Bucks &amp; Oxon


<figure class="wp-block-image size-full"><img decoding="async" loading="lazy" width="2100" height="1313" src="https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/bucksoxon/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2025/06/Art-in-Nature-2.jpg" alt="Summer Fest Waddesdon Manor stilt walkers" class="wp-image-190185" srcset="https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/bucksoxon/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2025/06/Art-in-Nature-2.jpg 2100w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/bucksoxon/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2025/06/Art-in-Nature-2-800x500.jpg 800w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/bucksoxon/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2025/06/Art-in-Nature-2-1000x625.jpg 1000w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/bucksoxon/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2025/06/Art-in-Nature-2-400x250.jpg 400w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/bucksoxon/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2025/06/Art-in-Nature-2-1536x960.jpg 1536w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/bucksoxon/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2025/06/Art-in-Nature-2-2048x1280.jpg 2048w" sizes="(max-width: 2100px) 100vw, 2100px" /></figure>



<p>Think of Waddesdon Manor as your fantasy country pad for the weekend – complete with royal-worthy grounds, wine cellars, and a full-blown summer festival, no camping required. Summer Fest (21–22 June) is Waddesdon Manor&#8217;s cheeky nod to Baron Ferdinand de Rothschild’s infamous ‘Saturday to Monday’ garden parties – the sort of bash that tempted Queen Vic herself up the drive in 1890. (Now <em>that’s</em> a guest list.)</p>



<p> Summer Fest – the reimagining of <em>The Baron’s Treat</em> –  is how you kick off summer in style. Cue circus performers, live music (think New Orleans music meets 90s club classics), brilliant food and maybe a cheeky Rothschild vintage. Plus enough people-watching to keep you going ‘til autumn. Here’s why you’ll want in… </p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-1-come-hungry-leave-slightly-tipsy">1. Come hungry, leave slightly tipsy</h2>



<figure class="wp-block-image size-full"><img decoding="async" loading="lazy" width="1600" height="1200" src="https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/bucksoxon/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2025/06/481122534_1430361308352033_4735355851163521370_n.jpg" alt="The Little Orange Van Aperol Sprtiz" class="wp-image-190186" srcset="https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/bucksoxon/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2025/06/481122534_1430361308352033_4735355851163521370_n.jpg 1600w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/bucksoxon/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2025/06/481122534_1430361308352033_4735355851163521370_n-800x600.jpg 800w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/bucksoxon/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2025/06/481122534_1430361308352033_4735355851163521370_n-1000x750.jpg 1000w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/bucksoxon/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2025/06/481122534_1430361308352033_4735355851163521370_n-400x300.jpg 400w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/bucksoxon/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2025/06/481122534_1430361308352033_4735355851163521370_n-1536x1152.jpg 1536w" sizes="(max-width: 1600px) 100vw, 1600px" /></figure>



<p>If you’re not wearing stretchy trousers, you’re doing it wrong. The Artisan Market’s full of local legends and street-food heroes slinging everything from gooey brownies to gourmet bites. Rothschild wines flow freely, craft pints await at Chiltern and Boobytrap breweries, and Aperol Spritz is on-tap at The Little Orange Van. Dreams<em>.</em> The Manor Terrace Bar shakes up cocktails and Pimm’s, and the afternoon tea at the Manor Restaurant is pure vintage decadence (cue clotted cream, prosecco, and “just one more scone”).</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-2-swan-around-like-you-re-in-the-crown">2. Swan around like you&#8217;re in <em>The Crown</em></h2>



<figure class="wp-block-image size-full is-resized"><img decoding="async" loading="lazy" width="2560" height="1707" src="https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/bucksoxon/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2025/06/Summer-Fest.-Image-c-Waddesdon-A-Rothschild-House-Gardens-Adam-Hollier-1-scaled.jpg" alt="WADDESDEN SUMMER FEST" class="wp-image-190019" style="aspect-ratio:1.4997070884592854;width:640px;height:auto" srcset="https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/bucksoxon/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2025/06/Summer-Fest.-Image-c-Waddesdon-A-Rothschild-House-Gardens-Adam-Hollier-1-scaled.jpg 2560w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/bucksoxon/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2025/06/Summer-Fest.-Image-c-Waddesdon-A-Rothschild-House-Gardens-Adam-Hollier-1-800x533.jpg 800w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/bucksoxon/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2025/06/Summer-Fest.-Image-c-Waddesdon-A-Rothschild-House-Gardens-Adam-Hollier-1-1000x667.jpg 1000w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/bucksoxon/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2025/06/Summer-Fest.-Image-c-Waddesdon-A-Rothschild-House-Gardens-Adam-Hollier-1-400x267.jpg 400w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/bucksoxon/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2025/06/Summer-Fest.-Image-c-Waddesdon-A-Rothschild-House-Gardens-Adam-Hollier-1-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/bucksoxon/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2025/06/Summer-Fest.-Image-c-Waddesdon-A-Rothschild-House-Gardens-Adam-Hollier-1-2048x1365.jpg 2048w" sizes="(max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px" /></figure>



<p>With your festival ticket, it’s access all areas – aka, you get to parade around Waddesdon House like a Netflix duchess. Peek inside the Baron’s OTT dining room, sip Rothschild vintages in the Wine Cellars, and ogle the kind of interiors that make <em>The Ritz</em> look minimalist. Outside, the gardens are in full June bloom (banana plants! parterre! actual peacocks!), and if the kids start to fade, there’s a woodland playground and the best roly-poly hill this side of the Cotswolds. Aperol + gravity = excellent idea.</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-3-top-acts-performing-for-you">3. Top acts performing for you</h2>



