VE Day commemoration
Children's
Music
Special
Relive the celebration of the 1945 victory in Europe with a weekend of music, fun and living history organised by Letchworth Arts Centre, funded by the Heritage Lottery Fund, on July 3 and 4.
Have you got memories of life during the Second World War? Or had stories handed down to you by your parents or grandparents? If so, we would love to hear from you to add to the celebration.
A bumper fortnight of exciting events centred on The Arts Centre’s VE Day Celebration will together form this year’s Letchworth Festival from June 26 to July 11.
The Celebration weekend focuses on the part Letchworth and its residents played in the allies’ victory in Europe in 1945 and ties in with the Garden City Heritage Museum’s year-long exhibition on Letchworth in wartime.
On the Saturday, Broadway Gardens will be filled with music, fashions, exhibitions, refreshments and goods for sale – all with a wartime flavour. Blitz and Pieces are bringing their blend of memories, performing favourite home front songs, with a home front display. You can see more about them here.
On Sunday July 4, the Yanks are coming, with American-themed music, food and entertainment.
USO Shows are hosting a variety of events throughout the day
* Bar and mobile canteen (on both days)
* Kitten Von Mew Burlesque (family friendly)
* Bud Flanagan (singer/ comedian)
* U.S.O Dance team
* The Clover Sisters/swingtime sweethearts
* Swing Band
You can see more about USO shows here.
Both days will see a display of historic vehicles, the De Havilland Heritage Museum is bringing some of its prized exhibits, and there will be a special visit from the Hatfield Home Guard living history group. Guides and Brownies will display the uniforms of the 1940s. Additional activities will take place on the Arts Centre stage in Leys Square, where there will be more stalls, with a series of playlets with wartime themes put on at points across the town centre.
As part of the run-up, Letchworth schools are working with the well-known illustrator James Mayhew to produce a book of illustrated memories of the war contributed by local residents. The children’s work will be on display at the Arts Centre through June. In addition, there are school drama workshops with actress Jenny Ayres and a celebratory street party, with appropriate, period refreshments, again involving local schools.
Other activities are co-ordinated by the Letchworth Festival Committee and kick off on June 26 in the new Leys Square with a high kicking line-up of local dance groups performing all day. The following day the “Open Gardens” organised by the Letchworth Arts and Leisure Group, invite you to enjoy up to 30 gardens; this year raising funds for the Parkinson’s Disease Society.
On July 4, the Transition Towns movement has an “open garages” event, an opportunity for you to recycle those unwanted items to someone, who has been hunting for just that thing!
The Festival closes with Family Fun in the Park on Saturday July 10, which is followed by the annual Willian Village Fair on Sunday July 11.
In between there will be a great mix of talks, quizzes, guided walks, a fantastic wine and cheese tasting hosted by the Broadway Hotel, drama and cycle rides, together with presentations and displays by local groups, plus some surprise events.
Many of the events, including the Arts Centre's own weekend, are free but when tickets are required they can be obtained in advance at the Tourist Information Centre in Station Road.
As part of the celebration we are looking for your memories. They will be recorded in words and drawings by children from the town’s primary schools who study World War 2 in year 6, who will work with James Mayhew to create a book that will be sold locally.
Following our hugely successful Industrial Heritage Festival that took over the Broadway Gardens and Broadway Walk for a weekend in August last year, we were swamped with requests for a similar event in 2010.
We were fascinated to learn while we were organising the Industrial Heritage event that Letchworth had contributed hugely to the war effort. So many local people were vital to the eventual victory, either when their factories were turned over to war production or by being in the armed services or the home guard – or even just digging for victory in their back gardens!
We’d love to hear from them or from younger people who were told tales by their parents or grandparents.
It can be just a sentence or a longer story.
If anyone has a story which they are willing to share there is an easy to complete form which can be downloaded below or picked up from the Arts Centre in The Arcade, from David’s Bookshop, from Letchworth Library, from the Tourist Information Shop or from the Heritage Museum in Norton Way South. Or you can just ring us on 01462 670788 if you have a good story to tell.
Full details of events being put on by the other organisations separate from the Arts Centre are available on www.letchworthfestival.org or from 01462 679977.
Date:
Sat 3 Jul – Sun 4 Jul
Admission:
Free fun for all
Attachments:
