Organisers say they are expecting more than 10,000 people to enjoy the 18th annual Jesmond Community Festival which starts this year on Coronation Day (May 6th) and will involve 80 events being staged until early June.

The festival events are open to all and many are free. The opening weekend includes a “Big Friendly Coronation Gathering” on the green in front of St George’s Church on the Bank Holiday Monday. The Gathering will feature dance displays, children’s activities, cream teas and Pimm’s.

Chris Clarke, one of the festival organisers, says he has witnessed the festival continue to grow, despite having to go online during the pandemic.

He told JesmondLocal: “I think the first festival only had about eight events, and about three or four organisations involved. So, it has grown and grown.

“The main thing about this year’s festival is being post-pandemic, because the last two or three years have been affected very badly. The pandemic was a huge hammer blow. We managed still to hold a festival during the pandemic, but it was all online and the only live events were one or two things outdoors that didn’t break the rules.”

The country-wide coronation celebrations have given the festival a natural starting point and Clarke says he has been delighted with the wide range of organisations that have got involved this year. “There’s certainly one or two new organisations who haven’t wanted to be involved at all before,“ he explained.

“There are numerous different organisations organising their own events and for example, St. George’s Church, is running around a dozen different events. We try and tell people when various events are so that we don’t end up with three churches all organising their garden events on the same day!”

One of Clarke’s favourite moments of the festival used to be the popular parade which saw streets closed. However, this will not be part of this year’s activities. He added: “There used to be a parade from the church to West Jesmond school, with Osborne Road and Acorn Road closed and carnival floats and double decker buses. It was very popular but it cost a fortune to arrange.

“The festival parade is greatly missed, but it was just too expensive and logistically too difficult to continue. However, it would be lovely if we could do it again.”

Clarke, who has been to local schools handing out festival programmes, says he believes it is a great opportunity for people to make new friends and enjoy being part of a community event, with the added bonus of celebrating the coronation of King Charles III.

Most festival venues in Jesmond are easily accessible from the Metro or the Q3 bus and are not restricted to people who live in the local area.

For music lovers, Jesmond Choral Group will be giving a free concert in Jesmond United Reformed Church on May 16th while in St George’s Church there is a programme of free Friday lunchtime organ recitals, and a matinee of “Peter and the Wolf” on May 31st.

The Elders Council and Jesmond Library will be putting on an extra “Wellbeing for Life” meeting in the library on Wednesday May 17th (10:30am), preparing for the 10^th anniversary of this series of meetings, established by Vera Bolter in 2014.

There are also guided walks, talks, exhibitions, model train rides, chances to try out croquet, badminton, pickleball or spinning, “Knit and Natter”, a photographic competition, children’s activities, a ceilidh, folk music, and a showing of classic film “The Picture of Dorian Gray”.

Full details of the festival programme can be found on the website www.jesmondcommunityfestival.co.uk or by picking up a printed programme from Jesmond Library.