Embrace the season of mists and mellow fruitfulness at Blenheim Palace's Autumn Fest, Saturday 1st - Sunday 2nd October.

Celebrate harvest with a stunning market, live music, family games, theatre and circus entertainments and much more, with late opening until 7.30pm on Saturday.

Devised by acclaimed creative designers CLW Event Design, the event is a re-imagining of the traditional Harvest and Michaelmas Festivals, with a decidedly modern green twist.

There will be artisan and food markets, workshops, demonstrations and a packed programme of talks and guided activities as well as live entertainments.

There's also the chance to find out more about Blenheim's initiatives to support declining bee and insect populations, woodland renewal and clean waterways as part of its wider sustainability goals.

Visit the Harvest Sports Arena, the Sculpture Trail from Oxford Sculptor Group, pop-ups from WhatNot Theatre with a new show based on The Garden Jungle by guest speaker David Goulson as well as Plunge Boom Theatre's fantastic Vegetable Nannies.

There's an excellent live music line-up and a stunning performance from the extraordinary Chivaree Circus at dusk on Saturday with their giant bird puppet, plus Scarecrow Competitions, Wish Bugs, Sunningwell Art Tent and activity pop-up from Blenheim's partner Nicholson's who recently planted 230,000 new oak trees on the estate.

Don't miss the fantastic autumnal food offering from Jericho Kitchen created using produce fresh from the Blenheim garden and the Blenheim Orange Bar serving the county's best beverages, together with nature, photography and foraging trails.

The Michaelmas Market features 50 independent Oxfordshire traders alongside artisanal food stalls celebrating the new 'no-dig' regenerative farming plot created by Worthy Earth in the Walled Garden alongside tastings from Rowse Honey and Hotel Chocolat.

Social enterprise brewery Tap Social will be running the bar with a focus on unusual non-alcoholic beverages as well as delicious local beers, ciders and the Blenheim gin created by local distillery Sky Wave and supporting delicious offerings from Animalltea, Proudfoot & Co and Tiddly Pommes who will also be pressing apples on site and offering tastings.

There will be many additional events and activities taking place over the weekend including talks by award-winning authors, foraging and photographic walks, workshops and demonstrations all of which can be booked in advance.

• Harvest Fest: Saturday, 1st October (9.30am - 7.30pm) and Sunday, 2nd October (9.30am – 5pm). Included with Palace, Park & Gardens or Park & Gardens tickets or an Annual Pass. Additional cost for some activities. Accessibility Mobiloo available on Sunday, 2nd For details and to book visit www.blenheimpalace.com/whats-on/events/autumn-fest.html

AUTUMN FEST – TALKS AND ACTIVITIES SCHEDULE

The Wellbeing Gardener: Join Annabelle Padwick – Sat, 1 Oct 11.30am

Life at No.27 is a non-profit therapeutic organisation built with passion at its core and designed to improve lives. Using nature and human connection to support anyone struggling with low confidence, self-esteem, isolation and mental ill health.

Join founder Annabelle Padwick to hear about her extraordinary life journey and work. Tickets: £5 (+ booking fee).

Foraging Walks – Sat, 1 Oct and Sun, 2 Oct 11am, 1pm and 3pm

Join Anelya Segizbayeva of Jericho Kitchen on one of her brilliant foraging walks and talks in the Blenheim grounds. Numbers limited to 12 per group. Tickets: £15 (+ booking fee)

Sustainable Projects at Blenheim – Sat 1 Oct and Sun, 2 Oct 10.30am

Blenheim CEO Dominic Hare and Estate Manager Roy Cox, with forestry partner Nicholsons, share the fantastic and exciting sustainability projects currently underway at Blenheim and look to the future. FREE.

Averting the Insect Apocalypse: Dave Goulson – Sat, 1 Oct and Sun, 2 Oct 2pm

Author of Sunday Times best seller, The Garden Jungle & Silent Earth: Averting the Insect Crisis. Professor Dave Goulson is a leading expert in the vital role that insects play in our lives and our future. Tickets: £10 (+ booking fee).

Encounters with Nature: Rob Cowen – Sat, 1 Oct 12.30pm

Join award-winning journalist and author of Common Ground for a talk about nature. The Guardian described Rob as "one of the UK's most exciting nature writers."

He has written regular columns on nature and travel for the Independent, Independent on Sunday and the Telegraph, and he is the author of Skimming Stones and Other Ways of Being in the Wild. Tickets: £5 (+ booking fee).

Mindful Photography Walk - Sat, 1 Oct 12.30pm and 2pm

Everyone from parents to children are invited to join Woodstock photographer Jonathan Self for a mesmerising walk through Blenheim's woods and to learn how to take beautiful nature photographs in a wonderfully calm environment.

Suitable for children aged 6-16. Those under 14 years must be accompanied by a parent on a separate ticket. Limited to 30 people per group. Tickets: £10 (+ booking fee).

Bees vs. Wasps - Sun, 2 Oct 11.30am

Join Blenheim Bee expert Filipe Salbany for a discussion on whether wasps deserve their much-maligned reputation, compared with that of the beloved bee. FREE.

Going Zero Waste: Kate Hughes - Sun, 2 Oct 12.30pm

Kate Hughes is the author of Going Zero: One Family's Journey to Zero Waste and a Greener Lifestyle. Join Kate for an insight into an inspiring journey to "zero waste" and how we can empower ourselves to preserve the climate, forests and seas. And, revealingly, how that can lead to a more relaxing life. Tickets: £5 (+ booking fee).

Sustainable(ish): Jen Gale - Sun, 2 Oct 3.30pm

Join Jen Gale, an 'ordinary knackered mum of two', who sets out on a mission to buy nothing new for a year and recounts her family's adventure in her brilliant book, The Sustainable(ish) Living Guide: Everything you need to know about making small changes that make a big difference. Tickets: £5 (+ booking fee).

Plus in the Orchard Tent

Leisa Stewart-Sharpe gives interactive talks around her BBC Green Planet book series,

Children's author Charlie P. Brooks and his real ponies,  Busby's Bees Children's talks,

Harrison Fannon from Worthy Earth, Sunday Times best-selling author Fiona Stafford on the secret life of trees, Hook Norton Brewery Shire Horses, Oxford Beading and Amy Surman Jewellery making workshops.

• For more information and to book visit: eventbrite.co.uk/o/blenheim-autumn-fest-49778123693

Issued on behalf of Blenheim Palace. For more information please contact Samantha Vaughan on 07469 129743 or SVaughan@blenheimpalace.com or Andrea Lee Alee@blenheimpalace.com.

About Blenheim Palace 

Home to the Dukes of Marlborough since 1705, Blenheim Palace was designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1987.

Steeped in history, the magnificent Palace is surrounded with over 2,000 acres of 'Capability' Brown parkland and beautiful Formal Gardens.  Tours, exhibitions and events showcase the splendour of 'Britain's Greatest Palace' and deliver an unforgettable day out for all ages.

Blenheim Palace is also the birthplace of one of Britain's most famous leaders, Sir Winston Churchill, and it was his father who described the vista on entering the Estate from the village of Woodstock as the 'finest view in England'.

About CLW Event Design

CLW Event Design have a fast growing reputation for producing extraordinary bespoke events at some of the UK's finest stately homes that work closely with the environment and offer venues the opportunity to share their important work with their local communities and national audiences.

Their 2022 Christmas in Narnia event for Castle Howard was filmed by Channel 4 and attracted over 2 million viewers and a further episode about their current project Into the Woods: A Fairy Tale Christmas will air later this year.

www.clweventdesign.com