What's On 13 April

Ellie Smith
April 13, 2025

Dear Reader,

From gobsmacking, gobstopper-like jewels at the V&A thanks to the opening of the incredible Cartier exhibition (the queues went round the block but I nipped in after Dame Joan Collins), to the pleasure of composting, this week as ever combines the sublime and ridiculous. I can’t actually work out what I’d prefer – a 35.19 carat sapphire necklace (as bought by King Ferdinand of Romania for his wife Queen Marie in 1921) or my hot composter. The daily joy of throwing my food and garden waste into a humble container that steams when you lift the lid, knowing that in 30 days, I can reuse it in the garden, is as big a daily thrill as I would hope to enjoy. So Cartier, you can keep your jewels, I choose fertiliser.

Have a great week.

WHAT’S ON MY MIND THIS WEEK

The Chelsea Arts Festival Is Live

The biggest cultural news to hit London (apart from the Cartier opening, of course) is that we are launching a brand new arts festival this September – unlike anything the city has seen. Sign up here to be first in the know about everything, from talent to tickets.

Nick Cave, The Collector

Musician, singer, songwriter, film director, writer, actor – and collector and ceramist. Is there no end to the talents of polymath Nick Cave? Read about his passion for china figurines here.

King Charles at the RHS Chelsea Flower Show 2025 (© RHS/Lee Charlton)

Your Guide To The Chelsea Flower Show

The Chelsea Arts Festival will follow in big shoes. The Chelsea Flower is the world’s most famous and it’s coming next month. Here’s everything you need to know.

FIVE THINGS NOT TO MISS

Rick Stein Barnes

Keen to watch the Oxford-Cambridge Boat Race today? Here are the riverside pubs and restaurants where you’ll get the best view.

Jo Malone has launched its first ever spa treatment: a 150-minute Roman bath and body experience at Covent Garden’s AIRE Ancient Baths.

Next time you pop into Liberty for a spot of shopping, be sure to book lunch at its new restaurant, Seventy Five.

Celebrate tulip season at the Hampton Court Palace Tulip Festival, which sees its gardens fit to burst with a rainbow of bright and beautiful blooms. Until 5 May

Pophams

A flurry of London’s cult bakeries are dropping their hotly anticipated hot cross buns – these are the capital’s finest.

Join today and enjoy digital editions of all our publications (worth £39), exclusive discounts and offers from our advertising partners, plus...

Automatic entry into all of our competitions for an entire year.

£2.50 per month (billed annually)

WHAT'S TRENDING ON C&TH

Netflix’s Pride and Prejudice remake: all the details

The Royal Ascot lookbook is back for 2025

The global matcha shortage, explained

Photo by Charley Gallay/Getty Images for Netflix

What is the real Jennifer Aniston salad?

Win A Warwickshire Home & Automatic Entry Into Raffle House’s £5.6M Prize Draw

Thanks to a brand new prize draw from Raffle House, this £2.8M Warwickshire dream home could be yours for as little as £10 – and every ticket purchased for the current £2.8M Warwickshire Dream Home will be matched by Raffle House with tickets for the £2.8M Cotswolds Dream Home draw, starting on 1 May. That’s a total prize pool of £5.6M, which is Raffle House’s biggest yet.