Trooping the Colour is performed in full three times, on three consecutive Saturdays in late May and June. The first two, the Major General's Review and the Colonel's Review, are rehearsals with grandstand seats on open sale at a fraction of the parade price. Beating Retreat is something else: an evening of massed military bands on Horse Guards Parade, now billed by the Household Division as A Military Musical Spectacular.
For most visitors the rehearsals are the better buy. The soldiers, horses, bands and words of command are the same; what you miss is the King and the flypast. The evening band show is a separate ticketed event, held in July in 2026, and its name and season have shifted in recent years, which is why guidebooks still describe it in June.
Our page on Trooping the Colour describes the parade itself, the route and the free viewing spots on The Mall. This page is about choosing between the three Saturdays, what a seat buys over the pavement, and what the evening show is now.
The three Saturdays and the evening show
- Major General's Review
- Usually two weeks before the parade; £10 a seat in 2026; on open sale
- Colonel's Review
- Usually one week before; £15 a seat in 2026; on open sale
- King's Birthday Parade
- A Saturday in June; £30 a seat in 2026; by ballot, up to four tickets
- 2026 dates
- 30 May, 6 June and 13 June 2026 (past)
- 2027 dates
- Not announced when we checked (November 2026)
- Start
- About 10:20 each Saturday; public advised to be in place from 09:00
- Evening band show
- A Military Musical Spectacular, Horse Guards Parade, 8 to 10 July in 2026 (past)
- Where dates appear
- householddivision.org.uk and the official ticket site, kbp.army.mod.uk
Why the parade is performed three times
The Household Division, the seven regiments that provide the King's ceremonial guards in London, puts more than 1,400 soldiers, 200 horses and 400 musicians on Horse Guards Parade for the King's Birthday Parade. Getting that right needs full rehearsals in front of an audience, on the same ground, at the same hour. So the whole parade is done three times on consecutive weekends.
According to the Household Division, the Major General's Review is normally held a fortnight ahead of the King's Birthday Parade, and the Colonel's Review seven days ahead. The names come from the senior officers who take the salute in place of the King: the Major General commanding the Household Division at the first, and a Colonel at the second. Both are full dress rehearsals, not walk-throughs: the same uniforms, the same music and the same 113 words of command.
What you see at a rehearsal, and what you miss
The core of the ceremony is identical. The Massed Bands of the Foot Guards perform their musical "troop", the regiment's Colour is carried slowly through the ranks of guardsmen, the Foot Guards march past in slow and then quick time, and the King's Troop Royal Horse Artillery and the Household Cavalry ride past at the walk and the trot. That is the part a grandstand seat gives you and The Mall does not.
Two things belong to the parade day. The King is present only at the King's Birthday Parade, where the Household Division describes him being greeted with a Royal Salute and a 41-gun salute fired from Green Park. And the RAF flypast over Buckingham Palace at 13:00 happens on the day of the King's Birthday Parade only. If the balcony and the aircraft are the point of your morning, the rehearsals will disappoint; our guide to gun salutes in London lists the other days the guns fire.
Choose a rehearsal if
- You want to see the drill and the music, not the Royal Family
- You missed the ballot or your trip falls a week or two early
- You are bringing children and want a seat without a formal dress code
- You want a grandstand view for £10 or £15 rather than £30
Hold out for the parade if
- Seeing the King and the balcony appearance matters most
- You want the flypast
- You can be in London on the June Saturday and are willing to enter the ballot
Major General's Review or Colonel's Review?
On price and ease, the Major General's Review wins: the cheapest seat of the three, the most relaxed dress code, and the earliest date, which suits a late-May trip. Its dress code is simply that those attending are "encouraged to dress smartly".
The Colonel's Review is the closer copy of the real thing, a week later and closer to the finished performance. It costs a little more, and the Household Division treats it as a formal state ceremonial parade, with a lounge suit or jacket, tie and trousers for men and the equivalent for women. Strictly no denim, shorts or sandals, and the Division warns that people who do not meet the dress code will be refused entry.
| Saturday | Seat price (2026) | How sold | Dress code in the stands | Flypast |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Major General's Review | £10 | Open sale | "Encouraged to dress smartly" | No |
| Colonel's Review | £15 | Open sale | Lounge suit or jacket and tie; no denim, shorts or sandals | No |
| King's Birthday Parade | £30 | Ballot, up to four tickets | Morning dress or lounge suit; no denim, shorts or sandals | Yes, 13:00 |
For a family of four, that is £40 at the Major General's Review against £120 at the parade itself, on 2026 prices. The Household Division's page said in 2026 that rehearsal tickets were "on sale now" while the parade seats went to the ballot; how that ballot works, and what to do when you lose it, is explained in our guide to how London's event ballots work.
