Platinum Picnic at Port Sunlight

Celebratory events for the Platinum Jubilee

When: Sunday 5th June 2022
Where: The Museum Green (next to Port Sunlight Museum and the Lady Lever Art Gallery)
Times: 12noon – 6.00pm
Cost: Free entry

Picnic on the Green

Her Majesty The Queen’s Platinum Jubilee will play a major role in bringing the UK back together again following the pandemic and to mark such an occasion, Port Sunlight Village Trust (PSVT) will be celebrating her 70 years of service on Sunday 5th June with a picnic on the Museum Green, in the heart of the village.

In true Port Sunlight style, the free to attend event will have a live stage featuring local bands such as The Port Sunlight Sea Dogs, The Get Back Beats, and The Swing Era Jazz Band, hosted by compere Graeme White. Amongst an array of food and drink exhibitors to get those all-important picnic essentials, from barbecue bites to afternoon tea treats! The Green will also have vintage fair rides and stalls for all ages to enjoy.

Thanks to a grant from the National Lottery Community Fund, the event has been co-produced with the residents of Port Sunlight, along with village groups, societies and businesses. The whole village has been taking part in the planning from making bunting to volunteering on the day.

Katherine Lynch, Director of Heritage at PSVT comments;

“In her last Christmas message, the Queen said that her Platinum Jubilee Year should be an ‘opportunity for people everywhere to enjoy a sense of togetherness; a chance to give thanks for the enormous changes of the last 70 years: social, scientific, and cultural; and to look ahead with confidence,’ and that is very much what we hope for this Jubilee celebration.

“So, bring your picnic blankets and join in the celebrations with us. It will be our chance to come together as a community, celebrate, and look towards the future. We would like to thank the National Lottery Community Fund for making all this possible.”

PSVT is one of 91 organisations across the country to be awarded funding from the Platinum Jubilee Fund, which has been launched by The National Lottery Community Fund.

On the day, National Museums Liverpool (NML) will also be displaying their new ‘House of Memories On the Road’ touring mobile cinema. Located outside the entrance of the Lady Lever Art Gallery, the first ever immersive mobile museum experience will show a commemorative film about the Queen, the Coronation and of Jubilee’s gone by.

 

Platinum Jubilee Museum Collection

Alongside the Platinum Jubilee celebration, PSVT are keen to acquire objects for Port Sunlight Museum’s collection to document how the community celebrated this special occasion for future generations. Whether it be a poem, artwork or photograph, the PSVT team would love to hear from you. The more memories the better! Please contact PSVT’s Heritage Manager Catherine Downey c.downey@portsunlightvillage.com or call 0151 644 4800. We’ll be featuring these memories, along with HM The Queen’s past visits to Port Sunlight in 1957 and 1988, in a special edition of The Port Sunlight Gazette, which will be in circulation later in the summer.

 

Commemorative Tree Planting

Before the Bank Holiday weekend celebrations begin, PSVT will be planting a special Queen Elizabeth Acer tree to mark the occasion. Taking place on 1st June, the tree will be planted by Caroline Everett, who presented a posy of flowers along with her sister to the Queen during the Royal Visit to Port Sunlight in 1988, during the village’s centenary year.

To be located on the Museum Green, a plaque commemorating the planting will be on display.

 

For more information on the Platinum Jubilee Picnic and how you can send in your Jubilee memories for the Museum collection, see our social media feeds.