Ashford Celebrates - The Queen's Platinum Jubilee Weekend

As the nation prepares to celebrate the unique milestone of Her Majesty the Queen becoming the first monarch to reign for 70 years, Ashford Borough Council invites residents to take part in ‘Ashford Celebrates’.

The long weekend of celebrations and commemorations will take place from Thursday 2 to Sunday 5 June 2022. Events to mark the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee include the lighting of the Civic Memorial Beacon, the Mayor’s Thanksgiving Service, music on the bandstand, the Ashford Tree Trail and the dedication of a new memorial to mark the 80th anniversary of HMS Albacore and the Ashford Sea Cadets.

The schedule of events taking place include:

• Thursday 2 June, from 9pm – Lighting up of Civic Park and the Ashford Civic Memorial Beacon.
• Friday 3 June, from 1:45pm – The Mayor of Ashford’s celebratory Thanksgiving Service for Her Majesty the Queen will be held at St Mary the Virgin Church, Ashford, including performances from choirs across the borough. All welcome.
• Saturday 4 June, from 10:15am – HMS Albacore celebrations with the Ashford Sea Cadets, in Memorial Gardens, including a dedication of a new memorial, The Albacore flag and a commemorative service.
• The Ashford Tree Trail will be a visual spectacle of decorated trees celebrating the Queen. Created by the local community including schools, community groups, the public and artists from Animate Arts Company, they will form a physical trail across the town centre for the Jubilee weekend and throughout June 2022.

Leader of Ashford Borough Council, Cllr Gerry Clarkson, said: “This is an opportunity for everyone in the borough to come together to celebrate an historical moment in our nation’s history. I am pleased to see such a rich and diverse programme of events planned to commemorate the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee, and of course our residents can also celebrate in their own way by organising street parties and community gatherings.”

While the centrally-located Tree Trail is being made for the town centre, the project would like to see trees being made and displayed across the borough. We will invite residents to take part in our virtual tree map by making their own tree using Animate Arts ‘How to create a Trail Tree’ Creative Pack and sending in their photos to put online. We’re aiming to have at least 70 virtual trees, one for every year of the Queen’s reign! The pack and submission form for trees will soon be available on the Ashford Tree Trail webpage

Central to the trail will be the Jubilee Blossom Tree, which will made from paper and cardboard by professional artists at Animate Arts. Its branches will be adorned with seeded, paper blossom and each flower will carry a hand-written message of hope for the future. Blossom is the precursor to growing fruit so these symbolic, fruitful wishes will reap a good harvest for the future of Her Majesty the Queen and Ashford.

There will be ‘music on the bandstand’ in the town centre on Thursday 2 and Saturday 3 June, while performances of the Cardboard Proms by Ashford primary schools will take place in various locations in the town centre on Friday 10 June.

To encourage people to attend events in Ashford and Tenterden and to meet up and celebrate with friends and family over the long bank holiday weekend, there will be free parking in all Ashford Borough Council car parks from Thursday 2 to Sunday 5 June.

Street parties and community events are encouraged and details on how to organise these safely are available at www.ashford.com/ashford-celebrates. Kent County Council has waived fees for road closures to enable groups of residents to get together and celebrate with neighbours, however, you need to express interest by the 31 March.

We encourage residents to keep up to date with the latest news and further details regarding the events via the Ashford Celebrates webpage

Ashford Celebrates celebration stories and photographs can be shared via social media by using the hashtag #AshfordCelebrates and tagging @AshfordBoroughCouncil on facebook, @AshfordCouncil on Twitter and @Ashfordbc on Instagram.