The end of summer is fast approaching so don’t let it slip away from you.
The free Bandstand and music concerts end 21 September. Our visitor van, ‘Rambling Rosie’ will retire for the winter, the Open Air Theatre will shut it’s doors, our events programme will scale down.
So put your membership to good use and book a boat, a theatre ticket, pack a picnic , visit a café, drop into Chit Chat on a Tuesday to meet new friends and give volunteering a try if you haven’t yet. You won’t regret it. Get involved, join in, meet like-minded individuals who love this park.
As everyone files out of the park, come on in and join Charlotte Cass for a walk at dusk, just as the park’s nocturnal creatures are coming out to feed. Be guided through Regent’s Park in search of bat species, spiders building their nests, toads crossing roads and foxes.
Charlotte will tell you all about the adaptations that nocturnal creatures use to hunt and survive in the darkness plus the issues many of these threatened animals face. Bat detectors and torches will be provided. The event could be cancelled at short notice if weather is foul, so please include your phone number when booking. Bat detectors provided. 25 places – 23 Friends, 2 guests.
Weeds are plants growing in unwanted places. Our relationship to these wild species has changed throughout history. What place do weeds have in our urban parks, and what lessons can we learn from them?
Join Gemma Hindi, who is a Royal Parks Help Nature Thrive Engagement Officer, on a leisurely walk through the park discovering the beautiful botany and fascinating heritage of some of our most overlooked wild species, the ‘weeds’.
One of our sponsors, Wallacea Living (who generously support Chit Chat) have invited the Friends to a Great British Garden Party on Tuesday 19 August, from 4:00-7:00 p.m.
It will be an afternoon of jazz presented by Ronnie Scott’s, summer canapés, cocktails and a change to see their premises and gardens.
Location: Wallacea Living Gardens, 2 Newcastle Place, London W2 1AX
RSVP By Friday 8th August by calling 020 3960 1000 or email events@wallacealiving.com
If you walked past the bandstand recently, you saw a large marquee, a Benugo Catering tent, a ticket office and, of course, a bandstand! You may also have heard some music from the bandstand on Sundays and the marquee on Thursday to Sunday. There was Musical Theatre, Opera, the Lark Ascending, Viennese Waltzes, a Gospel Choir and a brass band and a choir performing the famous Karl Jenkins’ ‘Mass for the Armed Man’.
This latter piece, composed by Karl, a local resident, and Festival Patron, has been played about 3,500 times usually in large venues like the Albert Hall. But Karl wanted it to be performed in The Regent’s Park, so he rewrote the score for Aldbourne Brass Band, one of Britain’s champion bands, and Crouch End Festival Chorus. The result, an amazing evening, and an awe-struck audience. The 2025 Lakeside Series is now over but there will be concerts on Saturdays on the Broad Walk and every Sunday at the bandstand until 21 September.
Our litter-picking organiser and long time and committed, Committee member Mike Baker made the news, quite literally on BBC Radio’s Today Show on Tuesday 29 July.
Perhaps the nation needed a bit of reality and humanity check amidst the headlines presented that day relating to starvation in Gaza and Donald Trump swinging his club against at the world’s leaders with his tariffs and tantrums. Mike even scored against those massively impressive Lionesses for a spot on the news that night.
Listen to the interview at https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/m002gfxg – Fast forward to 50:00 minutes if you don’t want the doom and gloom.
Frieze London & Frieze Masters return to The Regent’s Park, 15-19 October, showcasing 6,000 years of global, historical art and today’s most pioneering artists. Early bird tickets went on sale on frieze.com.
Frieze organisers inform us that due to a technical glitch with their ticketing partner some tickets may have appeared previously unavailable. We are told they are still available to be purchased. Misleadingly the booking form will ask you for a discount code. Ignore this. The Early Bird ticket prices already include the discount that you are being offered.
Despite the news that the Royal Parks police will be abolished, they will be with us until November when they will be replaced by officers from the local constabularies. We hope that the transition will be smooth, and you can be sure that the Friends will be monitoring the change carefully.
The Royal Parks have kindly transferred the ‘Hannover Kiosk’ to the Friends under a lease arrangement. Prior to the transfer they cleared out the catering equipment, replaced the roof and the roller shutters to make it a very usable place. We have been fortunate to receive a £5,000 donation from the Rose Foundation to cover the cost of converting the inside to a new purpose. The Friends committee has several ideas but are open to suggestions, so if you have any please write to
During this period of extreme dry and windy weather, the trees across the parks are suffering more stress than usual, so there is increased risk that they may drop branches suddenly. We advise that visitors are mindful of this when sheltering under trees during the next few weeks, especially on windy days.
Thank you to our sponsors
©2025 Friends of Regent’s Park & Primrose Hill
Friends of Regent’s Park & Primrose Hill is a registered charity in England and Wales (no 1201666)
