Four-day festival to celebrate Queen's platinum jubilee in Alnwick

Alnwick Town Council has revealed details of the event from Thursday to Sunday, June 2-5 which has been many months in the planning.

The Market Place will be full of harmony as a fantastic range of acts take to the stage in a programme coordinated by Cllr Geoff Watson. Musicians and singers have prepared a great repertoire that reflects the seven decades of Her Majesty’s reign.

The whole event starts with a royal proclamation in the market place at 9.55am on Thursday June 2.

Artists such as The Bluebirds, Wor Vera, Eliza Soul, The Bloomfield Duo and local performers such as the Duchess’s Community High School and Alnwick Playhouse Band will be on stage every day between 10am and 4.30pm.

Printed programmes giving full details of the four-day concert are at the Alnwick Town Council office and the Tourist Information Centre within Alnwick Playhouse and on the Alnwick Town Council website.

As part of the celebrations, on Saturday June 4 a Jubilee Parade, organised by the Duchess’s Community High School culture and community coordinator, Rosie Bush, will create a fabulous spectacle as youngsters carry banners and flags through the town centre. From 11am to 12pm they will walk from St Paul’s school, through the town centre to the Barbican at Alnwick castle.

The parade will end in The Alnwick Garden which is also celebrating the Jubilee in a variety of ways. These include a corgi trail for children organised by students from the Duchess’s Community High School, performances from RAF Boulmer’s Military Wives Choir and Alnwick Round Table’s jubilee carnival which will feature a selection of fun and games.

Local people will be encouraged to continue the Jubilee mood on Saturday, June 4 when the BBC footage of the Platinum Party at the Palace is relayed live onto a giant screen at Barneyside between the Alnwick Castle and Garden. It’s hoped that Ed Sheeran, Cliff Richard and Bill Bailey will among the performers.

The giant screen will also transmit live BBC coverage of The Platinum Jubilee Pageant on Sunday, June 5 which will combine street arts, theatre, music, circus, carnival and costume to celebrate Her Majesty’s unwavering duty, love of the natural world and dedication to the Commonwealth.

Alnwick Town Council has also teamed up with Alnwick Playhouse to offer FREE Jubilee screenings:

On Thursday, June 2 ‘Watch With Mother’ will bring back happy memories for many when it is screened at 10.30am.

The nostalgia continues at the Playhouse on the Thursday with ‘A Queen is Crowned’ at 12.30pm. This ITV record of the coronation includes footage from the actual crowning, the processions before and afterwards and general introductory views of Britain in 1953.

Also at Alnwick Playhouse, on both Friday, June 3 and Saturday, June 4, ‘The Queens Handbag’ will be created in the studio space with Alnwick Youth Theatre. Costing £5 to participate and aimed at 7 to 11-year-olds, rehearsal sessions are from 10am-12pm. Then the performance will follow from 12-12.30pm where the audience are invited to pay what they decide.

Danceformation ‘7 Queens’ will be performed in the Studio Space on Saturday, June 4 at 2.30pm and again the audience are asked to ‘Pay What You Decide’.

In the evening an invited audience will enjoy a community celebration in the Bill Hugonin auditorium.

On Jubilee Saturday and Sunday, Alnwick Playhouse is screening ‘Elizabeth: A Portrait In Parts’ at 1.30 pm. This is a new documentary focussing on the life of the Queen, the longest-lived, longest reigning British monarch and longest serving female head of state in history.

On Friday, June 3, between 12pm and 5pm at St James’ Church Centre in Pottergate, Alnwick Town Council is inviting people to attend free screenings of two films; Elizabethan Express, from British Transport Films. Although originally intended as an advertising short, it now acts as a nostalgic record of the halcyon years of steam on British Railways. Also, Any Man’s Kingdom, a 30 minute film shot in Northumberland during coronation year, 1953.

Motoring enthusiasts will get a chance to meet members of the TVR Car Club when about 20 cars will arrive at The Alnwick Garden at 12.30pm on Saturday, June 4 and park in front of the grand cascade.

At 3.30pm they will leave in a motorcade which will drive through the Hotspur Tower, along Market Street, Fenkle Street, Narrowgate, Baliffgate, Dispensary Street, left onto Clayport then back along Market Street and through the Tower again as they off to their weekend gathering at Beamish.

Look out for the jubilee beacon which will be lit on the roof of the Alnwick Castle by Her Majesty’s Lord Lieutenant of Northumberland, Jane, Duchess of Northumberland and the Duke of Northumberland at 9.45pm on Saturday, June 4.

Shopkeepers will yet again be creating their own wonderful window displays – we can’t wait to see what they come up with as they celebrate this special occasion in their own unique style.

Alnwick Markets are delighted to confirm they will be operating across all four days, offering a fantastic range of stalls.

The streets will be blooming beautiful too as Alnwick Town Council and Alnwick in Bloom fill the town with floral colour.

A free vintage bus will be running a return service from the Playhouse (Greenwell Road) to Aln Valley Railway on all four days of the Jubilee weekend.

Alnwick Town Council hopes that residents and visitors alike will have a memorable Jubilee weekend.