A series of luxury micro festivals
Workshops, feasts, wellness and freedom
19th - 21st July
26th - 29th July
2nd - 5th August
Hawarden, North East Wales
Running for three long weekends in July and August, Summer Camp is a chance to escape. A chance to reset and recharge. It is about slowing down, about meeting new people, about learning new things.
It is small and intimate.
You’ll meet new friends and spend time with inspiring people.
The days will be spent in the company of world experts in nature and outdoor craft. You’ll join workshops, go on expeditions and listen to inspiring talks.
You’ll eat incredible food. Your dinner every evening is included in the ticket price and is cooked for you by our team of exceptional chefs.
The evenings will be spent together in the Walled Garden where there will be light entertainment, a bar and campfires to gather around as the sun goes down.
You’ll then head off to bed to stay in luxury with brand new, and proper, showers and loos just around the corner.
You’ll leave Summer Camp feeling inspired and refreshed.
This is the place of your dreams.
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“At the end of a day spent swimming past lily pads, carving a cack-handed spoon and singing really shockingly with much more gifted strangers, I found myself feeling better than I had in over a year.
It’s wellness without the trite hashtags. And I love it.”
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“Meeting interesting new people and getting into the natural ebb and flow of adult conversations with strangers can sometimes feel like a pipedream while immersed in the daily routine of school runs, work and home life.
For us this is a blissful step change out of normality, and our chats around the campfire last late into the night.”
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“Numbers [are] kept low and [there’s] just the right amount of activities – paddle-boarding on the water-lily-strewn lake, mushroom foraging, vinyl art, mead-tasting, axe throwing and even laughter yoga (the last two unrelated) – along with acoustic music sessions and the occasional talk.”
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Best boutiques festivals 2023.
“In the glorious, unusual and historic setting of the Hawarden Estate against the backdrop of two castles.”
EVENING FEASTS & CAMPFIRE COOKING DEMOS
Romy Gill • Genevieve Taylor • Valentine Warner • Damian Clisby • Olia Hercules • Steven Lamb • Xanthe Gladstone • Olivia Cavalli • Hawarden Estate’s Adam Williams
MODERN & HERITAGE CRAFT
Plasticine model making with Jim Parkyn • Printing with Adam Bridgland • Sign writing with Rob Walker (By Umberto) • Water Cyanotypes with Matt Jukes • An introduction to smoke fired pottery with Gabriella Rhodes • Printing with Bench Allen • Fishing fly tying with Atsushi Hasegawa • Pottery with Katalina Caliendo • Blacksmithery with Poplars Forge • Printing with Gail Bryson • Graphic design with The Good Life’s Rhys Jones • Stamp making and printing with Laurie Avon • Sashiko textile repairs with Saskia Weir • Create a terrarium with Ashima Anand • Needle weaving with Laura Thomas
TASTINGS
Natural Wine with Sunny Hodge and Eoghan Neburagho • Cheese & Cider with Angus D. Birditt & Little Pomona • Wye Valley Meadery • Mammoth Beer
WORKSHOPS
Embracing Change at Work (and at Home) with Charlie Gladstone • Fear of Moving on (FOMO) with Mark Shayler • Learn to cultivate mushrooms with Bristol Fungarium
MUSIC & TALKS
Summer Camp’s Author Interview Series Curated by Simon Savidge • Beatles Dub Club • Jono Barbarossa (DJ) • Tom Hodgkinson • Dan Kieran
ADVENTURE
Guided foraging walks with Lisa Cutcliffe • Paddle boarding • Lake swimming • Wild picnics • Abseiling from Hawarden Old Castle (Weekend #4 only)
PLUS
Wellness classes • Wild swimming • Wood-fired hot tub and sauna • Guided runs • Luxury holiday houses on site • Glamping • Bell tents • Campervan and bring your own tent pitches • Proper loos • Hot showers • Private gardens • Historic castles • Award-winning Farm Shop • Art Garden • Yoga • Dogs welcome • Pop-up spa
Do you have a question?
Whatsapp us on 07818 246118
The Accommodation
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Gardener's House
Private room and bathroom with a king size bed and exceptional comforts in this beautiful Georgian home.
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Beekeeper's Hut
You’ll sleep in luxury in a large double bed. The hut and private, covered surrounding area will be kitted out with everything else you need for the ultimate glamping experience.
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Glamping
Stay in luxury in a tent kitted out with a double bed, proper sheets and everything else you need for the most comfortable camping experience of your life.
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Pre-Pitched Bell Tents
Camp in comfort in The Walled Garden with z-beds and mattresses set up ready and waiting for you.
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Campervans & Caravans
Your pitch will be in a quiet corner of The Walled Garden.
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Bring your own tent
Camp among the ancient trees growing in The Walled Garden.
What’s included in the ticket price?
Everyone will be staying* in The Walled Garden, and each guest will enjoy:
Dinner every evening cooked by guest chefs and the team at Hawarden Estate Farm Shop.
All talks, demos and classes hosted by world experts in nature and craft.
Unlimited access to our wood-fired sauna and hot tub.
Access to Hawarden Estate where there will be outdoor activities such as walks, runs and wild swimming constantly running.
Brilliant, brand new, indoor, proper hot showers and loos.
Free wifi and secure phone charging facilities.
*Except those staying in Gardener’s House or West End.
Paid extras during your stay may include:
Drinks from the bar in The Walled Garden.
Breakfast and lunch at Hawarden Estate Farm Shop and The Glynne Arms.
Wellness classes.
The Food
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Dinner
Dinner -which is included in your ticket price- will be cooked and eaten on our new terrace in the Walled Garden.
On some nights our team of resident chefs will be on the grill; on others we’ll have well-known guest chefs to cook for you.
This is going to be seriously special.
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Breakfast & Lunch
Breakfast, which is a paid extra, is cooked by the chefs on the fire in the Walled Garden every morning.
Expect meat traditionally prepared by the Hawarden Estate butchers, bread made using estate grown YQ grain, eggs laid by the Walled Garden hens, and vegetables grown in the green house.
Lunch can be bought at the Farm Shop , or you can book a table at The Glynne Arms.
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The Bar
Under the red and white striped canvas canopy there will also be a bar serving snacks and a range of drinks until late into the evening.
You are, of course, welcome to use the bar at the Farm Shop for a huge range of wines, spirits, beers and amazing soft drinks.
We run a cashless bar at Summer Camp.
Summer Camp 2024
Three long weekends in The Walled Garden of Hawarden Castle.
19th July - 5th August 2024.
“Summer Camp is something I’ve often dreamt of creating; a small, friendly, comfortable retreat based on the fabled camps of America but for all ages and with better food.
It will be about nature and the great outdoors; you’ll learn new skills, try new activities and make new friends.
Summer Camp will be a retreat, a place to recharge and to explore new places and ideas.
It will be beautiful and super-comfortable. There will be woodsmoke and starlight.
This is the place of your dreams.”
- CHARLIE GLADSTONE, FOUNDER
A word from some happy Summer Campers
Do you have a question?
Whatsapp us on 07818 246118