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Print this pageEmail to a friendThe Rocky Horror Picnic Shows
TimeWarp's get-togethers at Oakley Court Hotel
GoFrequently Asked Questions

Rocky Horror Picnic Show Dot Org Dot UK

2019
There were nearly 200 of us at the 2016 Picnic - here's most of us.

! 2022 Picnic Show Updated !

Select a year to see reports and thousands of images from the previous picnics.

Picnic Show 2021       Picnic Show 2020          Picnic Show2019          Picnic Show2018

Picnic Show2017          Picnic Show2016          Picnic Show2015          Picnic Show2014          Picnic Show2013          Picnic Show2012

Picnic Show2011          Picnic Show2010          Picnic Show2009          Picnic Show2008          Picnic Show2007          Picnic Show2006

Back in 2006 TimeWarp celebrated Eighteen years as the official Rocky Horror Fan Club. To mark the occasion and from what had gone before it seemed certain that there should be.........a picnic.   So we had one! Oakley Court, the original filming location for The Rocky Horror Picture Show itself played host to just under fifty of us.

We had such a good time we did it all again in 2007 and 2008 when we had an amazing 75 fans at the event. The 2008 event was such a success that the hotel were booking for 2009 two days later. 2010 saw 83 fans attending and 2012 around 87! As always a good time was had by all and the event just gets to be more fun and more friendly as each year goes by. 2012 started booking before 2011 ran and 2013 had people booking as they checked out from the 2012 event. 2013 coincided with TimeWarp's 25th anniversary and the 40th anniversary of the stage show and we had over 90 people at the picnic to celebrate both events.

Our 2014 event saw the most bookings yet with 95 signed up before the day itself. 2015 was another great year and 2016 saw 80 attendees at the event. The 2017 picnic started booking the day after the 2016 picnic and by the end of the week we had 76 signed up for 2017 event, on the day itself we had over 120 people there! By the 2018 picnic we had sold the event out well before the day with 148 people there. 2019 had 190 attendees and we took most of the hotel's rooms and if anything the screening room was too packed, future picnics are likely to be capped at around the 120-150 mark because of that.

2020 nearly sold out two days after booking opened, but we could not have predicted how the world would change early that year. The Coronavirus pandemic meant that the goverment restrictions on groups of people and the social distancing rules hotels had to follow made running the event impossible. With deep regret the 2020 picnic had to be cancelled at the end of June. The 15th Picnic went ahead in 2021 with 120 attendees, an ideal number and not too many for the movie screening.

We were back for one more Picnic in August 2022, see the 2022 Picnic page for details.

2022 will be the last picnic for the foreseeable future. We had hoped and planned to continue to run the event every year, but the price from 2021 (held from 2020 prices as there was no picnic in 2020 due to covid) went up from £270 a room for two people including breakfast to £365 plus £12.50 each for breakfast for the 2022 event. Many fans were already struggling to pay that. When we were given prices for 2023 we were quoted a non-negotiable rate of £665 per room plus breakfast. We do not want our event to become something that only the really well off fans can afford. The original point of the picnic was that we could stay at Oakley Court, get to wear our Rocky costumes and have a picnic at a cheaper price than normal room rates. We love being at Oakley Court, but we cannot expect fans to pay more than double the cost of two years ago. If things change, we will be back!

Stephanie Giffin - any relation to Lois?The TimeWarp picnic day is the one time of year you can visit Oakley Court and walk around in your Rocky costumes all day without a problem. Oakley Court are after all a working hotel and host many business meetings, weddings and conferences and quite rightly so they would not appreciate fans just turning up in costume at other times.

We have made this our annual fan club event on the Sunday before the August Bank Holiday. That way people can travel back on the bank holiday itself. The whole point of the day is to relax, chill-out, have fun and enjoy this amazing venue with fellow Rocky fans. You don't even have to be a member of the fan club to book, everyone is welcome.

The only things you need to bring are yourself and your picnic rug to sit on! Room rates are based on a maximum of two adults and two children per room and include the food for the picnic (very nice!) as well as a full breakfast the next day. You also get access to all the usual Hotel facilities. Costume is permitted if you want to dress up. You don't have to dress up of course, but you may have felt a bit left out with all the rest of us in sparkling attire.

Although the main point of the day is the picnic itself, we have been very fortunate to have a few visits from Richard O'Brien as well as a movie screening of The Rocky Horror Picture Show most years. It's great to watch the movie actually inside the place it was filmed! We also arranged a special dinner in 2007 in costume in the original room used for filming, a recreation of the movie itself.

Use the Griffin Menu above to choose a year to view hundreds of images from each event, plus for a report on what we got up to.

Picnic Show 2016
A little montage of some of my photos from the 2016 picnic.

