Chelsea History Festival

Thursday 1 – Sunday 4 October 2026

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Thursday 1 October 2026
10.00am - 11.30am
Tour of the Royal Hospital Chelsea
Royal Hospital Chelsea
£17.50 to £30.00
10.00am - 11.15am
Royal Court Theatre Backstage History Tour
Royal Court Theatre
£15.00
11.00am
Rock & Roll Chelsea (Walking Tour)
National Army Museum
£20.00
11.00am - 12.30pm
Tour of the Royal Hospital Chelsea
Royal Hospital Chelsea
£17.50 to £30.00
11.00am
Art and Literature of Chelsea (Walking Tour)
National Army Museum
£20.00
11.00am - 12.00pm
Medicinal Trees Tour
Chelsea Physic Garden
£20.00
12.00pm - 1.00pm
The Last Emperor of China: Twilight of the Forbidden City with Paul French
Royal Hospital Chelsea
£15.00
1.00pm
Walking Tour: The Royal Hospital Chelsea at War
Royal Hospital Chelsea
£20.00
2.00pm
Hidden Treasures Tour
Chelsea Physic Garden
£15.00
2.00pm - 3.30pm
Tour of the Royal Hospital Chelsea
Royal Hospital Chelsea
£17.50 to £30.00
2.00pm
Women of Chelsea (Walking Tour)
National Army Museum
£20.00
2.00pm
Tudor Chelsea (Walking Tour)
National Army Museum
£20.00
2.00pm
Hidden Details of Chelsea (Walking Tour)
National Army Museum
£20.00
2.00pm
Out of Colditz with David Lascelles
National Army Museum
£15.00
2.00pm
Fiesta: A Journey Through Festivity with Daniel Stables
Royal Hospital Chelsea
£15.00
3.00pm
Chelsea Pensioner Tour of the Wellington Hall Museum
Royal Hospital Chelsea
£7.50 to £15.00
3.30pm - 4.30pm
Old London Slang: A Cockney Chat
Royal Hospital Chelsea
Free
4.00pm
Women Who Ruled the World: 5000 Years of Female Monarchy with Dr Elizabeth Norton
Royal Hospital Chelsea
£15.00
4.00pm
The Last Bantam with Michael Hughes
National Army Museum
£15.00
4.00pm
Battle: The Moments that Transformed Warfare from Ancient Greece to Ukraine with Iain MacGregor
National Army Museum
£15.00
5.00pm - 6.00pm
Fashion & Fables
Royal Hospital Chelsea
£20.00
6.00pm - 8.00pm
Twilight Tours at the Royal Hospital Chelsea
Royal Hospital Chelsea
£35.00
6.30pm
Themistocles with Michael Scott
National Army Museum
£20.00
6.30pm
Purcell’s Dido & Aeneas: The Beginning of Opera in Britain (Concert)
Chelsea Old Church
£15.00 to £25.00
Friday 2 October 2026
10.00am - 11.30am
Tour of the Royal Hospital Chelsea
Royal Hospital Chelsea
£17.50 to £30.00
10.00am - 12.00pm
Chelsea Pensioners Heritage Group present: The Living History of the Royal Hospital Chelsea
Royal Hospital Chelsea
Free
11.00am
Spies of Chelsea (Walking Tour)
National Army Museum
£20.00
11.00am - 4.00pm
From Darkness, to Light, From Light to Darkness: Historical Artistic Traditions Explored
Garrison Chapel
Free
11.00am
Hidden Details of Chelsea (Walking Tour)
National Army Museum
£20.00
12.00pm - 1.00pm
Defence and Security Challenges to the UK and NATO, and how we can preserve the peace in Western Europe’ with General Sir Adrian Bradshaw
Royal Hospital Chelsea
£20.00
12.00pm - 1.15pm
Royal Court Theatre Backstage History Tour
Royal Court Theatre
£15.00
2.00pm - 3.00pm
Bloody Brilliant Tudors with Elizabeth Goff
Royal Hospital Chelsea
£15.00
2.00pm - 3.00pm
Silent Histories: Deafness in Early Modern England with Rosamund Oates
National Army Museum
£15.00
2.00pm - 3.00pm
Weimar Germany: Death of a Democracy with Victor Sebestyen
National Army Museum
£15.00
2.00pm - 3.30pm
Tour of the Royal Hospital Chelsea
