Grange Park Opera opens at its new home.

In a woodland not far from where we live there’s been a lot of activity over the past 18 months. The Grange Park Opera team (who for the past 20 years had been based in Hampshire) have found a new home and settled in very nicely thank you to their new purpose built space and are running their first season at a cracking pace. So what’s all the fuss about you might think? To be fair, they’ve only gone and built an amazing opera house at the back of a gorgeous crumbly mansion in record time. No small feat when you consider the planning rules in the green belt let alone moving a whole cast and crew to a brand spanking new theatre and making it all work brilliantly right out of the starting gates.

I last visited the opera at the original home a few years ago which you can read all about here. In the past I hadn’t really appreciated that to go to the opera in the summer season is a ‘thing’ but show me a balmy summers night, the chance to put a posh frock on and a glass of champagne and I’m a convert.

On Friday we arrived around 5.30 and popped the fizz open before taking a stroll around the gorgeous grounds. As the bell rang to call us in for the first act, we wended our way through the orchard and found our seats in the new building. It’s not quite finished, but the acoustics are amazing – especially when supremo Sir Bryn Terfel is standing there booming out the classics.

After the first act, we hot-footed it into the mansion for a super-efficiently served supper and marvelled at our surroundings.

I had taken a sneak peek on a tour of the house a year or so earlier when Bamber & Christina Gascoigne had just announced that they were gifting their unexpectedly inherited home to the opera company – take a peek at some of these totally gorgeous interiors in all their faded elegance back then…

The opera house under construction in the early part of last year.

After dinner we made our way back to our seats for the second half, followed by a sneak peek backstage to meet the stars and scope out a different view.

Sir Bryn Terfel

Ballet superstar Zenaida Yanowsky

For more info on the Grange Park Opera season and programme pop over to their website here.

What to wear to the Grange Park Opera.

Millie wears dress by Self Portrait (similar here) and carries Nannacay basket.

The great thing about heading to the opera is that it’s billed as a black-tie event, which obviously means a little dressing up is required. But the opera crowd are renowned for their artsy take on an outfit, so most people embrace colour and summer fun in their choices.

Here are some of my top picks if you’re off to the opera or similar event this summer. Click the images to shop, and you might also find that lots of these gorgeous pieces are currently on sale!

So what do you guys think about summer season opera? Anyone else tried it? Let me know what your summer event go-to’s are in the comments below.