Hednesford Summer Festival Smashes all Targets
When it comes to the summer, you can always guarantee that a fete or outdoor celebration will put an extra smile on people’s faces.
But organisers of a recent summer festival were staggered that attendance figures smashed all records, celebrating a community coming together and supporting all things local.
Organised by Hednesford in Partnership and supported by Hednesford Town Council, this year’s Hednesford Summer Festival saw in excess of 5,000 people from across the region pour into the town to support this event which has grown year on year.
A jampacked day of activities were organised, from bicycle stunt skills and magic shows, to fun fair rides and craft stalls as well as the ever popular scrufts dog show and an abundance of local food and drink.
Many of the stallholders agreed that those who came along on the day wanted to that face-to-face interaction again after 18 months of online meetings, shopping and working from home.
But what made this year’s event particularly special was the partnerships with many of the local charities, community organisations and voluntary groups raising their profile back out in the community – something that both Hednesford Town Council and Hednesford in Partnership want to foster more of in the future with their events.
Shaun Middleton, Chairman Hednesford in Partnership, said: “What can we say about this year’s summer festival apart from fantastic.
“This community-driven event exceeded our expectations and we are so proud of Hednesford for supporting it.
“We would like to thank everyone that made the day happen and run so smoothly, we wouldn’t have a festival without the support of so many stallholders, charities, food providers, entertainment and of course our visitors.
“Our small team of volunteers worked tirelessly to organise this event under the difficult circumstances of the past year or so, but we are so pleased the event went ahead and so many people managed to take part and visit us at the park, the whole town was buzzing once again.
“We would like to thank all our fantastic volunteers who helped on the day and given us so much support and time during the run up to the event, this is why this is truly a community festival.
“Our thanks go to Hednesford Centennial Lions Club, Hednesford Town Council and The Friends of Hednesford Park for all your help and support this year.
Town Mayor Cllr Emma Hunneyball comments: “It is fantastic to see the community coming out in droves to attend the Festival we know how vital events like this are for our community groups and charity partners, and we know that the Festival went some way to raising vital funds.
“Overall, we couldn’t have wished for a better turn out this year and we’re absolutely delighted so many people enjoyed such a wonderful day. Planning is already underway for the Christmas Lights Switch-on event at the beginning of December as well as for the festival in 2022 and our ambition now is to continue to build on the enduring success of our community events and bring even more variety to the Festival for local people – and those from further afield – to enjoy.”