Royal Hospital Chelsea
£17.50 to £30.00
2.00pm
Victorian Chelsea (Walking Tour)
National Army Museum
£20.00
2.00pm
Hidden Treasures Tour
Chelsea Physic Garden
£15.00
2.00pm
Art and Literature of Chelsea (Walking Tour)
National Army Museum
£20.00
2.30pm - 3.45pm
Royal Court Theatre Backstage History Tour
Royal Court Theatre
£15.00
3.00pm
Chelsea Pensioner Tour of the Wellington Hall Museum
Royal Hospital Chelsea
£7.50 to £15.00
4.00pm - 5.00pm
Collapse: The Second World War from 1931 to 1941 with Jonathan Fennell
National Army Museum
£15.00
4.00pm - 5.00pm
Churchill’s Queen: The Remarkable Friendship that Shaped Our Age
Royal Hospital Chelsea
£15.00
4.00pm - 5.00pm
John Simpson Unspun
National Army Museum
£20.00
5.30pm
The Royal Hospital Chelsea — State Apartments Tour
Royal Hospital Chelsea
£20.00
6.00pm - 8.00pm
Mudra and Music
Chelsea Physic Garden
£25.00
6.00pm - 7.00pm
Inverailort House: The Birthplace of the Special Forces with Monty Halls
National Army Museum
£20.00
6.00pm - 7.00pm
Debunking the Myths of 1066
National Army Museum
£15.00
7.00pm - 8.45pm
The Choral Music of Edward Elgar
Royal Hospital Chelsea
£20.00 to £40.00
Saturday 3 October 2026
10.30am - 12.00pm
Tour of the Royal Hospital Chelsea
Royal Hospital Chelsea
£17.50 to £30.00
11.00am
Chelsea and the River (Walking Tour)
National Army Museum
£20.00
11.00am
Spies of Chelsea (Walking Tour)
National Army Museum
£20.00
11.00am - 4.00pm
From Darkness, to Light, From Light to Darkness: Historical Artistic Traditions Explored
Garrison Chapel
Free
11.00am - 3.00pm
Living History Reenactors
Royal Hospital Chelsea
Free
11.00am
Queer Chelsea (Walking Tour)
National Army Museum
£20.00
11.00am - 1.00pm
Royal Hospital Chelsea: Sikh History Tour
Royal Hospital Chelsea
£20.00
11.00am - 4.00pm
Print, Pattern & Play: Family Workshop
Royal Hospital Chelsea
Free
11.15am - 12.00am
Chelsea Pensioner Singers
National Army Museum
Free
12.00pm - 1.00pm
Offa: King of the Mercians with Rory Naismith
National Army Museum
£15.00
12.00pm
Family story walk at the Royal Hospital Chelsea
Royal Hospital Chelsea
Free
12.00pm - 1.00pm
Herb Revival in Times of Change with Maya Jayaweera Thomas
Chelsea Physic Garden
£20.00
12.00pm
Children of the Third Reich: Three Pasts, Three Futures with Catrine Clay
National Army Museum
£15.00
1.00pm - 2.00pm
The Sound of Punjab – Traditional & Contemporary Dhol Drumming
Royal Hospital Chelsea
Free
1.30pm - 3.00pm
Tour of the Royal Hospital Chelsea
Royal Hospital Chelsea
£17.50 to £30.00
1.30pm
Sir Christopher Wren Family Tour
Royal Hospital Chelsea
Free
1.30pm
Family story walk at the Royal Hospital Chelsea
Royal Hospital Chelsea
Free
2.00pm - 3.30pm
Tour of the Royal Hospital Chelsea
Royal Hospital Chelsea
£17.50 to £30.00
2.00pm
Victorian Chelsea (Walking Tour)
National Army Museum
£20.00
2.00pm - 4.00pm
Walking Tour: A Little History of the Sikhs
National Army Museum
£20.00
2.00pm
Women of Chelsea (Walking Tour)
National Army Museum
£20.00
2.00pm
Hidden Treasures Tour
Chelsea Physic Garden
£15.00
2.00pm
Warsaw: A City at War, 1939-1945 with Prit Buttar and Lottie Taylor
National Army Museum
£15.00
2.00pm - 3.00pm
Chelsea Pensioner Singers
Royal Hospital Chelsea
Free
2.15pm - 3.45pm
Royal Hospital Chelsea: BSL Tour with Edward Richards
Royal Hospital Chelsea
£2.00 to £10.00
4.00pm - 5.00pm
