Crowds of people celebrated the Coronation over the weekend at The Big Lunch, The Big Gig and The Big Help Out

Salisbury City Council was delighted to see the people of Salisbury coming together over the weekend to celebrate the Coronation! Crowds of people of all ages visited The Big Lunch, The Big Gig and The Big Help Out on Sunday 8th and Monday 9th May which saw family activities played, dancing and donations as part of the historic weekend.

The Big Lunch on Sunday was the first event of the weekend. Queen Elizabeth Gardens was transformed into a traditional fete in the sunshine which featured picnics, live music, community stalls and food vendors. Over 3000 people turned up to the family event which was a huge success with many stall holders selling out on the day. It was wonderful that so many community groups took part and raised funds for their own projects.

Those looking to celebrate in the evening enjoyed The Big Gig in Salisbury Market Place. There was dancing and singing galore with local bands lighting up the centre of Salisbury with fantastic music which got everyone in the spirit of celebrating. Approx. 5000 people enjoyed the gig which ended with popular local band The Deloreons finishing the night in style with their lively renditions of hits from across the decades.

At The Big Help out on Monday the 8th, Salisbury City Council coordinated a food donations drive which brought together the food projects of the Salisbury Foodie Network and 50 volunteers to collect 63 crates of food to go to Salisbury Pantry, Salisbury Food Bank and the Bemerton Community Fridge. Volunteers took great satisfaction is seeing van loads of food driving away from the Market Place, direct to projects supporting those who are most in need, in our community.

Emma, who was a volunteer at the event said, “It has been great to do something positive today and to raise awareness of all this work, mainly by volunteering like me, that is usually going on behand closed doors. We are delighted it didn’t rain and that so many people came out to help!”

The event was a great moment to celebrate volunteering in a really active way, by doing something which makes a direct impact and the other local organisations who joined us were able to get the word out about ways that people in Salisbury can continue to make a difference through volunteering. The Communities Team would like to thank all the volunteers, the Foodbank, Cancer Support Salisbury, Salisbury Eco Hub, Alzheimers Support, Ramblers Wellbeing Walks, Radio Odstock, Love Salisbury and The community Champion from Tesco Express for helping us to make this event a success for the city.

Cllr Samuel Charleston, said “Thank you to everyone involved in the events who went above and beyond to make them so successful.

“It was incredible to see so many people come together to celebrate the Coronation and give so generously to the Big Help Out event which will play such a big part in helping those in need. The City Council has received a lot of positive feedback and I look forward to seeing more fantastic events take place in the city later this year for Salisbury to enjoy.”