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The Alnwick Garden Marks 25 Years with a Summer of Celebration

The Alnwick Garden celebrates its silver anniversary this summer with a Proms-style concert on the lawn and a fundraising 5K in aid of its Bright Garden Appeal.

Alnwick.live·22 July 2026

Twenty-five years ago, a bold and much-debated idea began to take shape on a walled site beside Alnwick Castle. Today The Alnwick Garden is one of the North East's best-known attractions, and this summer it is marking its silver anniversary with a season of events built around the Grand Cascade at its heart.

Picnics and Proms on the lawn

The centrepiece is a 25th Anniversary Evening Concert on the lawn, staged in front of the tumbling Grand Cascade. The Coquet Concert Band takes audiences through three themed sets — film and television scores, Northumbrian folk, and songs connected to Alnwick — before finishing with a rousing trip to the Proms. Visitors are invited to bring picnics, blankets and chairs and settle in for the evening.

The programme also includes the debut of a brand-new piece written specially for the anniversary by Northumberland musician Ian Stephenson, drawing on the themes of blossom, water and poison found across the Garden. Tickets are £25 for adults and £15 for under-16s.

Best for: The anniversary concert is held on the Garden's main lawn. Full details and tickets are on the Alnwick Garden events page.

A 5K for the Bright Garden Appeal

Alongside the music, the Garden is inviting people to lace up for a fundraising 5K in aid of its Bright Garden Appeal, its campaign to secure the future of the site and its community work. The Garden is run as a charity, and its programmes — from the Elderberries scheme tackling loneliness to school and family activity — depend on fundraising as much as on ticket sales.

Twenty-five years of impact

The anniversary comes as an independent Newcastle University Business School study, published earlier this year, found the Garden has added around £400m to the North East economy and welcomed more than nine million visitors since it opened. From a contested project to a fixture of the regional calendar, it has become one of the things Alnwick is known for.

Details of the anniversary season are on the Alnwick Garden website.

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