For centuries, garden parties have brought everyday citizens together with the elite to enjoy hours of fine dining and entertainment. Dating back to ancient times, Romans would dine al fresco among the lush greenery of their home gardens.
King Louis XIV was known to throw sumptuous celebrations at his palace in Versailles, like the Great Royal Entertainment in 1668, where guests wandered the gardens before enjoying a lavish afternoon tea service, a performance of a play, followed by a buffet, and a firework display to cap off the day. Such fête champêtres—meaning “outdoor entertainment”—even inspired an entire style of painting developed by Jean-Antoine Watteau, which depicted people relaxing in picturesque pastoral settings.
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In the second half of the 19th century, Queen Victoria further popularized these gatherings by holding regular events at Buckingham Palace. Garden parties became a way for the royal family to connect with the public, including key figures in their community. Today, over 30,000 people are invited each year, with three parties traditionally held at Buckingham Palace and one at Scotland’s Palace of Holyroodhouse.
Over the years, garden parties have become about more than just mingling. Royalty and politicians use them to honor important groups, like war veterans, or make important announcements, while they serve as a clever means of fundraising for the arts.
Peerspace put together a list of five unforgettable garden parties that made headlines, using information from government resources like the British Royal Family’s official website and The White House Historical Association, along with other reputable news sites. Keep reading to learn more about how each of these unique outdoor celebrations became a memorable moment in history.
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Queen Victoria's Golden Jubilee (1887)
On June 22, 1868, Queen Victoria ushered in a new era of royal celebrations, hosting her first garden party on the Buckingham Palace grounds. Perhaps the most memorable of the queen's fêtes, however, was her Golden Jubilee nearly two decades later.
Two full days of celebrations, including multiple banquets and a parade, marked the queen's 50-year reign. At the festivities, an estimated 6,000 guests were invited to enjoy a tent-covered buffet of delicious refreshments and lively music by the Royal Marines at her Golden Jubilee garden party.
The event was captured by Frederick Sargent in the now-famous oil painting "The Garden Party at Buckingham Palace," which depicts Queen Victoria and her son, the Prince of Wales, greeting guests. Notable attendees, including the Archbishop of Canterbury, Emperor Frederick III of Germany, and King Léopold II of Belgium, are also pictured among the finely dressed crowd in this piece acquired for the Royal Collection by Queen Elizabeth II in 1994.
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The Not Forgotten's first celebration (1921)
Since 1920, The Not Forgotten Association has worked to improve the mental health and quality of life of veterans and active service members who are disabled, ill, or wounded. For over a century, the England- and Wales-based charity has invited over 2,000 guests to the gardens of Buckingham Palace for refreshments and entertainment each year. Some lucky attendees participate in a meet-and-greet with hosting members of the Royal Family.
Princess Mary was The Not Forgotten's first Royal Patron, and with the blessing of King George V and Queen Mary, the first garden party was held in 1921. The day's events included a glimpse behind the scenes of the Royal Mews—the entity that coordinates the Royal Family's road travel—followed by tea and time to take in the garden's beauty.
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A White House tribute to veterans (1924)
Much like The Not Forgotten garden parties that began around this time in the U.K., President Woodrow Wilson and First Lady Edith Wilson hosted the first White House garden party for veterans in the summer of 1919. More than 200,000 soldiers returned from World War I bearing the physical and psychological scars of combat. These garden parties were meant to help them deal with these experiences and honor their sacrifices.
Each year through 1956—minus an interruption due to World War II—wounded veterans and their families were invited to the South Lawn of the White House to meet the president and enjoy a few hours of good food and entertainment.
The 1924 garden party, however, had even greater significance: On June 5, 1924, President Calvin Coolidge signed legislation allocating over $6 million to build three new military hospitals. An estimated 2,000 veterans were in attendance to witness the signing of this bill, meet the president and first lady, and sing and dance the afternoon away to the music of the U.S. Marine Band.
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A Rose Garden gathering during a ban on gatherings (2020)
A Washington D.C. ban against gatherings of more than 50 people—which technically did not apply on federal grounds, like the White House—didn't prevent President Donald Trump from inviting over 150 guests to stop and smell the roses at an event held on Sept. 26, 2020. The event largely ignored social distancing and masking guidelines as the crowd convened to celebrate the announcement of Judge Amy Coney Barrett's Supreme Court nomination.
President Trump greeted guests in the Oval Office and the Diplomatic Room before hosting a nomination ceremony for Barrett outdoors in the Rose Garden. Despite White House claims that all guests tested negative for COVID-19 prior to the event, at least 11 attendees tested positive afterward. Those infected included First Lady Melania Trump, North Carolina Sen. Thom Tillis, former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, and the president himself—who required hospitalization for treatment of the virus.
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The return of the Museum of Modern Art's Party in the Garden (2022)
Since 1969, MoMA has held an annual soiree to raise additional funds for its ever-growing art collection and educational programs. Following a year off in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic and a virtual event the following year, Party in the Garden was back and better than ever on June 7, 2022.
New York City's elite flooded the museum's modern sculpture garden for an evening honoring George Lucas—the iconic filmmaker behind the "Indiana Jones" and "Star Wars" empires—and wife Mellody Hobson—head of the firm Ariel Investments.
Hobson shared that she and Lucas had one of their first dates at MoMA, signaling the couple's long interest in and commitment to supporting the arts. Following a sumptuous meal of halibut and burrata, attendees danced the night away to the music of Anderson .Paak and Michael Brun.
Story editing by Carren Jao. Copy editing by Kristen Wegrzyn.
This story originally appeared on Peerspace and was produced and distributed in partnership with Stacker Studio.