Ideas for Features/What's On in February: England's Festival of Romance
On February 4 – 14 2005, the City of Chester is holding England’s Festival of Romance.
The Festival celebrates all that’s great about love with a host of events that will make Chester the most romantic city in Britain for the second year running. The 10-day festival, which includes St Valentine’s Day, will unlock the romance in all of us.
Highlights of over 200 events planned include the glamorous “Love Chester’ launch event, cinema nights, canal and river cruises, the “Strictly Casanova’ evening and also the Roman-tic Walk round the City Walls in aid of the British Heart Foundation. There will be speed dating, Romance Tours, supermarket singles nights, The Shell Valentine Card Exhibition, competitions for the whole family and the opportunity to renew wedding vows at a unique blessing in Chester Cathedral, possibly the largest wedding blessing service in the World. These special events and much more are coupled with Festival hotel, restaurant and venue packages throughout the City.
There are also the City’s year round attractions to consider; its shopping, the world famous Rows, romantic walks across the city, round the Walls and by the river, its historic visitor attractions and museums, vibrant nightlife, pubs and restaurants and its surrounding, beautiful countryside.
The Festival is being organised on behalf of Chester City Council with support from the Northwest Regional Development Agency (NWDA) and Cheshire & Warrington Tourism Board. For daily updates please visit www.festivalofromance.com
CDRom of over 100 photos and 25 press releases from the 2004 Festival available.
Casanova, starring Peter O’Toole and David Tennant is currently being filmed in locations around Chester ready for its BBC3 debut in 2005. This TV series, together with the major new film Casanova starring Heath Ledger, Sienna Miller and Jeremy Irons, will rekindle the interest in all things romantic for 2005.
Happiness is living and working in Chester, according to a new poll. A study by the University of Essex showed Cestrians are the most satisfied with life in the North of England, the second most content, after those living in Sevenoaks in Kent. Professor Paul Whiteley, of the university’s Department of Government, found that participation in the community had a strong link with happiness. He surveyed 13,000 people across 101 random authorities for the study, which aimed to find out what British people contribute to their communities.
Chester is the city visitors are most likely to recommend to others, with a staggering 95% referral rating. It has recently been “benchmarked” against 8 other historic cities and Chester scored top of all the cities in 40% of the categories reinforcing the City’s pride in its range and quality of shops, places to eat and drink and its visitor attractions.
Return to Chester Festival of Romance 2005 listings
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