Newcastle's West End lead celebrations for Queen's Platinum Jubilee
Local communities from the west end of Newcastle have joined forces with Urban Green Newcastle - the charity responsible for the management of Newcastle’s 33 parks and over 60 of its allotment sites - to bring a carnival atmosphere to Hodgkin Park on Thursday 02 June to mark the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee.
The free family event – which runs from 8pm to 10pm – will feature carnival performances, live music, community stalls, local street food, and the lighting of a beacon in celebration of the Queen’s 70 years of service to the people of the United Kingdom, the Realms and the Commonwealth.
One of three beacon events taking place in Newcastle as part of the city’s Platinum Jubilee celebrations, more than 1,500 beacons will be lit across the UK and the Commonwealth building on the long tradition of lighting beacons to mark major royal events.
The Queen’s Platinum Jubilee beacon event in Hodgkin Park is delivered as part of Urban Green Newcastle’s year-round cultural events programme, which will see a range of community and public events across Newcastle’s parks.
Jon Riley, acting Chief Executive at Urban Green Newcastle said: “We’re bringing a carnival atmosphere to Hodgkin Park to mark this historic milestone.
“Working with local community groups and talented musicians and performers, this special Queen’s Platinum Jubilee beacon event will be a chance for people to come together and celebrate the Queen’s unprecedented 70 year reign.
“This event also marks the first in our charity’s new cultural programme that ensures local communities and their creativity is at the heart of the city's parks."
The Queen’s Platinum Jubilee beacon event in Hodgkin Park begins at 8pm with a series of free activities for families to enjoy, including LED badminton, dodgeball, football, cricket, and fun tag games; nature-themed arts and crafts with Beelines North East; and hand printing workshops with Petra Ondrova. There will also be a street food stall from the Dialogue Society.
The community carnival performances will begin from 8:15pm, with the main carnival experience, featuring musicians Hannabiell Sanders, Yilis Suriel and Yuvel Soria, beginning at 9.20pm.
At 9:40pm, the beacon ceremony will start, culminating in the lighting of the beacon by Carole Rowland, West End Food Bank welfare manager.
Carole Rowland said: “We are delighted to partner with so many of our networking friends and agencies at this wonderful neighbourhood event. The spirit of community gatherings is so important and we thank Urban Green Newcastle for spearheading this initiative.
“Newcastle West End Foodbank is possibly the largest foodbank in the UK feeding nearly 43,000 people in this last year. We are evolving in our response to people in food poverty to ensure that they don’t fall further in to hardship. Our pathways Welfare project ensures that crises are averted by linking in to local agencies.
“It is an honour and privilege to be asked to light the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee Beacon on behalf of the people of Newcastle’s West End.”
Tugay Yalcin, North East co-ordinator at Dialogue Society, said: "At the Dialogue Society, we are delighted that we are supporting this jubilee event and working with Urban Green and the Newcastle Foodbank to bring people together to celebrate The Queen’s Platinum Jubilee.
“The Dialogue Society believes this jubilee is the best opportunity to contribute to social cohesion at different levels: directly bringing different social groups together, empowering others to do the same, and contributing to the development of thought on dialogue and community building.”
The two additional beacon-lighting ceremonies taking place in Newcastle on Thursday 02 June to mark the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee are at Newcastle Civic Centre and the The Cumberland Arms in the Ouseburn. For more information about those events, visit www.newcastle.gov.uk.
To find out more about all the events taking place across Newcastle to mark the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee, visit platinumjubilee.gov.uk/events.
Urban Green Newcastle’s Queen's Platinum Jubilee event is kindly supported by Community Foundation Tyne & Wear and Northumberland and Newcastle City Council.
For more information about Urban Green Newcastle, visit www.urbangreennewcastle.org
