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20
May 2022
Ripon City Council proudly presents the biggest free Platinum Jubilee celebration in the north
This article is sponsored by Ripon City Council.
Ripon City Council invites people of all ages from the Harrogate district and further afield to join its citizens in a once in a lifetime celebration in this Right Royal city, where the biggest free Platinum Jubilee party in the north is being held over four days to celebrate the Queen's Platinum Jubilee and her selfless 70 years of service to this country.
Three days of continuous FREE musical entertainment from June 2 to 4 on a stage in front of Ripon Town Hall will see 24 of the country's leading tribute acts perform, alongside FREE fairground rides for all the family and face painting, Punch and Judy and magic shows for children.
Full details can be found by clicking or tapping here to see Ripon City Council's Platinum Jubilee brochure.
There's something for everybody - from parents with a three-year-old wanting to have their face painted, to a 103 year-old great grandmother who wants to come and enjoy the nostalgic wartime songs made famous by forces sweetheart Vera Lynn.
All the fairground rides are free and there will also be a Twister ride suitable for adults
Seating will be provided on Market Square for the comfort of those wanting to take the weight off their feet while watching the tribute acts.
Music in Ripon's Market Square
The extensive concert programme will feature just about every musical genre, from rock and roll to soul and Britpop to disco dancefloor fillers and popular classics.
Ripon's Market Square will be in the national and international spotlight at 9.45pm on Thursday June 2, after Ripon Community Poppy Project successfully applied for the city to be be one of the 1500 locations included in the UK-wide chain of Platinum Jubilee beacons that will be simultaneously lit across the land.
Beacons will also be lit in Commonwealth countries.
During the three days of activities on Market Square, Jubilee celebrations, including the beacon lighting in London and elsewhere in the UK, can be seen live on a large TV screen.
Adding to the very special nature of the beacon lighting event, a lone piper will play Diu Regnare, which has been written specifically for the Platinum Jubilee.
The Platinum Jubilee Horn sounds
Another huge highlight will come at 9pm on Saturday June 4, when Ripon's world-famous setting of the watch ceremony will be in the spotlight as the city council presents the Platinum Jubilee Horn, commissioned and made by craftsmen to provide a lasting memento of this history-making celebration.
The setting of the watch, which is the world's longest unbroken ceremonial activity, will also be performed at 9pm on each concert night, by one of the city's very-own 'fab four' hornblowers, resplendent in their distinctive uniforms and tri-cornered hats.
The concerts, with a programme that has been carefully arranged to include something for people of all ages and musical tastes, will start at 10.30am on Thursday June 2 and Friday June 3 and at 11am on Saturday June 4. They will go on into the night, finishing at 11.30pm on each of the three days.
Local residents and visitors to the city can enjoy three full days of free musical entertainment provided by 24 acts and going on until 11.30pm
Concert goers can listen to tribute acts singing the songs of Elvis, the Everly Brothers, Madonna, Little Mix, Phil Collins, George Michael, Katherine Jenkins and many more.
Music from Ripon City Band will accompany an afternoon of family fun in Spa Park on Sunday June 5. They will start at 2pm with a Jubilee Big Band welcome and conclude at 4.30pm with a rousing Last Night of the Proms performance, ending with Land of Hope and Glory.
Ripon Community Poppy Project - whose Knit and Natter group made the miles of Royal bunting that adorn the city's streets - will be running the activities in the park, that also includes face painting, Jubilee-themed crafts and a treasure hunt for children,
Ripon, whose regal roots reach back to 886 and King Alfred the Great, is primed for the biggest royal bash in its long and distinguished history and 1,136 years after the first blast of his ceremonial horn, the city council, citizens and visitors, will celebrate and thank the most enduring member in a long line of monarchs - HRH Queen Elizabeth II - for her remarkable service.
For those who wish to celebrate by raising a loyal toast or two in Ripon's many pubs and restaurants, the regular Transdev 36 bus service may be an advisable means of getting to and from this city that certainly knows how to throw a party.
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