With the long awaited Platinum Jubilee weekend almost upon us, the town is getting ready for a week-long celebration with a huge variety of events taking place in and around Ross. With the red, white and blue bunting now adorning the town centre and the shop window displays showing their support for Her Majesty’s 70 year-long reign in a variety of colourful and creative ways, Ross is Platinum Jubilee ready!
St Mary’s Church is launching the long weekend’s events with a screening at 7.30pm on Wednesday 1st June of the 1963 film ‘A Queen is Crowned‘ which will be shown in the Church Hall along with a selection of refreshments (you can reserve your free place here).
Thursday 2nd June however is when the festivities really start. In the morning, Trooping the Colour will be shown live in St Mary’s Church at 10am and the Town Crier will be making his presence known at the Market House at 2pm to officially launch the Afternoon Tea Party in the churchyard along with the Ross Town Band, cake and refreshments. Later in the evening, a gala live music concert will take place in St Mary’s Church at 7pm involving local musicians, dancers and choirs (click here for the programme). Food and drink will be available (don’t miss out on Pitta Stop’s delicious wraps!) and the musical line up consists of many wonderful local artists including 2Faced Youth, The Border Belles, The Ross Choristers, the Ross Choral Society & St Mary’s Church Choir, Afterwit, The Roaring Megs and The Phoenix Theatre Singers.
Immediately after the concert, the official Lighting of the Beacon will take place on The Prospect just after 9.30pm with a performance by Simon Addison, The Herefordshire Piper, and a rendition of the official National Anthem.
On Friday 3rd June, a live screening from St Paul’s Cathedral of the Service of Thanksgiving will be shown in St Mary’s Church at 10am and if you fancy some prosecco, music and dance in the afternoon, head over to The Larruperz Centre to join them for their Afternoon Tea Dance which promises to be a lot of fun.
The town’s official ‘Festival Day’ is on Saturday 4th June so get ready to party! The town’s regular market will be in its usual place at the Market House from 10am and the Wye Valley River Festival will be lighting up the town centre from 11am with its eclectic and vibrant street theatre performances which the kids will love. Follow the artists up to St Mary’s Church with your picnic and enjoy a relaxed and fun afternoon with family and friends and enjoy more live performances in the church grounds.
The festival finale continues into the evening at 7pm where The Pasadena Roof Orchestra makes its debut in Ross at The Bandstand for a fantastic free concert at Caroline Symonds Gardens. Bring a chair, blanket, flags – fingers crossed no brollies – and sit back and relax with some delicious food from the Ross-on-Wye Rowing Club‘s barbeque or grab a drink from the Ross-on-Wye Community Development Trust‘s onsite bar, both available from 6pm onwards.
To round off the weekend, head over St Mary’s Church on Sunday morning for a peaceful Songs of Praise concert where you can also enjoy refreshments inside the church.
The full programme of events can be found on the Ross-on-Wye Town Council website, our own Events page or click here to download the programme. Enjoy!