The Shefford Community Festival went really well this year and seems to have found its place in our local calendar – I have already been asked when it will run next year, so after due consultation I have set dates for Friday Sept 12 to Sunday 21st – so the same week as this year. This is not too early to think about what you might do for the festival in 2025 – in fact I have already had a couple of people asking – they left it too late for this year so wanted to get in really early for next!
On Friday the opening ceremony was brilliant – not only did we have two local luminaries cutting the ribbon i.e. our Mayor Ken Pollard with MP Alistair Strathern, others participating included the Shefford Prince and Princess, plus an adult Elsa in fabulous costume and character from her adjacent Be Our Guest Palace. There were sponsors there from Country Properties and BEST Academies, Nicola Burr represented Plastic Free Shefford and Erica Bowler showed up from the Baptist Church. Lesley Whiteman, who runs the monthly Community Market, was active taking photos and representing the Garage Sale Trail, as well as the Shefford Mind Body Spirit and Craft Fair at the STMA.
During the week we had many interesting activities covering:
Community Hall AGM, Community Market, Well-being event at Millenium Green, Messy Harvest, Tai Chi beginners classes, Community café, WI invitational meeting, ALL-ABLE art show, Community Choir, Amateur Radio Society, Promoting the environment meeting, Self Help Art group, EatFeast street food, Mind Body Spirit Craft fair, Art Exhibition, Scarecrow festival, STMA Family Fun Day, Garage Sale Trail.
And lastly – thank you to all our sponsors who enable this event each year.
After a very wet start to the day the rain paused at around 10.00 am so most of us could put out our garage sale gazebos and goods. The scarecrows of course had been out since the day before but seemed to survive the soaking very well.
There were many stalls and scarecrows – with stallholders reporting that they were very busy – as evidenced by the groups of families walking round town. So here is a mix of photos taken at random to give a flavour of a wet Sunday in Shefford!
At 8.30 am on Sunday morning as I write this it has been raining continuously since the hail storm at 2.30 pm yesterday – so 18 hours and still going. The weather forecast shows “thundery showers and a gentle breeze” so we are wondering about getting our gazebo out for the Garage Sale Trail. Our plan is to see if the rain eases off enough to put our gazebo up and take it from there – also perhaps to take a car trip round town to check out what other people have managed to achieve. We could see more of the amazing scarecrows and maybe some people will be sheltered OK – I noticed one open garage being prepared yesterday so all the best to anyone who gets their stall out.
In the meantime those of you that didn’t get to the Art Exhibition at the Community Hall could get a tea/coffee and cake and a look at the local artistic display in the dry and newly refurbished Community Hall.
Good luck to everybody for the rest of today
It is a good job we got to see the Scarecrows yesterday here are the ones I saw.
Saturday arrived with the Art Exhibition at the Community Hall which, as usual, was a fascinating mix of local talents including a cute little duck picture which we purchased. The coffee and cakes were great too!
It was also time for the Scarecrow Festival – which was interrupted by a vigorous hail storm – but we did manage a few photos.
Moving on, the STMA Family Fun day began around 2.00pm with lots of play equipment for the kids in the main hall and outside an inflatable bouncy castle, an ice cream van and an NSPCC gazebo with more games. For adults inside were the bar and food.
Shefford Amateur Radio Society SADARS had an interesting welcome evening with many people at the Community Hall to extend their knowledge of making world wide connections via radio using speech, morse code, digital codes and even TV images.
Elsewhere at the Brewery Tap – Nicola Burr was talking about the environment and how to encourage people to think more and be more active about the planet. The lively group, including MP Alistair Strathern, discussed everything from Plastic Free Shefford to climate change and the place of these issues in todays society.
There is a lot on today to look forward to – from the beginners Line Dancing at the Community Hall to Jo Jingles at the STMA in the morning. Then in the evening a quiet meditation at the Baptist Church otherwise an exerting run or a session of Full bottle Fitness at the STMA.
Nicola Burr will be talking on People, Planet, Pint at the Brewery Tap – which sounds interesting – alternatives being the STMA Crib League or the Shefford and District Amateur Radio Society (SADARS) at the Community Hall.
Checkout the program here
So today there was a late entry to our program – but one we were delighted to include – the ALL ABLE team now based on the Henlow Road out of Shefford teamed up with the Library for an art exhibition. This was an Exhibition featuring a wide selection of works by artists with learning disabilities, and/or autism, who attend the HFT Herald Resource Centre in Shefford. The exhibition is on Thursday, Friday and Saturday.
In the evening there was a wonderful meeting of the Community Choir at the Methodist Church Hall. This began with a calming and relaxing guided preparation followed with a warm up with Kazoos and then with everyone in the mood and relaxed the choral practice started. The evening was fully attended and energetically led in a way that really took everyone forward.
The weather was lovely and the Greenspace Conservation Group took full advantage to get on with some ditch clearing. The group take care of many of Shefford’s spaces – at the moment they are also involved in haymaking on Bellcote Meadow and the Easton Field adjacent to the outdoor gym where a Green Flag for excellence is displayed.
Elsewhere St Michael’s Church were opening their Community Cafe where all are welcome for a chat with tea/coffee and cake.
After lunch Tuesday offered a session of the Art Society at the Community Hall where members were preparing for their exhibition on Saturday and Sunday.
For the younger generation, the evening provided Tumbling and Cheerleading at Shefford Lower School to improve fitness, strength, co-ordination and balance – while similarly at the STMA Shefford Majorettes were working with local youngsters from the town and surrounding villages.
Later in the evening Shefford WI had one of their monthly meetings with humorous poetry readings and a variety of stalls including fruit and veg, flower arrangements, environmental issues, and cakes. There was also discussion of the other activities run by the WI through the month.
On Saturday 14th September, Barnwell Music ran a taster session day at the Shefford Baptist Church. They started with choir in the morning followed by piano and guitar taster sessions that were enjoyed by those who attended. The Barnwell team will be providing further taster sessions in guitar at their studio on Bedford Road on Saturday 21st September. If you would like to join, please contact admin@barnwellmusic to book your place.
