The first week of this year’s Jesmond Community Festival is up, and one of the undoubted highlights was the performance of The Darling Dollies on St George’s Green on the first day of the festival. If you get a chance to see them at any other venue, don’t miss it! To help mark the 80th anniversary of Victory in Europe the Dollies had polished up their repertoire of 1940’s songs, ending with “We’ll meet again”. Not a dry eye on the green!
Don’t forget the Festival Ceilidh, with the Redheughers, which will be taking place this Sunday (11 May) starting at 7:30 pm in St Hilda’s Church Hall, Thornleigh Road (around the corner from Starbuck’s). You can purchase tickets from rachael@redheughers.org.uk or just turn up a few minutes early on Sunday, with the correct cash (£7 for adults, £3 for children aged 6-17, 5 and under,free).
All places available on the Dawn Chorus Walk on 10 May are now taken.
Jesmond Choral Group and friends will be performing the Faure Requiem in Jesmond United Reformed Church on Tuesday 6 May, conducted by Jonathan Scott. This free event will commence at 7:30 pm, but get there a few minutes early to get a good seat. The concert will also include Cantique de Jean Racine, and more. For more information about future performances, or how you could join the group, email diane.carter@blueyonder.co.uk .
The Tyneside Society of Model and Experimental Engineers welcomed festival visitors to their track, situated behind the Wylam Brewery. For further information about TSMEE see www.tsmee.co.uk .
The 2025 Jesmond Community Festival is underway, with events at Holy Trinity Church, Newcastle Cricket Club and St George’s Church on Saturday 3 May. The Sheriff and Deputy Lord Mayor of Newcastle, Cllr Henry Gallagher, met with our very own Town Crier, Marjorie Dodds, the Vicar of St George’s. Rev Debbie Loughran, and the Chair of Jesmond Community Forum, Dave Cross, to launch both the Festival and the St George’s Big Friendly Gathering to celebrate VE Day. Other highlights of the afternoon included a march past by Air Cadets, the Darling Dollies singing wartime songs, and two local veterans remembering school-time during the second world war.