Sip and sketch: Costume design Tour
Sip and sketch: Costume design Tour
Sip and sketch: Costume design Tour
Peek inside our costume workroom and witness where designs come to life. Then, relax with a Bellini in our bar while trying your hand at sketching your own designs.
Peek inside our costume workroom and witness where designs come to life. Then, relax with a Bellini in our bar while trying your hand at sketching your own designs.
Peek inside our costume workroom and witness where designs come to life. Then, relax with a Bellini in our bar while trying your hand at sketching your own designs.
Looking to have this tour all to yourself as private experience for you and your group? Or perhaps you need this tour run in a different language? We can offer bespoke private tours. Send your requirements to tours@roh.org.uk.
Your tour ticket entitles you to 10% off at ROH Shop and café on the day of your tour. Simply present your ticket at the checkout.
If you have any access requirements for your tour, please contact boxoffice.access@roh.org.uk after booking so we can deliver the necessary arrangements.
Find information about your Royal Ballet and Opera tour including how to get to the tour venues and in-depth accessibility information.
Background
The Royal Opera House stage has showcased some of the most iconic costumes in design history, from the enchanting animals of the ballet, The Tales of Beatrix Potter to the striking red dress worn by Maria Callas in Tosca. This 75-minute event begins with a brief introduction to the history of costume design, highlighting the different ways in which ballet and opera costumes are created.
Guests are invited to tour our costume workroom, where our talented costume team brings to life an array of otherworldly and captivating designs. The tour also includes a rare visit to our pattern room, access to our costume reference books, and a walk through our ever-evolving costume store. The guided tour portion of this event lasts approximately 30 minutes.
To complete this unique experience, you can enjoy a Bellini or soft drink in our bar while trying your hand at costume designing using a variety of ballet and opera-themed templates. Soft drink options include tea, coffee and seasonal fruit sodas. Alcohol is only available to people over the age of 18. Our bar staff may request age verification ID.
The tour guide will offer light facilitation during the costume designing activity. The event does not include meeting designers or costume team members. Guests are welcome to take photos in any of our front-of-house spaces, though photography is not permitted in any backstage areas, including the costume workroom.
This tour is available all year round with new dates added on a rolling basis. Please check back in the
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Important information about your tour
- The meeting point for this tour is the Ground Floor cloakroom of the Royal Opera House.
- Latecomers will not be admitted.
- As the Royal Opera House is a working theatre each tour provides unique experience and content may vary according to what spaces are available on the day.
- We may be using headsets on our tours so you don’t miss any important information from our guides. All equipment is fully sanitised after each tour. You can use your own headphones if you wish. Please note headphones need to have a standard jack connection to be used with our devices.
- Contact-free bag checks will be in operation when you enter the building.
Access Information
This tour takes you through different areas of the Royal Opera House, including long corridors, stairs, escalators and lifts. The flooring is also different depending on where you are in the building – some floors are smooth and tiled or wooden, some are carpeted.
Because we are a working theatre, there are areas that won’t always be available to us, which means each tour will take a different route. The spaces we travel through can sometimes be busy and loud.
Our tour guides use descriptive language which helps to paint a picture for blind and partially sighted visitors.
Please get in touch at boxoffice@roh.org.uk after booking to let us know your access requirements so we can make sure you have the best experience on your visit. We can help plan the tour if you require step-free and wheelchair access, if you prefer to avoid areas with views from a height, if you need to use the hearing loop or if you need to take regular breaks. Unfortunately, our hearing loops aren't compatible with Bluetooth.
Donate
The Royal Ballet and Opera is a charity and relies on your support. No matter the size, every gift is critical to our work and helps us to secure the future of ballet and opera.
Your donation will enable us to keep extraordinary work on our stages, inspire the next generation and support the Royal Ballet and Opera's community of artists, technicians and craftspeople.
Culture, crafted by contribution
Royal Opera House Covent Garden Foundation, a charitable company limited by guarantee incorporated in England and Wales (Company number 480523) Charity Registered (Number 211775)