Grace ClarkeThis coming Friday York Minster will be the destination for a Diamond Jubilee Dinner for around 900 people.
The evening is themed around the York Minster Rose, a flower named after The Minster at the RHS Chelsea Flower Show in 2011, and promises exciting entertainment throughout the night. The Minster Rose was created by Harkness Roses of Hitchin, a company originally founded in North Yorkshire, and presented to Princess Beatrice and The Duke of York at last years flower show. All profits from sales of the York Minster Rose will contribute to the ever important York Minster Fund, a charity established in the 1960s to raise money for the continuing restoration of the great tower.
A particularly fitting addition to The Minster for the occasion is the “living carpet.” The 14th Century nave, where the 900 guests will dine, has been fitted with the grass carpet, which is made from recyclable fabrics, grown in felt, and doesn’t require soil. In it’s previous lives it has been an indoor rugby pitch, a village green in Trafalgar Square, and grass sofas for The National Trust. It’s primary function at The Minster is to protect the floor from the hoards of kitten heels inevitably set to trample it. Unfortunately the “living carpet” is a one night only addition and will only be enjoyed by the lucky guests.
The dinner costs £1,500 for a table of ten and the evening endeavours to raise money for the York Minster Fund. The entertainment for the evening remains a mystery however in 2008, when a similar evening took place, acts included a string quartet and an aerial acrobatics group. Anything in the surroundings of The Minster is bound to be extraordinary.
The final tables for the evening are still available, if you feel like splashing out, enquiries should be made through the York Minster Website.
