Wild! fills Winchester Cathedral 9.30am to 4.30pm, 15 to 19 September. Tickets £12 to £20, a late opening on 16 September, and a Home & Garden Festival outside.
Winchester Cathedral opens its flower festival on Tuesday. Wild! Festival of Flowers and Nature runs from Tuesday 15 to Saturday 19 September, 9.30am to 4.30pm each day.
The cathedral holds a flower festival only once every four years. This one is built around biodiversity, climate and stewardship. The cathedral says more than 200 floral artists and volunteers have made the installations, which will fill the building for five days (Winchester Cathedral, Wild! tickets).
Tickets and times
| What | When | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Festival entry, timed slots | Tue 15 to Sat 19 Sept, 9.30am to 4.30pm | £12 to £20 |
| Late opening | Wed 16 Sept, entry at 6pm, 6.30pm or 7.30pm | Limited capacity, book ahead |
| Home & Garden Festival, Inner Close | Tue 15 to Sat 19 Sept, 10am to 6pm | Free with a Wild! ticket, otherwise £2; children 11 and under free |
| Afternoon talks | Tue 15 to Fri 18 Sept, 2pm | £12 each |
A few practical points from the cathedral’s booking page and festival FAQs:
- Entry is by timed slot. Once inside you can stay as long as you like. The cathedral suggests allowing 45 minutes to an hour.
- Prices are listed as “£12 - £20 book early”, with no breakdown by ticket type. Visit Winchester’s listing says tickets start at £19. Check the price at checkout.
- Groups of 10 or more get 10% off. The cathedral’s annual pass is not valid.
- Book online, on 01962 857 275, or at the box office inside the cathedral.
- Only assistance dogs can come in during the festival.
- The Home & Garden Festival takes cards only, no cash.
If you are visiting the cathedral this weekend for Heritage Open Days, note that access to some areas is limited until 15 September while Wild! is set up.
The talks
Each talk starts at 2pm and costs £12 (festival events).
- Tuesday 15 September: a flower demonstration by the cathedral’s own flower team, using only what nature provides close to home.
- Wednesday 16 September: Hampshire’s Magnificent Meadows, with Rachel Remnant, on how hay making and grazing created the county’s species-rich grasslands.
- Thursday 17 September: Growing and Creating Colour from Plants, with designer Ellie Fisher and natural dyer Claudia Gosse.
- Friday 18 September: Lawns are Overrated, with the cathedral’s head gardener Patrick Green, on gardening for wildlife.
Afternoon and cream teas are also on offer from 15 to 18 September.
Who is behind it
Angela Turner is the festival’s creative director. “Wild! invites visitors to see Winchester Cathedral as they’ve never seen it before: alive with colour, creativity and the beauty of the natural world,” she said on the cathedral’s booking page.
The cathedral names these contributors:
- more than 200 volunteers from NAFAS, the national flower arrangement societies
- Professor Ed Hawkins, the climate scientist behind the Climate Stripes graphic
- musician and composer Helen Wilson
- the cathedral’s garden team and flower arrangers
The sponsors are JM Finn, Trethowans, Hillier and South Western Railway (Home & Garden Festival).
The Home & Garden Festival, and those red cubes
The Home & Garden Festival is a marquee in the Inner Close. It has exhibitors, members of the Hampshire Fare food network, a flower demonstration area, and an exhibit run by the cathedral gardens team. You can buy plants, flowers, garden kit and homewares. It is open to the public as well as to ticket holders.
The red cubes that appeared in the Inner Close at the end of August belong to it. They are water-filled weights holding the marquee down. The cathedral says the water will be reused around its grounds after the festival (Winchester Cathedral).
A lower-waste flower show
Flower festivals can be wasteful, and the organisers say they have tried to avoid that (Winchester Cathedral, Sustainability at Wild!). Their stated commitments are:
- at least 50% British-grown cut flowers
- 90% locally sourced foliage
- no floral foam in any design
- recycled water from the cathedral to keep displays fresh
- all green waste composted, with compostable ties
Getting there
The cathedral is about 18 minutes’ walk from Winchester station, according to the festival organisers. The festival runs from Tuesday to Saturday, so the park and ride buses run on every festival day. A standard day ticket is £3.50, or £3 after 10.30am on weekdays. Our guides to parking in Winchester and Winchester roadworks have the details. The M3 junction 9 closure ends at 6am on Monday, before the festival opens.
What it means for you
- Book a slot rather than turning up. Entry is timed, and the late opening on Wednesday has limited space.
- You can see part of it for £2. The Home & Garden Festival in the Inner Close costs £2 without a Wild! ticket, and children 11 and under go free.
- The next chance is years away. The cathedral holds a flower festival once every four years.
Sources
- Winchester Cathedral, Wild! tickets
- Winchester Cathedral, Wild! festival events
- Winchester Cathedral, Home & Garden Festival
- Winchester Cathedral, Wild! FAQs
- Winchester Cathedral, WILD! Festival of Flowers and Nature
- Winchester Cathedral, Sustainability at Wild!
- Winchester Cathedral, Why are there red cubes in the cathedral’s Inner Close?
- Visit Winchester, Wild! Festival of Flowers and Nature
- Winchester City Council, park and ride FAQs
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