Stealing Hitler’s Rocket: Smuggling a V-2 Rocket out of Nazi-Occupied Europe with Guy Walters
National Army Museum
£15.00
4.00pm - 5.00pm
God’s Hammer: A History of the Viking Crusades with Thomas Williams
National Army Museum
£15.00
4.00pm - 5.30pm
5 SOLDIERS – the film: Screening and Post Show in Conversation
Chelsea Theatre
£25.00
5.00pm - 6.00pm
In conversation with Martin Cawthorne, author of The Royal Hospital Chelsea at War
Royal Hospital Chelsea
£12.00
6.00pm - 8.00pm
Twilight Tours at the Royal Hospital Chelsea
Royal Hospital Chelsea
£35.00
6.00pm - 8.00pm
Hex in the Garden: Healers, Harmers and the Witch Craze
Chelsea Physic Garden
£25.00
6.00pm - 7.00pm
Conquest: The Roman Invasion of Britain with Ferdinand Addis
National Army Museum
£15.00
Sunday 4 October 2026
10.00am - 4.00pm
Hands on history: World War Two home front object handling
Royal Hospital Chelsea
Free
11.00am
60’s Chelsea (Walking Tour)
National Army Museum
£20.00
11.00am
Chelsea Old Village (Walking Tour)
National Army Museum
£20.00
11.00am - 4.00pm
Family Workshop: Creative Collage: Maps, Memories & Making
Royal Hospital Chelsea
Free
11.00am - 1.00pm
Walking Tour: A Little History of the Sikhs
National Army Museum
£20.00
11.00am - 12.30pm
The Artful Morning: Introduction to watercolour painting with Sarah Stadler
Royal Hospital Chelsea
£30.00
11.00am
The People’s History of Chelsea (Walking Tour)
National Army Museum
£20.00
11.00am - 3.00pm
Living History Reenactors
Royal Hospital Chelsea
Free
11.00am - 6.00pm
From Darkness, to Light, From Light to Darkness: Historical Artistic Traditions Explored
Garrison Chapel
Free
12.00pm - 1.00pm
Holbein: Renaissance Master with Elizabeth Goldring
National Army Museum
£15.00
1.30pm - 3.00pm
Tour of the Royal Hospital Chelsea
Royal Hospital Chelsea
£17.50 to £30.00
1.30pm
Sir Christopher Wren Family Tour
Royal Hospital Chelsea
Free
2.00pm
Tudor Chelsea (Walking Tour)
National Army Museum
£20.00
2.00pm - 4.00pm
Walking Tour: Chelsea Old Village
National Army Museum
£20.00
2.00pm - 3.30pm
Tour of the Royal Hospital Chelsea
Royal Hospital Chelsea
£17.50 to £30.00
2.00pm
Queer Chelsea (Walking Tour)
National Army Museum
£20.00
2.00pm
Hidden Treasures Tour
Chelsea Physic Garden
£15.00
2.00pm - 3.00pm
Stalin’s Apostles: The Cambridge Five and the Making of the Soviet Empire with Antonia Senior, in Conversation with Roger Moorhouse
National Army Museum
£15.00
3.00pm - 4.00pm
Life and Poetry with Chelsea Pensioner Roy Palmer
Royal Hospital Chelsea
£5.00
3.00pm - 4.00pm
“You Broke A British Square” The Battle of Tamai with Ian McLeod
Royal Hospital Chelsea
£12.00
4.00pm
The Royal Hospital Chelsea — State Apartments Tour
Royal Hospital Chelsea
£20.00
4.00pm - 5.00pm
No Future: Punk, Politics and British Youth Culture, 1976–1984 with Matthew Worley
National Army Museum
£15.00
5.00pm - 6.00pm
Dowland and Purcell: The Sounds of the Seventeenth Century – Performance in the Soane Stable Yard (England and the Wider World, 1600–1700)
Royal Hospital Chelsea
£15.00
6.00pm - 8.00pm
Twilight Tours at the Royal Hospital Chelsea
Royal Hospital Chelsea
£35.00
6.00pm - 7.00pm
Napoleon and his Marshals: Victory, Rivalry, Betrayal with Andrew Roberts
National Army Museum
£20.00
6.00pm - 7.00pm
Agatha Christie’s London: A Historical Guide to the Queen of Crime’s Capital with Tina Hodgkinson
National Army Museum
£15.00