Velvet Magazine

Time to turn on the out-of-office: it’s officially holiday season! Whether you’re home or away this summer, our August Heat Seeking issue is the ideal reading matter. Between the covers you will find:

⛱ From weddings to beach breaks, summer calls for a varied and versatile wardrobe. Modelling poolside at Newmarket’s , Velvet’s showcases looks for all occasions

⛱ Want to level up your barbecue game? is in charge of the food and is bringing the wine. . .

⛱ Want to eat out? recommends five of the best world-food vans to follow and chooses her favourite foodie places on Cambridge’s Mill Road

⛱ Whether we get more rain or a sudden headwave, how can we help our gardens not only survive but thrive? is cultivating year-round colour, while shares top planting and landscaping tips

⛱ They say you should never work with animals. . . But for the teams at and , as Velvet discovers, caring for everything from pigs and goats to tigers is a dream job

⛱ If you’ve got little ones off school for the long holiday, we’ve got plenty of ways to keep them entertained, from a Lego safari at Cambridge’s to the Quentin Blake exhibition at Bury’s

Plus we’ve got fitness tips and mindfulness advice to help keep both body and mind in shape, news, views, real-life stories and the usual great prizes to win - including afternoon tea for two at . . .

Find your free copy in all the usual places and in e-edition at velvetmag.co.uk

Raising the bar on planet-friendly fashion, the sustainable Style Awards took place at Newmarket Racecourses - The Home of Horseracing yesterday. Time to meet the winners. . .

Sustainable Style Awards: Meet Newmarket’s best-dressed racegoers Raising the bar on planet-friendly fashion, Newmarket’s sustainable Style Awards took place yesterday. Time to meet the winners. . .

**Win** To celebrate Scamp & Dude coming to Cambridge - it opens in the Grand Arcade next week! - we've teamed up with the superpower-infused fashion brand to give away a shopping experience for two, worth £300. . .

Win: A £300 shopping experience for two with Scamp & Dude! To celebrate the brand’s arrival in Cambridge, you could win a £300 shopping and styling experience for two!

It's Independents' Day this weekend: what better time to raise a glass to our area's brilliant indies?

Independents’ Day: Celebrating our area’s top indies To mark Independents’ Day UK – which runs this weekend, July 6 & 7 - Velvet gives a shout-out to some of our area’s top indies

We have news: Velvet is proud to be media partner for the brilliant Bury St Edmunds Literature Festival for the second year! The lineup - which covers every genre of fiction, from literary to crime to children's, plus non-fiction, poetry and a new creative writing competition - is bigger and better than ever. Tickets for the October festival go on sale TODAY, so head to the link to book yours. . . https://www.burylitfest.co.uk/event-details/bury-st-edmunds-literature-festival-2024

**Win** Velvet’s contributing wellbeing editor - Caroline S. Asante, founder of Happy WellBeing Life - is giving away an amazing prize this month: a mystery bundle of summer wellness products worth £270!

Win: A £270 wellness bundle with Happy WellBeing Life Velvet’s contributing wellbeing editor - Caroline S. Asante, founder of Happy WellBeing Life - is giving away an amazing prize this month. . .

This sounds like the perfect Cambridge summer day. . .

Tickets: Have a dream Cambridge day with new Punt & Dine event A chance to enjoy a quintessential Cambridge day and support the city’s homeless at the same time? We’re in. . .

Forage for wild ingredients, see your meal cooked over fire, then eat it under the stars: that's the magical culinary experience coming to Godmanchester's Island Hall, courtesy of The Foraging Chef. . .

Booking: Wild cooking and alfresco dining with Cambridge’s Foraging Chef Forage for wild ingredients, see your meal cooked over fire, then eat it under the stars at Godmanchester’s Island Hall this July

AD: Combining experience and expertise with the latest technology and techniques, Cambridge's Cygnet Beauty & Dental Clinic is the place to go for the latest in aesthetics, as the team tells Velvet. . . https://velvetmag.co.uk/fashion-and-beauty/beauty-the-latest-in-aesthetics-at-cambridge-s-cygnet-clini-9372139/

AD: Combining experience and expertise with the latest technology and techniques, Cambridge's Cygnet Beauty & Dental Clinic is the place to go for the latest in aesthetics, as the team tells Velvet. . .

Beauty: The latest in aesthetics at Cambridge’s Cygnet Clinic The Cygnet Clinic combines experience and expertise with the latest technology and techniques, as the team tells Velvet

It's the final countdown: the sustainable Style Awards takes place two weeks from today at Newmarket Racecourses - The Home of Horseracing! With more than £8,000 in prizes to be won - spanning fashion, fragrance, meals and minibreaks - now's the time to finalise your outfit. . .

Fashion: Your get-ready guide to Newmarket's sustainable Style Awards Ahead of the July Festival’s sustainable Style Awards, we’re best-dressed looks from rental and preloved boutique Neon Leo

**Win** Craving a moment of calm? You could win a full-day package for two at Floatwell, Cambridge’s unique wellbeing spa, worth £520!

Win: A unique wellbeing spa day for two at Floatwell – worth £520! You could win a full-day package for two at Floatwell, Cambridge’s unique wellbeing spa, worth £520!

Where else could you hear Doon Mackichan talk about memoir My Lady Parts, party at a 'happiness disco', go on a ghost walk, take a creative writing class and bake a loaf in the shape of a hedgehog?

Primadonna Fest: Book now for books, comedy and cabaret From debates and discos to yoga, bread baking and ghost walks, the lineup for Suffolk’s Primadonna Festival could not be cooler. . .

Looking for something to do this weekend? This exhibition opens at Kettle's Yard tomorrow. . .

