Founded in 1982 to fill the Royal Regatta’s empty marquees, Henley Festival calls itself Britain’s only black-tie festival, staged from a floating stage on the Thames.
Henley Festival stages five black-tie evenings on a floating stage at Leander Club in Henley-on-Thames, from Wednesday 7 July to Sunday 11 July 2027.
The Henley Festival Trust held the first festival in 1982. The town wanted a music and arts festival of its own, and the marquees and grandstands built for the Royal Regatta stood empty once racing finished.
It began as a classical programme with jazz later in the evening, and it still uses the regatta’s structures. It bills itself as Britain’s only black-tie festival.
The Floating Stage sits on the water in front of the audience. Performers arrive by boat and play with the river behind them and the Chilterns beyond. Dinner is served in the enclosures before the main stage begins, and the evening then moves between rooms across the site.
Headline music on the Floating Stage shares the site with comedy, jazz, classical music and visual art in smaller spaces. The festival is run as a charity, and its RISE initiative funds the next generation of musicians, visual artists and backstage crew.