Admire the peak of rose season in Winchester

It's all coming up roses in Winchester during June. There are plenty of places to spot the technicolour blooms around the city and district, from the Weirs in central Winchester to The Hospital of St Cross. Chawton House are running Rose Walks around their pretty grounds on Thursday 11 and 25 June. Nearby National Trust property Mottisfont is known for its spectacular walled rose garden, where over 400 varieties of rose, including pre-1900 shrub roses, bloom in late May and June each year. Hinton Ampner, a National Trust house near Alresford, also has roses blooming in the gardens.

Image: Mottisfont Rose Garden ©National Trust Images/Steve Sayers 

📍various locations in Winchester district 

See world-class opera in amazing surrounds

Exceptional opera, dance, jazz and more, on an unparalleled English country estate, The Grange Festival returns for 2026 with a thrilling range of work and an extra week of performances. The festival will play host to three opera productions - Puccini’s La Bohème, Tchaikovsky’s Eugene Onegin, and Handel’s Giulio Cesare - as well as concerts ranging from a stylish Sinatra celebration with full orchestra, to a genre-blending exploration The Soul of Opera.

The Grange Festival at The Grange at Northington.
Tuesday 2 June - Sunday 12 July. 
📍near Alresford

Watch an aerial theatre show for babies

0-2 year olds and their grown ups are welcome to come and see this stunning aerial theatre show. Take Flight follows a musical mother bird as their baby hatches, grows and explores, navigating the challenges of hunger, sleep and play. The show is followed by a stay and play where babies are invited into the space with the performers to explore the set and props, including having a swing in the silks!

Take Flight at Theatre Royal Winchester. 
Tuesday 2 June. 
📍Winchester city centre 

Eat a fire-cooked feast in a kitchen garden

Head to The Tichborne Arms' pretty kitchen gardens, which overlook open countryside, to take part in a Fire Feast, where a meal will be cooked over an open flame. Expect a menu rooted in the elemental nature of fire cooking, showcasing exceptional local seafood, each dish infused with the flavour of smoke.

Seafood Fire Feast at The Tichborne Arms. 
Thursday 4 June. 
📍near Alresford 

Take your dog on a day trip

Planning a trip with your pooch? Winchester is packed with dog-friendly things to do making it a dreamy destination for you and your four-legged friend. Read our new guide to dog-friendly days out in Wincheser, which include iconic attractions such as Winchester Cathedral, The Watercress Line steam railway and more.

Read: Dog-friendly days out in Winchester
📍various locations across Winchester district

Learn how to make your own Austen-style gown

Make your own empire-waist, Regency-style gown in one weekend at Jane Austen's House in Chawton. During the three-day course, where you will have time to explore Austen's former home, you'll be taught how to sew and stitch your way to your dream dress. Bring along your own fabric of choice - anything from silk and printed cotton to a vintage tablecloth goes!

Sew your own Regency Gown at Jane Austen's House. 
Friday 5 - Sunday 7 June. 
📍Chawton, near Alton

Pick armfuls of flowers from a PYO field

'Tis the season to wander through fields of blooms before testing your flower arranging skills. Stem & Green, which is just outside Winchester city in Headbourne Worthy, opens its PYO field in June. The field and their on-site café will be open every Friday and Saturday. There are also a series of events on at the farm in June, from watercolour workshops to flower pressing sessions. Lower Norton Flower Farm, also near Winchester city, is open in June too for two PYO Jam Jar Posy workshops.

Pick-Your-Own Flowers at Stem and Green. 
Open from Friday 5 June. 
📍near Winchester city 

Celebrate cheese and chilli at a weekend-long festival

Love cheese? Love chilli? Head to River Park in central Winchester for a weekend of food, live music, entertainment and fun family activities. There will be local and artisanal cheeses to sample as well as food stalls offering innovative dishes that fuse cheese and chilli in delightful ways. Think chilli cheese fries and spicy cheese toasties. Don't miss the chance to participate in interactive workshops where you can learn the secrets of cheese making and chilli cooking from experts in the field.

Winchester Cheese & Chilli Festival at River Park. 
Saturday 6 and Sunday 7 June.  
📍Winchester city centre 

See The Gallery's Scottish Colourists art exhibition

The latest art exhibition to arrive at The Gallery at The Arc explores the creation of a new language of colour in European art. The four artists known as the Scottish Colourists: SJ Peploe, JD Fergusson, Leslie Hunter, and FCB Cadell, are acknowledged as one of the most talented, experimental, and distinctive groups in 20th-century British art. 100 years after their first exhibition in London, The Arc celebrates their monumental achievements.

The Scottish Colourists: Radical Perspectives at The Arc Gallery. 
Saturday 13 June - Wednesday 16 September. 
📍Winchester city centre 

Wear your best vintage dress for a retro railway weekend

The Watercress Line is celebrating road, rail, music and more through the ’40s, to the ’70s. Join the journey through the decades as you travel through the Hampshire countryside. You'll step back in time to a different decade at each station. Ticketholders will enjoy period music, vehicles, activities and more, while vintage attire is optional but encouraged!

Retro Wheels & Rails at The Watercress Line.
Saturday 13 and Sunday 14 June. 
📍Alresford

Join free guided walks around Winchester city and countryside

This popular walking weekend, run by Winchester Ramblers, is back for its third year offering free guided walks for everyone from beginners to experienced hikers.  Some walks will be short and others longer, but all aiming to explore historic Winchester, Georgian Alresford, and Winchester's precious downland and clear chalk streams.

