Tickets are now on sale for this year’s Flower Festival at Winchester Cathedral, Hampshire, running from 5th to 9th September.
Named Illumination: A Festival of Flowers, the event will display a wide array of flower arrangements inspired by the Winchester Bible, reportedly the largest surviving 12th century English bible.
Riots of colour and religious ties
This year’s festival is the third of its kind, and will see Winchester Cathedral once again transformed by colourful and fragrant floral displays.
Visitors will be invited to immerse themselves in a riot of colour and admire a variety of flower arrangements evoking the Winchester Bible’s illuminated initials and elaborate decorative schemes coloured with gold and lapis lazuli.
The Flower Festival will also offer visitors the opportunity to find out more about the Winchester Bible, before all four volumes of this ‘Medieval masterpiece’ go on display in the cathedral’s new multi-million pound exhibition Kings and Scribes from winter 2018/2019.
Kings and Scribes
GTOs planning a visit to the reinvented area at the cathedral in the future can expect to learn all about the cathedral’s six mortuary chests, believed to contain the remains of pre-Conquest monarchs. They will be at the centre of new exhibitions in the South Transept.
Visitors will also learn about the history of the 1,000-year-old cathedral and will be encouraged to join ongoing conservation projects to ensure its survival.
Flower Festival: Group visit information
Discounted tickets are available for parties of 15 or more and can be booked via Winchester Cathedral Box Office on 01962-857275. Afternoon tea and different catering options are also available for groups and must be booked in advance.
Fast track entry and coach drop off point and parking can also be organised by e-mailing box.office@winchester-cathedral.org.uk.
For further information visit www.winchester-cathedral.org.uk.
