Time to take in a tea festival
For those tea aficionados who love attending a tea festival, here’s a rundown of forthcoming festivals around the world…
“But indeed, I would rather have nothing but tea.” — A delightful time with Jane Austen’s many fans in Idaho
As many readers will know, 2025 marks the 250th anniversary of the birth of Jane Austen, one of Britain’s most revered novelists. Thanks to her prolific output during her short life, and the many movies and TV series inspired by her books, Jane has a huge fan base all over the world.
To help them mark this significant anniversary, this summer the Idaho Southern Region branch of the Jane Austen Society of North America invited Gillian from World of Afternoon Tea to give them a talk.
Let Us Eat Cake
In celebration of the V&A’s hotly anticipated Marie Antoinette: Style exhibition, five-star London hotel The Kensington Hotel is introducing a brand-new Afternoon Tea: ‘Let Us Eat Cake’. Launching on 20th September, this special afternoon tea will pay tribute to the opulence, artistry and enduring style of one of history’s most iconic figures.
Drawing inspiration from the fashion, gardens and lavish court life of Marie Antoinette, Let Us Eat Cake is a chic and beautifully presented afternoon tea, where each item is as ornamental as it is delicious. The apt and artfully designed fan-shaped menu mirrors the decorative elegance and playful extravagance of the Palace of Versailles.
Read more…
A new era for the birthplace of afternoon tea
The name Woburn Abbey probably needs no introduction for afternoon tea history buffs. This is the elegant mansion where one afternoon around 1840, Anna Maria Russell, the 7th Duchess of Bedford, first summoned her maid and requested a few titbits to accompany her pot of tea and thus quell her rumbling stomach.
The grand country house itself, built in 1630 on the site of a medieval abbey, has long been a destination for British visitors and international tourists, but its doors have been closed since 2019 for a pre-planned refurbishment. However, when works began, the building was discovered to be in dire need of a lot more structural work than first intended.
Read here a message detailing progress from the 15th Duke of Bedford, the great-great-great-great-great grandson of Anna Maria Russell.
Another great Afternoon Tea Week
Well done to Keith Newton and the team at afternoontea.co.uk for another spectacular Afternoon Tea Week this August.
Thanks to all the afternoon tea lovers around the UK who took advantage of all the wonderful deals and helped make 2025 another big success.
This year the UK, perhaps next year the world!
Divorced, beheaded, died, divorced, beheaded, survived
Fancy afternoon tea with Henry VIII? Well not exactly, but the Soho Hotel in London’s West End has announced a special SIX themed afternoon tea to celebrate the hugely popular musical based on Henry’s six wives, running at the Vaudeville Theatre.
The limited-edition Afternoon Tea menu is offered daily from 12pm – 4:45pm and will be offered till the end of the year. A highlight is the six different, and equally enticing, pastries each named after one of Henry’s queens.
Sounds great fun, just like the show, but will your favourite cake match your favourite queen?
Find out more…