Winchester Walking Weekend 2026.
Thursday 18 - Sunday 21 June. 
📍various locations in Winchester city and Alresford 

Decorate a Swedish maypole with flowers

Celebrate midsummer Swedish style at Orams Arbour in Winchester, with singing, music, dancing, making floral crowns, fika, meatballs, picnics, stalls and a bar. The evening, which is part of The Garden Festival 2026, will start with everyone helping to decorate a Swedish maypole with the support of Featherstone Flowers. Then, there will be floral crown making, Swedish songs around the maypole performed by Stockbridge Primary School, performances from local folk duo Confluence, and Irish shanty music with ShantyHead.

A Swedish Midsummer Celebration at Oram's Arbour. 
Friday 19 June. 
📍Winchester city centre 

Celebrate gardens combined with art, music and more

Kicking off on Friday 19 June, The Garden Festival is a 17 day event, with 65 events in 26 venues across Winchester district and beyond. There's an incredible programme of events, taking place in Winchester, Alresford, Sparsholt, Stockbridge, Medstead, Farringdon and Whitchurch. Join in with alfresco feasts, watercolour workshops and flower-pressing sessions or open-air art exhibitions, sculpture trails and open gardens.

The Garden Festival 2026.
Friday 19 June - Sunday 5 July. 
📍various locations in Winchester district and beyond 

Hike through the South Downs at night on the summer solstice

Celebrate the longest day of the year with a Dusk-till-Dawn walk starting at Beacon Hill in Winchester district. This moonlit, night trek will take an average of 6 hours, covering 18km of the South Downs Way. You will finish at the trig point of Butser Hill, one of the highest points in Hampshire, to join the druids as they welcome in the sunrise on the longest day.

Summer Solstice Dusk-till-Dawn Walk at Beacon Hill. 
Saturday 20 - Sunday 21 June. 
📍near Exton

Eat your way around Winchester district

Work up an appetite for a fortnight of foodie events, special menus and delicious workshops, from urban foraging adventures to alfresco summer feasts. Winchester is celebrating its vibrant culinary scene again as A Taste of Winchester returns from 22 June to 5 July 2026. You'll get the chance to experience the very best of the city and district’s local talent, as restaurants, cafés, pubs, retailers, producers, and makers come together to showcase amazing local flavours.

A Taste of Winchester.  
Monday 22 June - Sunday 5 July. 
📍various locations around Winchester district 

Watch an inspiring documentary about community and green energy

Green energy, resilience and the power of community are at the heart of this documentary, which is being screened at The Arc this month. Power Station follows two artists in Walthamstow as they set out to take their street and local school off the grid, kickstarting a solar-powered energy revolution. Channelling Withnail and I and Ealing comedy, the film charts the financial and emotional trials and tribulations of making change together. The screening will be followed by a 30-minute discussion.

Power Station film screening at The Arc. 
Wednesday 24 June. 
📍Winchester city centre 

Laugh out loud at a stand-up comedy gala

Book tickets to Winchester Comedy Festival's Summer Gala in June. These seasonal galas see four comedians take to the stage in Winchester for an evening of laughs. The summer instalment will feature sets from Angela Barnes, Arthur Smith, Ray Badran and Tom Deacon (MC).

Winchester Comedy Festival: Summer Gala at Theatre Royal Winchester. 
Friday 26 June. 
📍Winchester city centre 

See a one-man show about Austen's roguish Mr Wickham

Adrian Lukis, who starred in the renowned 1995 BBC TV adaptation of Pride and Prejudice, returns to the role of Mr Wickham for a one-man show. Join Pride and Prejudice’s most roguish gentleman, George Wickham, on the eve of his sixtieth birthday, to lift the sheets on what exactly what happened thirty years on from where we left him… And discover his own version of some very famous literary events.

Being Mr. Wickham at The Great Hall.
Saturday 27 June. 
📍Winchester city centre 

Watch a Shakespeare play beside The Great Hall

Settle down on the cobbles in the courtyard of The Great Hall, Winchester for a hilariously high-octane production of Shakespeare’s Macbeth like you’ve never seen before. Forget the tears and tragedy, this Macbeth is chock full of mishaps, mayhem and mirth. Suitable for all ages and apparitions.

Macbeth at The Great Hall.
Sunday 28 June. 
📍Winchester city centre 

Go on a family-friendly bear hunt

Much-loved story We’re Going on a Bear Hunt has taken over National Trust property The Vyne this spring. The picture-book and animation will be brought to life through a series of interactive installations. Get ready to swish, splash and squelch your way through this new sensory trail as you search for the bear.

We're Going on a Bear Hunt at The Vyne. 
Until Sunday 28 June. 
📍near Basingstoke

Embrace outdoor theatre season

Rain or shine, Winchester is putting on a super programme of outdoor performances this summer and June is the month a lot of it kicks off. As well as Macbeth at The Great Hall this month, you could head to The Vyne on 20 June to see the critically-acclaimed Pantaloons Theatre take on The (Almost) Complete History of Britain, a show that tells the entire story of Britain in under 2 hours. At Chawton House on 7 June, The HandleBards will be pedalling to perform As You Like It with all of their set, props and costumes on the back of their bikes, while there's a family-friendly production of Sherlock Holmes & The Hound of the Baskervilles on at The Barn at Avington on 3 June.

Read: Outdoor performances in Winchester 
📍various locations around Winchester district