The Festival of History is an annual summer event held by English Heritage. The event focusses on historical re-enactment. The first event was held in 2003 and attracted 10,000 visitors, and since then has been held annually in July or August in the grounds of Stoneleigh Park in Warwickshire (2003 and 2004) or Kelmarsh Hall in Northamptonshire (2005 onwards). It is Europe's biggest historical event.[1]
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English Heritage is the executive non-departmental public body of the British Government sponsored by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport which is responsible for the historic built environment in the UK. Public education on the history of England is a large part of the body's remit. English Heritage describes the Festival of History as its "flagship event"[2] and the "highlight of its event calender".[3]
Events include historical re-enactments involving several thousand people in all, aerial displays, demonstrations, specialist talks, story-telling, theatre and hands-on events for children.[4]
The 2011 event on 16 and 17 July 2011 at Kelmarsh Hall includes re-enactments of the Imperial Roman Army and gladiatorial fighting; armoured knights and medieval jousting; a display of "tent-pegging", a medieval Indian sport;[19] the Duke of Wellington's redcoats; a Victorian gymkhana; a replica World War I trench[20] and World War II action including a Spitfire flypast. As well as re-enactments there are family activities and sideshows.[4]
2011 sees the inaugural Festival of Historical Writing at the event, in partnership with the Historical Writers' Association. Guest speakers include Michael Morpurgo, the author of War Horse, and Manda Scott.[21]