The Daily Mail Chalke Valley History Festival is set to return from June 20 to 26 and promises to be “more exciting and interactive than ever before”.

After a slightly shortened version in 2021, this year it will be back to seven days, packed full of historical entertainment, discussions, and fun for all ages. .

Taking place at its venue in Broad Chalke, visitors will be able to listen to world-class speakers, and watch demonstrations given by living historians.

A new Speaker’s Corner tent is being introduced.

Festival chair James Holland said: “There really is going to be an incredible range of history on offer this year. Our talks and discussions have traditionally been the backbone of the festival and, once again, we have among the very best historians around coming to speak.

"But more than ever we are offering a much wider programme that includes lots of live music, a reconstructed Iron Age round-house, vintage funfair and some truly stunning and original living history displays, from Restoration-era horse racing to a forensic reconstruction of how Richard III lost his life at Bosworth.

"There will be so much on offer for children and families visiting together and I really do think this is our very best programme ever.”

The line-up of speakers already confirmed includes Helena Merriman sharing a true story of an extraordinary escape beneath the Berlin Wall in 1962, Andrew Roberts presenting his book about George III, the BBC World Service’s Lipika Pelham discussing an alternative history of identity from the Middle Ages to the present day, and Simon Jenkins on Europe’s 100 best cathedrals.

Tickets will go on sale to the general public on May 3.

 

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