The Kensington Dollshouse Festival, formerly the London Dollshouse Festival, is a biannual festival held at Kensington Town Hall in London for the showcase of dollhouse miniatures, founded in 1985 by Caroline Hamilton. [1] [2] It is considered one of the most important dolls' house festivals in Europe. [3] It has both a summer show and a Christmas show. [4]
During the COVID-19 pandemic, the event was held as an "Online Showcase" in which each craftsperson had their page on a website instead of being in-person. [1]
Kensington is a district in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea in the West of Central London.
The Festival of Britain was a national exhibition and fair that reached millions of visitors throughout the United Kingdom in the summer of 1951. Historian Kenneth O. Morgan says the Festival was a "triumphant success" during which people:
flocked to the South Bank site, to wander around the Dome of Discovery, gaze at the Skylon, and generally enjoy a festival of national celebration. Up and down the land, lesser festivals enlisted much civic and voluntary enthusiasm. A people curbed by years of total war and half-crushed by austerity and gloom, showed that it had not lost the capacity for enjoying itself....Above all, the Festival made a spectacular setting as a showpiece for the inventiveness and genius of British scientists and technologists.
The Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea is an Inner London borough with royal status. It is the smallest borough in London and the second smallest district in England; it is one of the most densely populated administrative regions in the United Kingdom. It includes affluent areas such as Notting Hill, Kensington, South Kensington, Chelsea, and Knightsbridge.
Notting Hill is a district of West London, England, in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea. Notting Hill is known for being a cosmopolitan and multicultural neighbourhood, hosting the annual Notting Hill Carnival and Portobello Road Market. From around 1870, Notting Hill had an association with artists.
The Royal Albert Hall is a concert hall on the northern edge of South Kensington, London. One of the UK's most treasured and distinctive buildings, it is held in trust for the nation and managed by a registered charity which receives no government funding. It can seat 5,272.
Alexandra Palace is a Grade II listed entertainment and sports venue in London, situated between Wood Green and Muswell Hill in the London Borough of Haringey. It is built on the site of Tottenham Wood and the later Tottenham Wood Farm. Originally built by John Johnson and Alfred Meeson, it opened in 1873 but following a fire two weeks after its opening, was rebuilt by Johnson. Intended as "The People's Palace" and often referred to as "Ally Pally", its purpose was to serve as a public centre of recreation, education and entertainment; North London's counterpart to the Crystal Palace in South London.
Kensington Palace is a royal residence set in Kensington Gardens, in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea in London, England. It has been a residence of the British royal family since the 17th century, and is currently the official London residence of the Prince and Princess of Wales, the Duke and Duchess of Gloucester, the Duke and Duchess of Kent, and Prince and Princess Michael of Kent.
Brockwell Park is a 50.8 hectare park located south of Brixton, in Herne Hill and Tulse Hill in south London. It is bordered by the roads Brixton Water Lane, Norwood Road, Tulse Hill and Dulwich Road.
A dollhouse or doll's house is a toy home made in miniature. Since the early 20th century dollhouses have primarily been the domain of children, but their collection and crafting is also a hobby for many adults. English-speakers in North America commonly use the term dollhouse, but in the United Kingdom and other English-speaking countries the term is doll's house. They are often built to put dolls in.
Olympia London, sometimes referred to as the Olympia Exhibition Centre, is an exhibition centre, event space and conference centre in West Kensington, in the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham, London, England. A range of international trade and consumer exhibitions, conferences and sporting events are staged at the venue.
Queen Mary's Dolls' House is a dollhouse built in the early 1920s, completed in 1924, for Queen Mary, the wife of King George V. It was designed by architect Sir Edwin Lutyens, with contributions from many notable artists and craftsmen of the period, including a library of miniature books containing original stories written by authors including Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and A. A. Milne.
A miniature book is a very small book. Standards for what may be termed a miniature rather than just a small book have changed through time. Today, most collectors consider a book to be miniature only if it is 3 inches or smaller in height, width, and thickness, particularly in the United States. Many collectors consider nineteenth-century and earlier books of 4 inches to fit in the category of miniatures. Book from 3-4 inches in all dimensions are termed macrominiature books. Books less than 1 inch in all dimensions are called microminiature books. Books less than 1/4 inch in all dimensions are known as ultra-microminiature books.
The culture of London concerns the music, museums, festivals and lifestyle within London, the capital city of the United Kingdom. London has frequently been described as a global cultural capital and is one of the world's leading business centres, renowned for its technological readiness and economic clout, as well as attracting the most foreign investment of any global city. As such, London has often been ranked as the world's capital city.
A toy museum is a museum for toys. They typically showcase toys from a particular culture or period with their history. These are distinct from children's museums, which are museums for children, and are often interactive – toy museums may be aimed at children or adults, and may have interactive exhibits or be exclusively for display.
The Doll Domination Tour was the second concert tour by American girl group The Pussycat Dolls. It was launched in support of their second studio album, Doll Domination (2008). The tour was announced in October 2008 with dates in Europe and Oceania revealed in the following month, the tour contained six legs and 50 shows. It began in Aberdeen, Scotland on January 18, 2009, and concluded in Beirut, Lebanon on July 31, 2009. In-between the first two legs, the group supported the first leg of The Circus Starring Britney Spears in North America. The setlist for the concerts included songs from PCD (2005) and Doll Domination as well a cover of Shirley Bassey's Big Spender. Nineteen shows were submitted to Billboard's boxscore grossing $14.3 million, with 231,711 fans attending the performances.
Kensington is a Dutch rock band from Utrecht that was formed in 2005. The band has since released two EPs and five studio albums: Borders (2010), Vultures (2012), Rivals (2014), Control (2016) and Time (2019). The band consists of vocalist/guitarist Eloi Youssef, guitarist/vocalist Casper Starreveld, bassist Jan Haker and drummer Niles Vandenberg.
The Dolls House Emporium is an online retailer supplying 1:12th scale dolls houses and 1:12th scale and 1:24th scale miniature collectables. They no longer design or manufacture products themselves.
Prince George of Wales is a member of the British royal family. He is the eldest child of William, Prince of Wales, and Catherine, Princess of Wales. George is the eldest grandchild of King Charles III and second in line of succession to the British throne behind his father.
The Essex Model House is a notable dollshouse designed by the architect Martin Evans in 1955.
Princess Charlotte of Wales is a member of the British royal family. She is the second child and only daughter of William, Prince of Wales, and Catherine, Princess of Wales. As a granddaughter of King Charles III, she is third in the line of succession to the British throne.