August 2024:
LYTCHETT MATRAVERS PARISH COUNCIL
Summer Festival
Hopefully, the summer we want will start soon, and everyone can enjoy the holiday season.
Looking back on the year to date, there have been several highlights, especially in June when we celebrated Midsummer with the village festival.
Saturday 22nd June was exceptionally lovely, with full sun but enough breeze to keep it all very pleasant. The traditional Family Fun Area by the Village Hall was expanded this year to include two bouncy castles, a balloon tunnel and the small train rides, and one visitor commented that ‘it was the ‘best kids’ entertainment they had ever been to’.
New for this year was the Fun Village Dog Show which was a great success with over 60 entrants. There are many people to thank for bringing it all together, including Alex Gosney from Dorset Barn Hunt, who judged the categories and provided a training demonstration, Natterjacks Vets for their kind sponsorship, and many other kind donations from the Green Poop-bag company, Dorset Dogs, Oscars Pet Foods Avon & Stour, and Emma Ross, a local village dog chiropractor, which meant that every entrant could be awarded a ‘doggie bag’.
We also had more traders around the Rec this year, with a Cake stall, pick & mix, craft stalls, henna tattoos, Ice Cream, Teas & Coffees, fish & chips, pizza, pop-up bar, and cocktails – all of which gave it a real Festival feel.
And, of course, the central stage kicked off the music. The entertainment started with a general welcome from our super local singer, Heather Williams, then dedicated music and activities for younger audiences, including Aqualights Pom & Twirl troupe and Moo Music. This then moved into more local musicians, including Holly Jay, Red Hot Dorset Naga, and headliners Flynn’s Arcade, who did a rousing finale.
Overall, we estimate that around 700 people attended throughout the day. It was a real demonstration of the great village community spirit, with families able to relax and let the children run around as everyone danced, sang, and enjoyed the evening. It was particularly great to see the final act of community spirit when the revellers picked up all the straw bales and helped clear the Rec after 10pm.
Thank you also to the 100+ people who told us how much they had enjoyed it and thanked the event committee via Facebook.
We will be doing it again next year – so if someone can get in early and book the sun, that would be great.
As always, if you have any ideas for adding to the event, want to enquire about running a stall or activity, or want to volunteer to join the event committee, please get in touch.
New Parish Councillors
Following the elections in May we had 2 vacancies for councillors. I am very pleased to say that Aaron Thomas and Matthew Rigby have started as new councillors in June.
August Parish Council Meeting:
In August, there will be a combined F&GP & Full Council meeting on Wednesday 14th, starting at 7 p.m. in the Village Hall as usual. Agendas will be published online, and the report pack is available on request from the Parish Clerk. Meetings always start with public participation, so please come along if you have suggestions or questions you would like to discuss with the PC or want to hear what is happening.
Alf Bush,
Chairman, Lytchett Matravers Parish Council
For further information, please visit our website at: https://lytchettmatraverspc.org/ or contact the Parish Clerk via lytchettmatravers@dorset-aptc.gov.uk