This is not far from where I live and I have been to the Chalke Valley History Festival before. I was first prompted to go by the presence of Eric "Winkle" Brown, who recently died - a man with an amazing aviation career and a man who I first saw at a Test Pilots forum in London over 50 years earlier. It is a sizable event but nothing as big as the major music festivals. And it is more sedate affair. In my opinion, some of those attending go because they see it more as a local social occasion.
WHERE? It is held in what "townies" would tend to call "the middle of nowhere", quite a long way from any main roads. It takes place in a valley in the countryside in a farmer's field - in fact in a series of farmer's fields. You may not realise you are actually there until you are actually there.
Some of the fields are used for parking, another for historical re-enactments and the like, and I seem to recall a field for camping or caravans but I'm not sure. The talks and presentations take place in large tents around another field. On the weekdays, the presentations tend to be in the evenings but, at the weekends, they take place throughout the day and into the evening and several presentations take place at the same time. There are eating and drinking places on-site (quite good quality in my experience but not that cheap). They have picnic areas if you wish to take your own food. There is usually a tent with a temporary bookshop where any presenter with a book to sell will usually autograph a copy. Other than that, it is open-air, which leads me to ........
THE WEATHER: If the day is sunny, it is glorious. If, on the other hand, the weather looks bad, prepare well in terms of clothing. These are farm fields, so suitable footwear may also be required. You will not, on the other hand, be required to sit around in wet fields (like some music festivals), merely walking across those fields. They are basically stubble but, even so, I'm sure they can get pretty muddy.
TRAVELLING BY PUBLIC TRANSPORT. My advice is not to go by public transport. The train service to Salisbury is pretty good, with trains from four directions, not just London, but the bus service is not so good. I haven't checked the nearest bus but this is a rural service (from Salisbury to Shaftesbury, I think) running though a succession of small villages along country lanes. If you decide to go by train and bus, then check the time of the last bus back to Salisbury because the service may stop before the end of MK's performance, and then check the time of the last train back to wherever. I don't know exactly but I just say: CHECK CAREFULLY. The festival site is not a place to be stuck at night.
TRAVEL BY CAR. My advice is to follow the temporary signposts to the site. If you have a SatNav, it may well take you on a route that is shorter but it may not be the best way. These lanes can be quite narrow in places, with twists and turns, and ups and downs, and the signposted routes tend to mean that most of the vehicles are travelling in the same direction.
TICKETS: I believe these go on sale in about a month's time. Those who succeeded in booking tickets on-line this week have had their money refunded and have been told to try again later. No tickets have been issued yet. And you will have to buy a ticket for the MK presentation. Even if you go to the Festival, you will not get into the MK presentation itself without a ticket for it. The tents are all seated (though they sometimes allow a bit of standing around the sides) and they cannot hold more than a certain number of people.
Good luck.
