Every year, curious creatives and fans of opera, design, art and food flock to Neville Holt, an estate in Leicestershire which plays host to the annual Nevill Holt Festival. This year, the festival's exciting schedule includes a panel discussion chaired by House & Garden's very own editor, Hatta Byng, on Thursday June 12.
Hatta will be joined by some of the most recognisable names in the design industry: Nina Campbell OBE, Veere Grenney and Alidad. Though the styles of each of the designers differs, what they have in common is an innate ability to create deeply sophisticated, characterful interiors that look as though they have always been there. Over the course of an hour, Hatta will ask the questions we've all wanted to know the answers to: the ones that ultimately will teach us how to design a beautiful interior.
The talk is just one of many events scheduled across the month-long festival: Among the roster of influential figures taking part is Dame Prue Leith DBE, who will be discussing and answering questions on her impressive and varied culinary career and the artist Yinka Shonibare in conversation with the author and director of Frieze, Eva Langret. Fans of The Great British Bake Off will be pleased to hear that 2023 winner, Matty Edgell, will also be making an appearance at the festival, and will even be doing demonstrations which promise to be as enlightening as they will be edible.
The estate is made up of a Grade I-listed 13th-century building, a variety of guest houses and cottages, a restaurant and a recently-built opera house surrounded by abundant gardens designed by House & Garden Top 50 Garden Designer Rupert Golby. The estate, which is named after the Neville family who owned the land between the 15th and 19th centuries, has been added to and renovated by various custodians over the years, including the well-known Kirkby and Cunard families. The estate's current owner, David Ross, an English businessman who spent twelve years meticulously restoring the estate, added the new opera house, which is built to incorporate some of the 17th-century stable yard.
A champion of the arts, David was keen to use the estate to support culture, and so launched the Nevill Holt Festival in 2013. It has since become a firm fixture on the calendar of anyone looking for a brilliantly engaging, summer day out. We may be biased, but this year's line-up seems particularly exciting.
The Nevill Holt Festival runs from 30th May – 22nd June 2025
Design and Decoration: Lessons from the Greats takes place on Thursday June 12 at 12pm. Tickets cost £25. For more information visit nevilleholtfestival.com .
