Festival weekend draws in crowds

Visitors turned out in force to support last weekend’s Boston Spa Festival.

One of the highlights of the weekend was the Grand Opening Celebration at Stables Lane Community Park, which kicked off with a 2K Fun Run.

The official ceremony at noon was introduced by parish councillor Kevin Alderson with Leeds ward Councillors Gerald Wilkinson and Alan Lamb.

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Geoffrey Boycott gave a fitting speech, imploring young people to get involved with the many sports available to them, before he cut the ribbon and declared the park open.

“The park is a great new venue – there were many visitors, and we expect it to feature prominently in future festivals,” said Geoff Shaw, the coordinator of this year’s Boston Spa Festival.

Mr Shaw described Sunday evening’s rock mass at St Mary’s church as a fabulous fitting finale to the Festival. It was led by the band Metanoia and the Rev Nick Morgan.

There was a big screen showing the Wimbledon Tennis final as well as the exciting Cricket World Cup.

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The Festival kicked off with the Scarecrow Trail, bigger than ever with 55 scarecrows around the village.

Primrose Lane Nursery School was declared a worthy winner of the best scarecrow competition with their Peter Rabbit exhibit, with runners up Handmaid’s Tale and Big Fat Giant.

Two car events included about 50 classic cars on Saturday, with good weather for open-top driving of the 90-mile scenic route through the Yorkshire Wolds before they returned to Stables Lane Community Park.

Nearly £500 was raised towards the Phase 2 development fund for the park. On the Sunday there was a display by the Yorkshire Supercar Owners Club.

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Ten residents opened their gardens to the public to raise money for Boston in Bloom and music featured strongly throughout the weekend.

There were sold-out concerts on Friday and Saturday nights in the Village Hall as well as music in the afternoons in Millennium Gardens.

There was something for everyone, from fitness classes to plant stalls, from art exhibits to the new Boston Spa Bake-Off.

Street food was provided by various local eateries and various charities took part with the plant stall for RNLI raisign almost £700.

The Methodist Church again hosted the Literary Lunch, featuring best-selling author Imogen Clark.