Covent Garden’s first ever Rosé Festival will be the destination of choice this Bank Holiday weekend, expected to be a sunny one. Now in its second week, the festival has new additions including the arrival of BABE DREAM, a pop up from the original canned wine BABE, founded by American celebrity The Fat Jewish, in partnership with London’s first digital beauty service Ruuby London. At the Royal Opera House Arcade pop-up guests will be treated to manicures, makeovers and festival-inspired hairstyling whilst screenings of Sex & The City will add ultimate Bank Holiday vibes. Canned white and rosé wines will be available to buy, alongside BABE merchandise. It will be open from 10am - 10pm with walk in services available from midday - 7pm.
To celebrate all things rosé and to nod to Covent Garden’s heritage as London’s original flower market, a rose garden featuring 15 different varieties of traditional British roses will be installed in the Piazza. The garden will feature 100 roses and a very special guest rose, new for 2021, the Captain Tom Moore Rose, which was named in his honour after capturing the nation’s hearts last year.
Guests looking to make the most of the weekend can check into the Rosewood London Hotel where complimentary Rosé Champagne, breakfast, a late 4pm checkout and a £75 per night credit is available to those who opt into the Rosé package. Guests can also make the most of Covent Garden’s Black Card, offering exclusive discounts in shops and restaurants across the estate. Visitors can quote ‘CoventGarden’ when booking to get further details of the package, with prices starting at £460 per night.
Visitors to the Rosé Festival will be able to enjoy over 35 varieties of rosé, frosés, alongside several exclusive rosé cocktails, music, a pop-up rose flower shop and 8 pop-up bars and terraces across the Piazza. With the return of indoor dining and all of Covent Garden’s restaurants now open in full, the festival will offer visitors the chance to toast the start of summer.
Rosé pop-ups across the Covent Garden Cobbles include Amie Wine serving ice-cold rosé cocktails, frosés and their signature rosé, accompanied by a grand piano and live pianists, HUN Wine serving a variety of chilled canned wines including rosé bubbles, Sauvignon Blanc and an alcohol free option, and Covent Garden’s Chez Antoinette will partner with rosé brand AIX-en-Provence as well as offering delicious treats to complement drinks. The Bubble Bros will pop-up serving rose petal infused Prosecco and rosé spritzers, award-winning rosé brand Mirabeau will also be live on the Piazza serving speciality dry gin cocktails, sparkling rosés and Côtes de Provence Rosé; and Magners will be popping up on the Piazza with their Magners Rosé Cider Garden, serving a light blush cider, transporting visitors to Clonmel Orchard.
Across the Piazza, Ladurée will host a rosé-inspired afternoon tea with Mirabeu: La Vie En Rose with an exclusive Rosé sorbet, rose lemonade and a variety of pink treats, The Oystermen will partner with Pol Roger, serving Pol Roger Vintage Rosé and their organic IGO wine cans from the ‘Pol Defender Bar’ while Dirty Martini will serve delicious frosés and an exciting new summer cocktail menu from their Piazza pop-up. Covent Garden's Fiona Fleur will pop up with her Fleur Rosé flower stall in the market building, selling fresh bouquets in blush pink, light peach and delicate cream from an iconic Covent Garden barrow.
For visitors wanting to join in the blush celebrations but preferring non-alcoholic options Shake Shack will offer a limited-edition cherry blossom pink shake, Amorino will be serving their Instagramable rose-shaped ice-creams in multitude of flavours and Bubble Wrap will sell an exclusive Covent Garden Rosé and Strawberry Blossom combo. For tea connoisseurs, Whittard and Mariage Freres will also be offering over 40 rose blend teas.
Adding to the Rosé Festival’s experiences, rosé scents, creams, candles and oils will be available from L’Occitane, Floral Street Fragrance, Atelier Cologne, DECIEM, Molton Brown and Miller Harris. To celebrate their Rose Prick fragrance, Tom Ford will play host to a beautiful rose themed floral installation in-store, while The Alkemistry will treat those browsing for jewellery to complimentary HUN Wines’ rosé.
As part of the festival and celebrating the return of indoor dining, restaurants across Covent Garden have created special cocktails using rosé. Frenchie will serve a signature rosé cocktail with fruity sour notes, Sushisamba will serve a Sake Spritz, Din Tai Fung’s speciality spritz will be made from Severn Valley Sparkling Rosé, rose syrup & lychee and James Street Collective will serve an English Strawberry Spritz. Additional bespoke cocktails are also being offered by Floral by Lima, Aubaine and Cinnamon Bazaar. A variety of different rosés also feature on the menu for Balthazar, The Ivy Market Grill, La Goccia, The Frog, Cora Pearl, Da Henrietta, Red Farm, Avobar and Darjeeling Express. With the return of indoor dining, restaurants across Covent Garden will reopen over 2,500 additional dining spots, including over 800 all-weather al fresco seats. The area will remain at the heart of outdoor dining with the botanical pocket garden seating area on the East Piazza remaining open for takeaway drinking and dining.
For a glass of rosé and some retail therapy, Covent Garden has a mix of one-of-a-kind and flagship stores across fashion, beauty and lifestyle in a pedestrianised open-air shopping environment. From May the area will welcome five new brands including newly opened Swiss watch retailer Bucherer, fine jewellery brand Vashi, outdoor apparel brand Arc’teryx, designer accessories brand Strathberry and premium piercing parlour and gold jewellery boutique Sacred Gold.
For more information and details about the Rosé Festival, indoor and outdoor dining, shopping and culture, please visit coventgarden.london
