History Live (formerly The festival of history) was an annual summer event held by

English Heritage English Heritage (officially the English Heritage Trust) is a charity that manages over 400 historic monuments, buildings and places. These include prehistoric sites, medieval castles, Roman forts and country houses. The charity states that i ...

. The event focused on

historical re-enactment Historical reenactment (or re-enactment) is an educational or entertainment activity in which mainly amateur hobbyists and history enthusiasts dress in historic uniforms or costumes and follow a plan to recreate aspects of a historical event or ...

. The first event was held in 2003 in the grounds of Stoneleigh Park in

Warwickshire Warwickshire (; abbreviated Warks) is a county in the West Midlands region of England. The county town is Warwick, and the largest town is Nuneaton. The county is famous for being the birthplace of William Shakespeare at Stratford-upon-Avon an ...

and attracted 10,000 visitors. It was held once more at Stoneleigh Park in 2004, before moving to

Kelmarsh Hall Kelmarsh Hall in Northamptonshire, England, is an elegant, 18th-century country house about south of Market Harborough and north of Northampton. It is a Grade I listed house and is open to public viewing. The present Palladian hall was built ...

Northamptonshire Northamptonshire (; abbreviated Northants.) is a county in the East Midlands of England. In 2015, it had a population of 723,000. The county is administered by two unitary authorities: North Northamptonshire and West Northamptonshire. It is ...

, where it was held either in July or August from 2005 onwards. At the time it was Europe's biggest historical event.

Aims

English Heritage is the executive non-departmental public body of the British Government sponsored by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport which is responsible for the historic built environment in the UK. Public education on the history of England is a large part of the body's remit. At the time it was held, English Heritage described the Festival of History as its "flagship event" and the "highlight of its event calendar". Features of the event included historical re-enactments involving several thousand people in all, aerial displays, demonstrations, specialist talks, story-telling, theatre and hands-on events for children.

History

At Stoneleigh Park

* 2003, 9–10 August, 10,000 visitors. Set piece re-enactment: The Battle of Edgehill * 2004, 11–12 August, 14,000 visitors. Set piece re-enactment:

Boudica Boudica or Boudicca (, known in Latin chronicles as Boadicea or Boudicea, and in Welsh as ()), was a queen of the ancient British Iceni tribe, who led a failed uprising against the conquering forces of the Roman Empire in AD 60 or 61. She ...

final battle Final Battle is a professional wrestling event, held annually by the Ring of Honor promotion. The event was initially held in 2002, and is traditionally ROH's last show in the calendar year. The 2009 edition of the show was ROH's first internet p ...

At
Kelmarsh Hall Kelmarsh Hall in Northamptonshire, England, is an elegant, 18th-century country house about south of Market Harborough and north of Northampton. It is a Grade I listed house and is open to public viewing. The present Palladian hall was built ...

* 2005, 13–14 August. Set piece re-enactment: The Battle of Naseby. * 2006, 12–13 August. * 2007, 11–12 August, 17,215 visitors. * 2008, 19–20 July, 17,784 visitors. *2009, 25–26 July, 19,000 visitors. Set piece re-enactments: The Siege of Harfleur; the

Battle of Agincourt The Battle of Agincourt ( ; french: Azincourt ) was an English victory in the Hundred Years' War. It took place on 25 October 1415 (Saint Crispin's Day) near Azincourt, in northern France. The unexpected English victory against the numerica ...

; the

Battle of Waterloo The Battle of Waterloo was fought on Sunday 18 June 1815, near Waterloo, Belgium, Waterloo (at that time in the United Kingdom of the Netherlands, now in Belgium). A French army under the command of Napoleon was defeated by two of the armie ...

. *2010, 17–18 July. *2012, Arranged for 14–15 July. Due to torrential rain & flooding in the early hours of Saturday morning it had to be cancelled.

2011 event

The 2011 event on 16 and 17 July 2011 at Kelmarsh Hall includes re-enactments of the Imperial Roman Army and

gladiator A gladiator ( la, gladiator, "swordsman", from , "sword") was an armed combatant who entertained audiences in the Roman Republic and Roman Empire in violent confrontations with other gladiators, wild animals, and condemned criminals. Some gla ...

ial fighting; armoured knights and medieval jousting; a display of "

tent-pegging Tent pegging (sometimes spelled tent-pegging or tentpegging) is a cavalry sport of ancient origin, and is one of only ten equestrian disciplines officially recognised by the International Equestrian Federation. Used narrowly, the term refers to ...

", a medieval Indian sport; the Duke of Wellington's redcoats; a Victorian

gymkhana Gymkhana () ( ur, جِمخانہ, sd, جمخانه, hi, जिमख़ाना, as, জিমখানা, bn, জিমখানা) is a British Raj term which originally referred to a place of assembly. The meaning then altered to den ...

; a replica

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

trench and

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

action including a

Spitfire The Supermarine Spitfire is a British single-seat fighter aircraft used by the Royal Air Force and other Allied countries before, during, and after World War II. Many variants of the Spitfire were built, from the Mk 1 to the Rolls-Royce Griff ...

flypast. As well as re-enactments there were family activities and sideshows, as well as public talks given by well-known historians and archaeologists. 2011 saw the inaugural ''Festival of Historical Writing'' at the event, in partnership with the Historical Writers' Association. Guest speakers include

Michael Morpurgo Sir Michael Andrew Bridge Morpurgo (''né'' Bridge; 5 October 1943) is an English book author, poet, playwright, and librettist who is known best for children's novels such as ''War Horse'' (1982). His work is noted for its "magical storytellin ...

, the author of ''

War Horse The first evidence of horses in warfare dates from Eurasia between 4000 and 3000 BC. A Sumerian illustration of warfare from 2500 BC depicts some type of equine pulling wagons. By 1600 BC, improved harness and chariot design ...

'', and

Manda Scott Manda Scott (born 1962) is a former Scottish veterinary surgeon who is now a novelist, blogger, columnist and occasional broadcaster. Born and educated in Glasgow, Scotland, she trained at the University of Glasgow School of Veterinary Medicine ...

History Live!

In 2014, the event was renamed History Live! and was still held at Kelmarsh Hall. In February 2015, English Heritage announced there would be no History Live! in 2015 stating "History Live! will not be returning this year, in order to concentrate on delivering a wider range of events across England."

References

{{Reflist

External links

English Heritage website

Article about re-enactors at the Festival
Historical reenactment events English Heritage Festivals in Northamptonshire Festivals in Warwickshire Recurring events established in 2003 2003 establishments in England History festivals