Colchester: Street festival hailed a success

Shoppers paused for a moment at around 11am when the day of entertainment was heralded with a parade through the town by Boadicea and her men, followed by an opening announcement from a town crier in traditional costume.

Saturday marked the last day of the Colchester Festival 2000 which has been heralded as a success by organisers who say that the festival in 2001 will be " bigger and better."

One of the organisers, Theresa Davies, said it really had been a "fantastic day to remember".

"It is the first time that there has been a proper street festival with free entertainment for the whole family in Colchester as far as we know," she said.

"Everyone seemed to be having a really good time and there was a lot of support from the public, some of whom knew the festival was going to be taking place and others who were pleasantly surprised while out doing their Saturday shopping."

As well as traditional dance and children's storytelling there were also a number of "walkabout" acts in the town centre including Justin Dustbin, The Weathermen and the robotic Ant E Statik.

A full programme of music filled Colchester Marketplace and the Roman Guard were on duty at the Balkerne Gate.

The grand finale was a samba workshop which made its way through the town encouraging shoppers to swing their hips and join in.

"A lot of people asked us if this is going to be a regular feature in the town calendar and the answer is definitely yes," said Mrs Davies.

"Colchester Festival 2001 will be bigger and better."

The events were free to the public and funding for the festival came from Colchester Borough Council, Colchester Co-op and Lion Walk Shopping Centre.

Street art mingled with shoppers at the first Colchester Festival. A packed programme of entertainment brought the busy Saturday streets to life

Picture: STEVE ARGENT

Converted for the new archive on 19 November 2001. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.