Coronation Celebration - The Big Lunch

About

Sunday 7 May 2023 I 12 noon - 4pm

Berry Hill Park, Mansfield, Nottinghamshire

Free Event

Mansfield is putting on a free event fit for a king to mark the Coronation of His Majesty King Charles III.

The event, hosted by Mansfield District Council in partnership with Nottinghamshire Music Education Hub and Inspire Culture Learning and Libraries, is funded by Music for Youth and Arts Council England.

An afternoon of brass bands, picnics, knitting and family entertainment will be held in Berry Hill Park on Sunday 7 May, from 12noon to 4pm, the day after His Majesty is officially crowned as King at Westminster Abbey in London on Saturday 6 May. Mansfield Museum will be screening the Coronation ceremony live on Saturday for residents and visitors to come down and enjoy free of charge. 

Music will be provided by Top Tier Brass, Pleasley Colliery Brass Band, Red Hot Band, Inspired Voices, local musical talent, and a community choir who will perform a song written especially for the Coronation.

It is part of the national Big Lunch events to mark the Coronation so visitors are encouraged to bring a picnic and blanket and have lunch al fresco on the grass. There will be food vendors at the event and the park café will also be open.

As well as Punch and Judy shows, the entertainment will feature a fairground organ, craft activities, including the chance to decorate a royal crown, a family treasure hunt and lots of patriotic flag waving.  Free flags will be handed out, while stocks last.

Local needlecraft enthusiasts, the Knit Pickers, will also be there for a knit and natter session with an open invitation for visitors to join in knitting red, white and blue blankets for special care babies.

Nottinghamshire Music Education Hub, part of Inspire Culture, Learning and Libraries is a music education partnership funded by Arts Council England, working to develop exciting music-making opportunities for children and young people aged 5 to 18 years in Nottinghamshire.

The Music Education Hub will be showcasing young local musical talent, including the Red-Hot Band, a jazz and funk entertainment band especially for this historic occasion. 

Mansfield Community Choir also jumped at the opportunity to perform at the event. Their pianist, Richard Bacon, has even composed a piece of music for them to perform exclusively for the Coronation.
The song makes reference to the late Queen and uses lyrics provided to him by the choir members, starting with the youngest and ending with the oldest, to show a generational view of the Coronation.