* “Chelsea in Bloom” Festival – May 2026

Here’s a short ‘n sweet piece about a location my London Shoes visited just a few days ago – and I wanted to get it ‘out there’ promptly while the enjoyment and ‘vibe’ of it is still alive in my memory.

Last Thursday (21st May) my London Shoes hopped on the tube to Sloane Square for the specific purpose of checking out this years annual “Chelsea in Bloom” spectacular.

‘Shoes’ has attended this experience for the past 3 years and have published blog articles on the events – but I’d heard that this years ‘Chelsea in Bloom’ was gonna be bigger, better and more spectacular than previous years – and it most certainly was.

The  ‘Chelsea in Bloom’ is best described as an annual floral art show, billed as London’s largest free-to-attend festival of flowers.

It first started back in 2006 – and runs in alignment with the extremely popular annual and widely reported “Royal Horticultural Flower Show-Chelsea”.

The ‘Chelsea in Bloom’ festival is simply a few days in May where retail outlets/restaurants / cafes / pubs down the famous Kings Road -Chelsea, transform their shop fronts displays made out of fresh flowers.

This year is the festival’s 21st anniversary – and this years theme was entitled “Out of this World” and focused on space travel and the universe.

The festival only officially runs for a few days – this year (2026) it was from Monday 18th to Sunday 24th May – and so my London Shoes had to get down to the Kings Road pretty sharpish, to see the sights.

I photographed so many displays, far too many for me to publish within the usual format of my London Shoes publications – so instead, I’ve created below, a sort of ‘Best of-Gallery’  in an attempt to display as many photos of these amazing floral designs as possible – which I hope readers of this piece will enjoy…….I certainly enjoyed putting it together.

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So – after pounding almost 8 miles of the Kings Road and surrounding streets pavements – under a sunny and very warm London sky – it was most definitely time for some much needed liquid refreshment of the alcoholic kind- and away from the madding crowd of the lively’ Kings Road, my London Shoes stumbled up a lovely old pub down in Eaton Terrace-SW1.

The “Duke of Wellington” pub building dates back to 1826 when it was actually a ‘reading/library room’ specifically for the residents of the surrounding Belgravia Estate (as it was referred to back then).

The pub is named after the 1st Duke of Wellington – ‘Arthur Wellesley’ and there are loads illustrations/paintings and references to him, displayed all over the pub’s interior walls.

The pub building has been Grade II Listed since 1987, and because of its ‘Wellington’ connection, the pub is referred to locally as the ‘Duke of Boots‘.

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See below are the entire gallery of photos taken of the 2026 “CHELSEA in BLOOM” displays throughout the KINGS ROAD and some of its surround streets – hope you enjoy them.

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Having pounded almost 8 miles of Chelsea pavements, under a blue sunny and very warm London sky – my London Shoes rested up for some much needed liquid refreshment in the “Duke of Wellington” pub in Eaton Terrace-London SW1 and very comfortable and enjoyable it was too.