WHAT’S ON

Battle Proms at Hatfield Park

Summer Evenings at the Zoo

Paradise Wildlife Park in Broxbourne will again be opening late for its Summer Evenings at the Zoo events during the school holidays.

Every Friday and Saturday from 21st July to 19th August, the zoo will host live entertainment with a carnival atmosphere, giving families the chance to see over 800 animals and enjoy speciality treats and drinks as the sun sets. There will be live acoustic music, stilt walkers, drummers, food trucks and drinks vendors and visitors can also experience more than 40 animatronic dinosaurs in the World of Dinosaurs.

Other attractions at Paradise Wildlife Park include Sun Bear Heights and Jaguar Jungle, Tumble Jungle soft play area, a splash pool at Boulders Beach and Safari Crazy Golf – not to mention the opportunity to simply relax and watch the big cats.

The Summer Evenings run from 6.30pm to 9.30pm and are all ticketed events – book yours at pwpark.com.

The annual Battle Proms picnic concert celebration featuring music, fireworks, Spitfire, cannon and cavalry returns for its regular visit to Hatfield Park on Saturday 15th July. The afternoon and evening includes a full two hour orchestral concert from the New English Concert Orchestra culminating in a Last Night of the Proms-style singalong to fireworks. The event also features the Battle Proms Belles with their vintage vocals and live band, mounted cavalry displays, a choreographed aerial display from a WW2 Spitfire, live firing cannon and (to be confirmed) the Red Devils parachute display team. The event runs from 4.3010.30pm and tickets start at £21 from hatfield-house.co.uk.

Standon Calling

Left it to the last minute to book tickets for this year’s Standon Calling festival?

The final tier of tickets have now been released for the boutique festival that runs in the grounds of Standon Lordship from Thursday 20th to Sunday 23rd July. As ever, this popular, family-friendly festival boasts a fabulous line-up,

Open air Roman Theatre

headlined this time by Years and Years, Self Esteem, Bloc Party and The Human League, with Anastacia, Katy B, Confidence Man, Dylan, K T Tunstall, Melanie C and Scouting For Girls also booked. Day tickets, from £55, and weekend camping tickets, from £240.75, are available at standon-calling.com.

Noel Coward’s Private Lives is now underway at the Roman Theatre Festival in St Albans. The summer festival, run by theatre company OVO, features a series of different plays running from June through to September on different dates. During July, as well as Private Lives, you can see performances of Much Ado About Nothing, Romeo and Juliet and The Railway Children. Book ahead to August for Little

Women, The Threepenny Opera, The Count of Monte Cristo and The Wind in the Willows, among others.

Tickets generally cost between £23.50 and £28.50 depending upon the performance, with preview tickets for some shows at £14.50 and reduced prices for children. The Roman Theatre of Verulamium is in Bluehouse Hill, St Albans AL3 6AE. Visit ovo.org.uk to book.