Friday 5th May – Monday 8th May 2023
King Charles was crowned on Saturday 6th May in Westminster Abbey.
The Palace asked communities throughout the country to celebrate the Coronation with a ‘Big Lunch’ the next day, Sunday 7th May, and to join together in a ‘Big Help Out’ on Monday 8th, a bank holiday. As the Coronation was a month earlier in the year than Queen Elizabeth II’s coronation – and being a colder and less predictable month, rather than holding a single open-air street party without any possibility of cover or protection, we decided that in Kingswood we would hold a good range of lunch parties in homes, in gardens under gazebos, many in the open air too – one large event being at the Kingswood Tennis Club. Our target was 100 events and we called this the ‘Kingswood 100’. Bunting, balloons and coronation themed tableware were in abundance at these events and at the Village Shops where the Kingswood Café won the prize for being the best decorated. The post box topper outside the Post Office, created by Chantal Cox, was a star item.
We added a special event – a Coronation Quiz in aid of the Children’s Trust with quiz masters Richard and Adrienne Lewis – on Friday 5th May, and on Monday 8th a range of volunteer organisations gathered together for the ‘Big Help Out’ at the Village Hall to celebrate and promote their involvement in the life of the Kingswood community over refreshments and cake in the presence of the Mayor.
Events that took place around the weekend were as follows:-