Jan '70
Thu 1st
- 10am Opening Ceremony
- The festival will by officially opened by his Worshipful The Mayor of the Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames, Councillor David Berry. The ceremony takes place at the junction of St. Andrews Road and Victoria Road.
- 12 noon Grand Parade
- Featuring a wide range of individuals and organisations marching down St Marks Hill and along Victoria Road:
Participants include:
- British legion Marching Band
- The Mayor
- The RNLI Towed by Sealion Sea Scouts
- Sealion Sea Scouts
- Sealion Cub Packs
- Surbiton Car Club
- Dance Groups
- The Guides
- Royal Kingston Beavers
- Royal Kingston Scouts
- 1st Hook Band
- Martial Arts group
- Morris Dancers
- Police Historic Vehicles
- Jazz Band
- Police Car
- 10am to 4pm Street Market and Entertainment
-
- Over 75 stalls
- arts and crafts, speciality
foods, gift ideas, etc.
Bridie the Irish tea lady and her 7ft tea trolley.
- Punch and Judy
- Bouncy castle
- Let’s Swing Band from Holland (tbc)
- Football Goal Practice (tbc)
- Southern Serenade
- Raw Release
Comments
Sadly, I left Surbiton about 6 months (well, not that sad - I'm in Oxford now which is also great).
The festival always used to be top notch. As someone else said - good wholesome fun.
So did anyone here go? Anything interesting this year?
I thought it was an excellent event. The sun shone, there were loads of people and they were all of having a good time. Then again I'm biased becuase I was one of the organisers. It would be good if the person who wrote the first comment came back with some suggestions for good things to do next year. We're always open to new suggestions. Bob Dean
So what if the Rolling Stones aren't playing and Beckham isn't opening it, I think it sounds like fun.... In this day and age of stabbings and filth everywhere I'm looking forward to spending a few wholesome hours in the sun in my hometown with people smiling for once.
People will have put a lot of effort into this and it's an unnecessarily miserable person that has a problem with that.
If you don't think it sounds like fun then stay at home and watch the football, I won't miss you at all.
I'm first on that Bouncy Castle!
Looking forward to this - in my previous living area we never really had anything like this (being Canary Wharf in East London). Lets hope its a weekend like last!
Seriously though, as a new resident of the Surbiton township; i'm looking forward to meeting new people.
Heck, maybe i'll meet some folks from on here!
C.
Don't listen to any negative sentiment! The Surbiton Festival is a fun, innocent day that will be a lot of nostalgic fun as long as the weather permits. You shouldn't expect to be wowed by the Red Arrows, just go along expecting to have a good, perhaps amusing, time and you'll be content.
Alas you won't see me there this year as I'm off up north to watch bike racing.
Enjoy!
Last year my boyfriend and I went and it was a glorious sunny day - we met some local people and our neighbours and had a great time! Don't be so negative - enjoy the day !
My god! They've really let rip with exciting new ideas this time!
How do they come up with such imaginative themes year after year?!
As most comments have mentioned, it is a great family day out that has been running for over 15 years now and originally set up to celebrate Surbiton's Victorian heritage and to promote its town centre, local organisations and sense of community. It is organised by a dedicated bunch of local volunteers from the Rotary Club and other local people and businesses with support from Kingston Council who have built it into one of the borough's annual highlights. My congratulations to all those that take part and whom help make it such a successful event.
Why not help them make it even better next year and join the festival committee? You can volunteer at: www.surbitonfestival.co.uk
SurbiTom