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and pristine interiors with the return of the
Glyndebourne Festival.
A celebration of
opera, its productions can range from Mozart
to modern but some things retain a cute,
anachronistic flourish. Gentlemen typically
gather for performances in tuxedos, while
ladies in evening dresses sip champagne in
the gardens. www.glyndebourne.com.
JUNE
The Royal Academy of Arts'
Summer Exhibi-
tion
in London is the world's largest open
contemporary art exhibition. Paintings, sculp-
tures, drawings, and models by many distin-
guished artists jostle with works by unknown
and emerging artists. The exhibition is spread
over themed rooms, with separate spaces for
invited artists and open submissions, so visi-
tors can easily deduce if a canvas of blotched
figures or indistinguishable squiggles is from
a supposed master or overenthusiastic nov-
ice. www.royalacademy.org.uk.
Trooping the Colour
is a quintessentially
English experience of pomp and ceremony
that celebrates Queen Elizabeth II's birth-
day and sees central London bedecked in
flags and regaled by pageantry. Troupes of
troops form a procession along St. James's
Park and the Queen herself can be glimpsed
enjoying the spectacle at the head of the
parade—by those lucky enough to secure a
good viewing spot. www.royal.gov.uk.
The town of Ascot becomes the focal point
of horseracing each June with the return of
the
Royal Ascot
meeting. The most famous
meeting in the series is the
Gold Cup,
which takes place on Thursday. The Queen
herself occasionally enters horses in the
race but betting fervor isn't limited to the
action on course. Bookies also routinely
take bets on what color hat Her Majesty will
wear on the day. www.ascot.co.uk.
Whether Londoners are right to claim it, the
world's greatest tennis tournament is one
thing, but the top-seed players, traditional
strawberries and cream, and the infamous
rain delays definitely distinguish
Wimble-
don
from other Grand Slams. Some of the
greatest matches of all time have been
fought on Centre Court, a short distance
from central London. www.wimbledon.org.
Glastonbury
is the festival-goers festival. It's
been going since 1970 and features stars now
whose parents weren't even born then, as
well as the likes of Paul McCartney and, in
2011, U2. The Somerset site becomes its own
city, which is as much effete slumming as
hippie chic. And there's usually mud. No fes-
tival 2012. www.glastonburyfestivals.co.uk.
JULY
The Proms
concerts at London's Royal
Albert Hall take over the capital's classical
musical calendar every summer and, with
some justification, can claim to be the great-
est classical music festival in the world. Over
8 weeks, the majestic Royal Albert Hall
resounds to the sound of dozens of perhaps
unexpectedly experimental concerts, all
amid a staple diet of symphony orchestra
performances. www.bbc.co.uk/proms.
The
Cardiff Festival
offers a program of
outstanding events each summer featuring
the best in street theatre, live music, family
entertainment, fun fairs, and drama. Events
take place throughout the city, mostly at
weekends, and to make the festival even
more accessible many events are entirely
free. www.cardiff-festival.com.
Dozens of performances in venues through-
out Birmingham attract thousands of visitors
each year to the
Birmingham International
Jazz Festival.
The event includes impromptu
performances and lively sessions hosted
everywhere from department stores to
parks and restaurants, and winds down with
late-night, lounge-style performances from
top jazz stars in more intimate venues. www.
bigbearmusic.com/bijf.
The event's logo proved controversial,
while its collection of new stadia has drawn
praise. Now after years of debate and
development London finally hosts the
Olympics
in summer 2012. With the eyes of
the world on the city once again, records
will be broken, history will be made, and
visitors for years to come will remember “I
was there.” www.london2012.com.
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