Unbeknownst to most Londoners, the Chelsea History Festival will run from Wednesday 24 September 2025 until Sunday 28 September 2025.
The inaugural Festival took place in 2019 and the Festival is now in its seventh year, having drawn inspiration from the popular annual Chalke Valley History Festival in Wiltshire (which sold no less than 55,000 tickets in 2023).
The Festival offers an extensive and enticing programme of talks about history and walking tours of Chelsea with a historical emphasis – at modest prices. The Festival also offers various free activities, many of which are suitable for families.
Naturally enough, all of the talks take place in Chelsea SW3, across three iconic locations which are central to the character of the area, namely Chelsea Physic Garden, the National Army Museum and the Royal Hospital Chelsea. The tours extend across Chelsea.
Talks and tours
The range of talks and tours is impressive, and reflecting popular demand, covers a far broader sweep of history than in previous years.
At this year’s Festival, talks will include “How Booze Built Britain”, “Living with Jane Austen”, “Rhineland: Hitler’s Last Defence, 1944-45”, “The African Emperor: The Life of Septimius Severus”, “The Blood in Winter: A Nation Descends, 1642” and “The Sun Rising: James I and the Dawn of Global Britain”.
I guarantee that you will not have time to go to all the talks which you would wish and you will be left looking forward to next year’s Festival with anticipation.
A note from last year’s Festival gives a flavour of what is in store. Sir Simon Mayall, a retired Lieutenant General and notable historian, spoke fluently and with passion at the National Army Museum about “The House of War: The Struggle between Christendom and the Caliphate”.
This was a gripping canter through 1,300 years of military clashes between the Christian West and the Muslim Caliphate where the audience learnt, for instance, that in 1543, during the reign of King Henry VIII, an Ottoman fleet wintered in Toulon at the invitation of King Francis of France as part of a Franco-Ottoman alliance, and that the borders of the modern State of Israel are remarkably similar to those of the medieval Crusader kingdom.
The tours are also of splendid breadth, from “Art and Literature of Chelsea”, “Chelsea Old Village”, “Punk Chelsea”, “Spies of Chelsea” and “Tudor Chelsea”. Perfect for horticulturalists and budding and committed medievalists, there is the “Medicinal Trees Tour” at the Chelsea Physic Garden.
Last but not least, there are various tours of the Royal Hospital Chelsea, which was established in 1682 during the reign of King Charles II on a magnificent 66 acre site to provide a home for “soldiers broken by age and war”. Splendidly attired, and invariably amusing, Chelsea Pensioners conduct these tours.
Free events
The Festival again offers various free events, such as the open weekend at the Chelsea Physic Garden, London’s oldest botanical garden, where the whole family can try pond dipping and planting and listen to fun storytelling sessions.
The Festival will also feature a “Horse Banner Workshop: Craft a Piece of Stable Yard History”, a free drop-in workshop in the Soane Stable Yard in the Royal Hospital (it only opened in the autumn of last year following major renovation in case you haven’t heard of it).
The Festival will also present “The Chelsea Pensioner Singers” performing for free live in the atrium of the National Army Museum. We can only hope that Bill Wyman, of Rolling Stones fame and long standing Chelsea resident, might happen along.
Neatly drawing together the past and the future, the Festival continues to flourish under the banner of the Chelsea Heritage Quarter, which was established in July 2024 and embraces the neighbouring Chelsea Physic Garden, the National Army Museum and the Royal Hospital Chelsea.
It should be added that the Festival is fortunate to benefit from the generous and unfailing sponsorship of Cadogan Estate, which itself has a 300 year association with Chelsea.
The Festival will take place from Wednesday 24 September 2025 until Sunday 28 September 2025. Information can be found, and tickets bought here. Some events are free and otherwise the price of individual tickets ranges from £12 to £20.