EAST PRESTON FESTIVAL

The Committee Chair was pleased that the 2025 Festival was very successful. It got off to an unseasonable start with  high winds causing an eleventh-hour venue change for the Community Fete and, thanks to everyone's co-operation, this was successfully achieved. Luckily, Sunday's classic car show went ahead in the sunshine.

​​

There was incredible support from the village - all ticketed events sold out again, residents opened their lovely gardens, and built fantastic scarecrows. Villagers, and visitors from surrounding areas, flocked to village green celebrations, supported charity events, bought raffle tickets, entered competitions, took tours and cheered our Parade.​ There was an Artisan Market, Antiques Valuation Morning, art exhibition, local history events, Jazz in the Garden at Green Willow and a hugely popular talk by Robin Cousins MBE.  Sports clubs held open days and everyone enjoyed flower shows, tea parties, coffee mornings and garden fetes.

​

Evening events included two sell-out tribute nights – Paul Reason as Neil Diamond and the fabulous Vox Beatles - an exciting Race Night, ‘East Preston Reads Aloud’ and a ‘Call My Wine Bluff’ evening. Shuffleboard returned and Kit Bradshaw hosted a very popular Quiz Night. Ten days of events culminated in the Festival Parade, a Fun Dog Show with John Inverdale presenting, and celebrations and live music at the Party on the Green.

​

The amount distributed this year totalled £6,550. In addition, many clubs, societies and charities active in the village, held their own fundraising events under the East Preston Festival banner. Supporting events were included in the programme and, in 2025, raised nearly £12,000 between them.

 

The Committee would like to thank this year’s Festival sponsors: Dean Jones Funeral Service; local estate agents Graham Butt and Cooper Adams; One Stop Stores; East Preston Parish Council; Hares Servicing and Repairs; The Dog Shop; Jonathan Metliss; Kamsons Pharmacy and SKB Reflexology, plus all other local shops and businesses who so generously donate raffle prizes.

​

As always, we are especially grateful to Seaview Stores and Buds ‘n’ Blooms who act as our box offices; to East Preston Parish Council for its continuing support, moral as well as financial, and the East Preston yarnbombers who decorate the village pre-festival with their amazing creations.​

​

The Festival wouldn’t happen without the help we receive from our village volunteers, so a huge thank you to our wonderful team of Festival Makers, who carry out so many various tasks for us during Festival including Linda Denton who helped collect the fabulous raffle prizes, and the Parade Day Marshalls, led by Head Marshall John Gunston.

 

Our final thanks must go to the residents of East Preston, who never fail us with their support, and all the visitors who come to the village from surrounding areas to join in the festivities.

 

Janine Nicholson, Chair, East Preston Festival Committee

                          ​

​​​A selection of photos from our 2025 Festival are available to view.​​​​​​