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Frequently Asked Questions about the Picnic.

QCan I just turn up for the day?

ASorry, no. The hotel host the picnic as part of a package deal and as such you need to be a staying picnic guest to attend. The rate we get includes the picnic, accommodation and breakfast the next day. Everyone attending the picnic gets a badge to show you are eligible to be there, please wear your badge for the entire event as anyone without a badge will be asked to leave. The badges change every year as well so become a little collectors item in their own right.



QDo I have to book with the hotel direct, can I use an agency?

AThe only way to make sure you get the picnic package is to book direct with Oakley Court, that way you get your badge which acts as your entry ticket to the picnic itself.



QWhat if it rains?

AOr as we like to call it, movie accurate weather. Don't worry we always have a back up. It has only rained three years out of thirteen (as of 2018) and if that happens the hotel have either the dining room or a conference suite we can have our picnic food in.



QSo, this is a convention then?

ANope, we've run three massive conventions in the UK with over 500 attendees at each, this is something different. The whole point is to have a chill out day with as few organised events as possible so people can enjoy just being at Oakley Court. It's our holiday too. We've spoken to many people over the years who have attended conventions all over the world and they agree the Picnic is a unique event and should stay as such.



QWhy do you have guests sometimes then?

AIndeed we did. A few times we've had Richard O'Brien call in. Nothing was ever confirmed as such, Richard kindly said he'd call in if he had some spare time and it was lovely for the attendees to see him for a few hours. In 2019 we were surprised when Peter Robb-King, original make up artist for RHPS, walked up to say hello and stayed for the movie screening.



QSo I can walk around in costume then?

AYes, but do remember the hotel is open to other guests. We are asked to tell people that they are more than welcome to wear their costumes at the picnic or film screening, but in the public areas of the hotel you should cover up. It's not the kind of place you can just turn up in costume to and you should always show respect for the other guests. Don't get too skimpy on the underwear either, you might have a nice bottom, but not everyone might want to see it.

Something that was mentioned in 2017 was that you can wear your costumes at the hotel ON THE SUNDAY OF THE PICNIC ONLY. Some attendees also book additional nights so they can enjoy the hotel itself but remember that Oakley is a working hotel and they allow us the costumes just for the Sunday each year, please respect that.



QIs this just for fan club members?

ANo, you don't have to be a member of TimeWarp to attend the picnic, although a lot of the people there are. We're a friendly bunch and love meeting new people.



QIs there always a film screening?

ANearly, so far only one year we didn't have one as we offered a meal in the original dining room shown in the movie instead. If the hotel can find us some space for a screening we do like to show The Rocky Horror Picture Show (courtesy of 20th Century Fox). How cool is it to watch the movie on screen while sitting inside the building you are watching. A trend we set back in in 2006.



QWhat time does it all start?

AWe like to give people enough time to check-in (3pm normally), collect their event badge and get changed, so the picnic itself tends to start sometime between 4-4.30pm on the Sunday. The movie screening tends to be around 9.30-10pm with the screening room (and our own bar) opening around 8pm.



QWhat time do you do a group photo?

AAnother thing that has become a picnic tradition. We tend to shoot a group shot of everyone in costure either just before or just after the food. In 2018 we did it around 6pm as it was a rare rainy picnic day and we were eating inside. Just after most people had finished the food the clouds lifted and we manged a photo or three.



QWhat do we get for the money?

AThe hotel give us a special deal for the day, the cost you pay if for the overnight stay in the room, use of the hotel facilities and the deal also includes all the food and (soft) drinks for the picnic itself. Prices are per room, not per person. (Breakfast the next day was included in the price up to 2021 when it started being charged at £12.50 per person.)



QSo do you guys get in for free as organisers of the event?

ANope, we pay the same as everyone else and always have. In fact we have to pay for rooms for our kids as they are too old to share a family room with us now.



QWhy do you always have photos around the fountain the Monday morning?

AI've noticed that too! It's just something that has become a tradition over the course of the picnics, we all tend to meet up just before check-out on the Monday to say goodbye and have a few more photos taken. Having said that, 2017 had so many people we couldn't all fit around the fountain so did the pictures with the hotel in the background instead.



QWhy was the 2020 event cancelled?

ADue to the Coronavirus health emergency, the government restrictions on groups of people meeting up and the social distancing rules affecting the way hotels were having to function, there was no option but to cancel the 2020 event. Oakley Court and TimeWarp explored every option to try and run the 2020 picnic but by the start of July there was no way to guarantee the event could run so in the circumstances it had to be cancelled. We were as gutted as everyone else that the 2020 picnic could not go ahead. Oakley did hold the 2020 prices for 2021 though.

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