years. This year the line-up is just as impressive with Jools Holland, Paloma Faith, even comedy from Alan Davies and Paul Merton. Fans of Peter Andre will also have a chance to see and hear him as he blasts out his biggest hits (I can only think of one) so except to hear “Mysterious Girl”.

The big day for us would be Saturday 13th June as the Royal Philharmonic orchestra perform their rendition of “Fanfare and Fireworks”. Attendees usually number around 3,000 who view the display from the expansive East front gardens. Although camping in the grounds is not permitted there are a number of hostels and hotels in the area but places usually fill up quickly so best start looking into making a reservation sooner rather than later. Getting there is easy as there are many ways you could arrive there; even by boat!

Generally we have found that large annual firework displays of this nature do tend to get bigger every year as their popularity increases and hopefully this will be the case.

The concert will start at 8.30pm with no interval. The fireworks display will start 15 minutes after the concert finishes.

Programme - Conducted by Paul Bateman

ROSSINI – Overture: William Tell – Galop
MUSSORGSKY orch. Rimsky-Korsakov – Night on the Bare Mountain
TCHAIKOVSKY – Nutcracker: Waltz of the Flowers
OFFENBACH – Tales of Hoffman: Barcarolle
RPO BRASS QUINTET – Suite of Henry VIII Music, Carnival of the Animals
MOZART – Overture: The Marriage of Figaro
J. STRAUSS II – Roses from the South Waltz
SMETANA – Bartered Bride: Dance of the Comedians
DELIBES – Coppelia: Prelude and Mazurka
TCHAIKOVSKY – Swan Lake: Finale
DVORÁK – Slavonic Dance op.46, no.8
BRAHMS – Hungarian Dance No. 5
HANDEL – Music for the Royal Fireworks: Ouverture, La Paix, Minuet, La Rejouissance

In the meantime enjoy the spectacular display from last year.

Hampton Court Music Festival Fireworks 2014 from Blackbat on Vimeo.