Exhibition: ‘Sensuous and compelling’ abstract art at Kettle’s Yard Opening tomorrow, the new art exhibition at Cambridge’s Kettle’s Yard spans canvases, a vast wall mural and a dance collaboration

With the weather finally beginning to play ball, our Hello Sunshine issue hits stands today! Filled with summer highlights, inside the covers you will find:

💐 A get-ready guide to July’s sustainable Style Awards, showcasing rental and preloved looks from at the town’s historic

💐 A celebration of National Ice Cream Day and Month, with top gelato-making tips from and a pair of fresh and fruity recipes from

💐 An exclusive interview with the founder of , the feelgood fashion brand about to cut the ribbon on its Cambridge store - plus the chance to win a £300 shopping trip for two

💐 Alfresco living ideas from and a rundown of the city’s most sociable summer drinking and dining places courtesy of

💐 The chance to meet the winners of our 2024 Velvet Food & Drink Awards - and hear what our independent team of judges had to say

💐 School summer holiday survival tips from dad-of-three and, with Wimbledon fever about to kick in,

Plus we’ve got all the usual news, views, diary dates and chances to win, so be sure to pick up your copy from all the usual places and/or find the e-edition at velvetmag.co.uk.

Perfect reading matter for a sunny afternoon avec comfy lounger and cool pina colada. . .

On the cover:
* Photographer: .harvey
* Location:
* Model:
* Clothes & Styling:
* Hair & Makeup:
* Hat:

The results are in. . . Hands together for your 2024 Velvet Food & Drink Awards winners 👏

Food & Drink Awards: Meet your 2024 winners! Nominated by the public and judged by industry experts, here are your winners of the 2024 Velvet Food & Drink Awards. . .

This is the best food news we’ve heard in a while: Dishoom, London’s iconic Indian café chain, is bringing its signature snacks, chaats, salads, sharing plates and cocktails to Cambridge. . .

Opening: Dishoom brings Indian café culture to Cambridge If you’re a fan of Dishoom, here’s a heads up: London’s iconic Indian café chain is coming to Cambridge. . .

Here's a date for your summer diary: Moyse's Hall Museum - fast becoming known as East Anglia's go-to art venue - is hosting another world-class exhibition. . .

Held in support of Cambridge Pride, the line-up includes drag bingo, a DJ, a fashion show and fizz - all hosted by iconic Cambridge queen Felicity Flappes! Book your Grand Arcade Rainbow Runway tickets now:

Book Now: Celebrate Pride Month with Cambridge’s Rainbow Runway Tickets to the June 12 event at Grand Arcade – a night of fun, fashion and fundraising in aid of Cambridge Pride - are on sale now

Could you be Newmarket's best-dressed? Win a podium place in the sustainable Style Awards at this year's July Festival and these are the incredible prizes - worth a whopping £8,500! - you’ll be taking home. . . Newmarket Racecourses - The Home of Horseracing

Style Awards: The incredible prizes – worth £8,500! – Newmarket’s best-dressed will win Win a podium place in Newmarket’s sustainable Style Awards this July and these are the incredible prizes you’ll be taking home. . .

Clear your diaries: a chance to buy bright and beautiful jewellery and accessories at bargain prices - and raise cash for two great causes in the process - Bury St Edmunds brand My Doris is hosting its annual sample sale this Saturday, June 1.

With prices cut by as much as 75%, you can expect to find everything from the brand’s signature beaded earrings and velvet pouches through to home and giftwares.

100% of proceeds from the sale will go to St Nicholas Hospice Care and Marie Curie UK, charities chosen by brand founder Katie Williamson in thanks for the “exceptional care and sincere support” they gave her dad and the family in his final days.

Where: Doris HQ, 2 Enterprise Park, Etna Road, Bury St Edmunds IP33 1JZ
When: Saturday, June 1, 10am - 3pm

**Win** In need of a minibreak? To celebrate the reopening of The Packhorse Inn, Moulton - following its impressive renovation - we've got a night for two to give away. . .

Win: A night at Suffolk’s The Packhorse – worth more than £200! To celebrate its recent revamp, Suffolk pub-with-rooms The Packhorse is giving away a night’s stay for two!

Ignore the glowering rain clouds: we’re officially cutting the ribbon on summer! Our June issue, out now, is a sunshine-filled celebration of the season ahead. Inside its covers, you will find:

🌞 A round-up of the best places to dine out (look out for ’s top five world-food supper clubs) and dishes to eat in ( shares her take on Buffalo wings and is serving up steak - all ways)

🌞 Previews of the summer’s hottest tickets, from ’ golden 50th year to ’ July Festival (enter the sustainable Style Awards and you could win up to £5,000 in prizes)

🌞 Ideas and inspiration to help you make the most of both home and garden over the summer: we go behind the scenes of ’s Insta-famous Cambridge house and take outdoor living tips from

🌞 A guide to the new season’s top fashion trends and how to wear them, courtesy of our local indies and resident stylist .devine

🌞 Real life stories from Suffolk’s ‘Plant-based Mama’ , who’s raising her family the vegan way, and GM Richard Finn, the LGBTQ+ Champion who’s flying the flag for

🌞 The usual amazing prizes to be won, including a £520 wellbeing spa day for two with , a £500 couple’s stay from and a £500 pair of VIP all-week tickets for

So put up your brolly/pop on a waterproof and find your copy in all the usual pick-up places (or stay in the dry, get the kettle on and read it in e-edition at velvetmag.co.uk)

On the cover:

**Win** To get your wardrobe set for summer, MONSOON Cambridge is giving away a personal styling session – and £250 to spend in store!

Win: A £250 shopping and styling session with Monsoon! To get your wardrobe set for summer, Monsoon Cambridge is giving away a personal styling session – and £250 to spend in store!