Henley Royal Regatta, Oxfordshire, 2018

Trivial Pursuits: The English at Play by Orlando Gili is published by Hoxton Mini Press. All photographs: Orlando Gili

RHS Hampton Court Palace flower show, London, 2019

The Royal Horticultural Society’s show is one of the largest in the world, and takes place each July

Royal Gunpowder Mills VE Weekend, Essex, 2018

The weekend brings to life the last months of the second world war. More than 300 re-enactors from all over the world assemble in a show area of tents, jeeps, barracks and field kitchens

Cooper’s Hill Cheese-Rolling, Gloucestershire, 2018

Cooper’s Hill has been host to the annual spring bank holiday cheese-rolling event since the 1800s. From the top of the hill, a 3-4kg round of double Gloucester cheese is sent rolling down, with competitors racing after it. The first person over the finish line at the bottom of the hill wins the cheese. Cheese rolling is thought to have pagan origins as bundles of burning brushwood were rolled down the hill to represent the birth of the New Year after winter

May Morning, Oxford, 2019

Magdalen College Choir sing Hymnus Eucharisticus, a 17th-century hymn, from the top of Magdalen Tower in Oxford, at 6am on 1 May each year. The centuries-old tradition unites residents and students of the university city in celebrating spring, with many people staying up until dawn, taking advantage of temporarily relaxed licensing laws in the city’s pubs

Lambeth Country Show, London, 2019

The free community gathering funded by Lambeth Council brings a traditional country fair to south London. About 180,000 people come to Brockwell Park to see sheep-shearing, jousting and wood-whittling, and enjoy local cider and live music

Glyndebourne Festival Opera, Sussex, 2018

Five or six operas run annually from May until August, usually including at least one by Mozart, and all are performed in their original languages by international casts. Glyndebourne takes place in the grounds of the English aristocratic Christie family, who started the festival in 1934. Performances start in the afternoon, with a long interval enabling opera-goers to picnic on the lawns

Hallaton Bottle Kicking, Leicestershire, 2018

On Easter Monday, two neighbouring Leicestershire villages try to move a wooden cask – called a ‘bottle.’ The competition originated in the 18th century, when two Hallaton ladies were saved from a raging bull by a startled hare. They showed gratitude by donating to the church, on the understanding that each Easter Monday the vicar would provide a hare pie, 12 penny loaves and two barrels of beer for the poor. One year, residents from neighbouring Medbourne stole the beer, beginning the rivalry

Bucks County Show, Buckinghamshire, 2019

This one-day agricultural show dates back to 1859, and takes place at the end of summer in Weedon Park, north of Aylesbury

Royal Wedding Day, Windsor, 2018

Tens of thousands of well-wishers gathered to catch a glimpse of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle, following the ceremony at St George’s Chapel in Windsor Castle. It was not until Prince Albert, Duke of York’s marriage to Lady Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon in 1923 that royal weddings became public celebrations. The pair were married to great fanfare in order to lift the spirits of the nation after the first world war

Jack in the Green, Hastings, 2019

The tradition is likely to originate from the creation of intricate garlands of flowers during the 17th century, which were carried during May Day celebrations. The symbolic figure of Jack is covered in foliage and flowers, parades or dances, often accompanied by attendants, as well as Morris dancers, musicians and assorted unusual characters

Last Night of the Proms, Hyde Park, London, 2018

The concert takes place at Royal Albert Hall in London, with an outdoor screening and performances in nearby Hyde Park. It traditionally combines popular classics with patriotic numbers, such as Rule, Britannia!, and culminates with Auld Lang Syne. The concert marks the end of the BBC Proms, a summer season of daily classical music concerts that can be traced back to 1895

Shambala Festival, Northamptonshire, 2018

A family run festival with an anti-corporate,independent, sustainability and community focus that takes places over the August bank holiday weekend in the Northamptonshire countryside. Traditionally, thousands dress up for Fruity Fridays and on Saturday for the Fancy Dress Carnival

Glyndebourne Festival Opera, 2018

Like many of the annual events featured in Gili’s book, Glyndebourne has been cancelled this year due to the coronavirus outbreak. The organisers have said that no challenge since the second world war has been ‘so sudden and devastating as this one’