<figure class="wp-block-image size-large is-resized"><img decoding="async" loading="lazy" width="1000" height="625" src="https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/bucksoxon/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2025/06/Wild-c-Motionhouse-1000x625.png" alt="" class="wp-image-190017" style="aspect-ratio:1.6;width:640px;height:auto" srcset="https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/bucksoxon/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2025/06/Wild-c-Motionhouse-1000x625.png 1000w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/bucksoxon/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2025/06/Wild-c-Motionhouse-800x500.png 800w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/bucksoxon/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2025/06/Wild-c-Motionhouse-400x250.png 400w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/bucksoxon/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2025/06/Wild-c-Motionhouse-1536x960.png 1536w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/bucksoxon/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2025/06/Wild-c-Motionhouse-2048x1280.png 2048w" sizes="(max-width: 1000px) 100vw, 1000px" /></figure>



<p>The North Front gets a floral glow-up, complete with long picnic tables, live acts and general joyous chaos. Top billing goes to <em>Motionhouse’s WILD</em> – it&#8217;s dance meets circus, with jaw-dropping acrobatics and gasp-inducing stunts. There are roaming performers like The Cake Ladies and the gloriously weird Gastro Goblins, and yes, someone <em>will</em> make the “what’s the weather like up there?” joke to the pole walkers. There’s always one.</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-4-throwing-shapes-not-shade">4. Throwing shapes not shade </h2>



<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img decoding="async" loading="lazy" width="1000" height="667" src="https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/bucksoxon/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2025/06/c-Mr-Wilsons-Second-Liners-1000x667.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-190023" srcset="https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/bucksoxon/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2025/06/c-Mr-Wilsons-Second-Liners-1000x667.jpg 1000w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/bucksoxon/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2025/06/c-Mr-Wilsons-Second-Liners-800x533.jpg 800w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/bucksoxon/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2025/06/c-Mr-Wilsons-Second-Liners-400x267.jpg 400w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/bucksoxon/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2025/06/c-Mr-Wilsons-Second-Liners-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/bucksoxon/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2025/06/c-Mr-Wilsons-Second-Liners-2048x1365.jpg 2048w" sizes="(max-width: 1000px) 100vw, 1000px" /></figure>



<p>Saturday’s soundtrack brings vintage glam with the Ragroof Tea Dance (be a flapper and give us a Gatsby twirl), while The Charlalas serve up sassy acapella. But Sunday is <em>chef’s kiss</em>: Mr Wilson’s Second Liners blend New Orleans jazz with 90s club bangers. Picture a brass band playing Fatboy Slim. On a lawn. In Buckinghamshire. There’s also a pop-up barn dance – all the more fun after two Pimm’s and a prosecco chaser.</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-5-kids-chaos-contained">5. Kids? Chaos contained</h2>



<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img decoding="async" loading="lazy" width="1000" height="667" src="https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/bucksoxon/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2025/06/JunkYard-Orchestra-c-Waddesdon-Image-Library.-Photo-by-Chris-Lacey-1-1-min-1-1000x667.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-190117" srcset="https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/bucksoxon/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2025/06/JunkYard-Orchestra-c-Waddesdon-Image-Library.-Photo-by-Chris-Lacey-1-1-min-1-1000x667.jpg 1000w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/bucksoxon/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2025/06/JunkYard-Orchestra-c-Waddesdon-Image-Library.-Photo-by-Chris-Lacey-1-1-min-1-800x533.jpg 800w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/bucksoxon/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2025/06/JunkYard-Orchestra-c-Waddesdon-Image-Library.-Photo-by-Chris-Lacey-1-1-min-1-400x267.jpg 400w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/bucksoxon/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2025/06/JunkYard-Orchestra-c-Waddesdon-Image-Library.-Photo-by-Chris-Lacey-1-1-min-1-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/bucksoxon/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2025/06/JunkYard-Orchestra-c-Waddesdon-Image-Library.-Photo-by-Chris-Lacey-1-1-min-1-2048x1365.jpg 2048w" sizes="(max-width: 1000px) 100vw, 1000px" /></figure>



<p>Forget tired bouncy castles – kids can co-create a giant mural with street artist Scott Walker (you <em>will</em> want a go), pot plants to take home, or go full percussionist at the Junkyard Orchestra. Expect a few “What the hell just happened?” moments too – like a mobile bistro, dragon encounters, or a man juggling flaming torches on stilts. Magic, mayhem, and just enough madness to make memories.</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-fancy-going-to-summer-fest-on-us">Fancy going to Summer Fest on us? </h2>



<p><strong>Clickety click to <a href="https://bucksoxon.muddystilettos.co.uk/reader-treats/win-luxury-stay-at-waddesdon-manors-hotel-summer-fest-tickets/">win Summer Fest tickets and an overnight stay at Waddesdon Manor&#8217;s boutique hotel</a>, worth £400.</strong></p>



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<p><em>Don&#8217;t have Summer Fest FOMO, grab your tickets <a href="http://waddesdon.org.uk" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">here</a>. Adult £29, Child £17; National Trust/Art Fund Member Adult £15, Child £10. Ticket includes House admission</em></p>


Summer Fest at Waddesdon Manor: Glam garden party meets mini Glasto

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