A seat in the stands or a place on The Mall
The grandstands stand around Horse Guards Parade, the open ground with Whitehall on one side and St James's Park on the other. From a seat you watch the whole ceremony from start to finish, with the music, the formation and the march past in front of you.
From The Mall you see the procession: the troops, bands and cavalry going to Horse Guards and coming back. It is free, needs no ticket, and is far less crowded at a rehearsal than on the parade day. The Household Division advises standing on The Mall or at the edge of St James's Park overlooking Horse Guards from 09:00, and warns that soldiers may get in the way of the view from there. Our guide to St James's Park and Green Park covers the park around it.
A £10 seat at the Major General's Review is the cheapest way into the Trooping stands. At the 2026 price it costs less than most London exhibition tickets and buys the same drill as the King's parade from the same stands. If you are in London at the end of May, book it when the Household Division's ticket site opens.
The rules on the morning
The same security applies on all three Saturdays. Police search the bags of every spectator going onto the parade ground, and knives, including penknives, are prohibited and may be confiscated. Umbrellas and parasols are banned from the stands so that nobody's view is blocked; hats are recommended for the sun. Cars cannot park or drop passengers in Whitehall or anywhere near Horse Guards on any of the three days, so arrive on foot from Westminster, Charing Cross or St James's Park stations.
The parade starts at about 10:20 on each Saturday, according to the Household Division, so the morning is over by lunchtime. That leaves the afternoon free. The Royal Academy Summer Exhibition on Piccadilly is a short walk away in the years it overlaps, and the smaller daily ceremony of the Changing of the Guard can be seen on other days of your trip.
Beating Retreat, now A Military Musical Spectacular
Beating Retreat began, as the Royal Family's website explains, with drums sounding at dusk to call soldiers back to camp, close the gates and lower the flags. On Horse Guards Parade it became an evening pageant of military music and drill by the Mounted Bands of the Household Cavalry and the Massed Bands of the Household Division, open to the public with a ticket.
The two official sources now disagree on the details, so we give both. The Royal Family's page still says Beating Retreat takes place on two successive evenings in June. The Household Division's own site, in November 2026, has no Beating Retreat page in its list of ceremonial events; its old ticket address for Beating Retreat now leads to A Military Musical Spectacular, held on Horse Guards Parade on 8, 9 and 10 July 2026. That show brought together the bands of the Household Cavalry and the Grenadier, Scots, Irish and Welsh Guards with guest bands, and it is a fundraising event for the Household Division Charity.
Do not plan a June evening around Beating Retreat from an old guidebook. In 2026 the Household Division's evening band show on Horse Guards was in July, under a different name. Check householddivision.org.uk for the current year's title, dates and ticket link before you book a trip around it.
Unlike the morning parades, the evening show is a concert with a programme that changes every year and, in 2026, guest performers from outside the Army. It is ticketed only, and nothing of it can be seen from The Mall. Prices for 2026 were on the Division's ticket site, which in November 2026 showed only a thank-you notice, so we cannot give a current price.
Planning the three weeks
The Household Division publishes the dates of all three Saturdays on its Trooping the Colour page. In 2026 they fell on 30 May, 6 June and 13 June. If your trip is in late May, the Major General's Review is the one within reach; for early June, the Colonel's Review. Our seasonal guides to London in May, London in June and London in July list the other events in those weeks.
Frequently asked questions
Are the Trooping the Colour rehearsals worth going to?
Yes, for most visitors. The Major General's Review and the Colonel's Review are full dress rehearsals with the same soldiers, horses and music as the King's Birthday Parade. Seats cost £10 and £15 in 2026 and were on open sale rather than by ballot. You miss the King and the flypast.
Is there a flypast at the Colonel's Review?
No. The Household Division says the RAF flypast over Buckingham Palace takes place at 13:00 on the day of the King's Birthday Parade only. Neither rehearsal has a flypast or a balcony appearance by the Royal Family.
Can I watch the Trooping rehearsals for free?
Yes. You can stand on The Mall or at the edge of St James's Park overlooking Horse Guards Parade without a ticket. The Household Division suggests being in place from 09:00 and warns that the view of the parade ground from there may be partly blocked.
When is Beating Retreat in London?
The Household Division's evening massed-bands show on Horse Guards Parade was held on 8 to 10 July in 2026, billed as A Military Musical Spectacular. Older sources, including the Royal Family's website, describe Beating Retreat in June. Check householddivision.org.uk for the current year.
Sources
- The Household Division - Trooping the Colour (dates, tickets, dress codes, security) (checked November 2026)
- The Household Division - A Military Musical Spectacular (checked November 2026)
- The Household Division - Ceremonial events (checked November 2026)
- The Royal Family - Beating Retreat (checked November 2026)
- King's Birthday Parade - official ticket website (checked November 2026)