Jubilee celebrations and beacon lighting

Celebrate the Platinum Jubilee: Beacon party Thursday; West Way festival Saturday

The celebrations for the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee run from the 2nd to the 5th of June. Both Thursday 2nd and Friday 3rd are bank holidays. In Botley we have two big celebrations planned as well as some street parties.

Thursday 2nd June – Lighting the Beacon. Party from 7pm

At 9.45pm beacons will be lit in a chain across Britain. Ours is on top of the hill above the Louie Memorial Field – with views to the Cotswolds, the Chilterns and the Ridgeway.  We will join with people from Cumnor to light the beacon, but first, from 7pm, there will be a celebration at the Memorial Field (on Arnolds Way).   There will be a bar (by Tap Social) and a barbeque (by the 15th Oxford Scouts) or you can bring your own food for a picnic. There will be a ‘down the decades’ family-friendly disco. From 9.15 we will collect our candle lanterns and follow the piper to the top of the hill. Then back to the Pavilion for hot chocolate.

Saturday 4th June: West Way Jubilee Festival

On the Saturday of the Jubilee weekend we will have the first open-air party in the new West Way shopping centre with music, games, competitions and entertainment for everyone.

There will be a stage on Church Way and more events in the Seacourt Hall, including a local history exhibition and Jubilee cake competition as well as tea and cakes to buy with proceeds going to the Pavilion fund. Local bands the ‘Botley Crue’ and ‘Barricane’ will be among the performers on the outside stage and we will have singers and martial arts demonstrations from local groups. The Seacourt Bridge will be running an open-air bar.

Local organisations will have stalls and games, there will be a shop window competition for children and  we expect to have a Fire Engine and some classic motorbikes on display.  There will be as much bunting as we can string up around the centre and we are encouraging the residents to take part too with a balcony decorating competition.

Please come along to this community celebration. After 2 years of restrictions this is a great opportunity to kick off the summer with a national and local celebration with your friends, family and neighbours.

Keep an eye out for posters and our Facebook page for details of how to enter the baking and other competitions: https://www.facebook.com/BotleyJubilee2022