St Mary Magdalene Church in Gorleston, in partnership with Freshly Greated and Magdalen Way Methodist Church, will be hosting Summer on the Mag for the Jubilee from 1pm – 5pm on Thursday 2 June on Magdalen Square in Gorleston.
Summer on the Mag will feature roving street artists, inflatables and rides, refreshments and lots more attractions and stalls. There will also be a full programme of musical and dance acts performing on a stage outside St Mary Magdalene Church, over the course of the afternoon. The event has benefited from just under £10,000 of funding from the National Lottery Community Fund which will support the artistic elements of the afternoon.
The Revd Matthew Price, Vicar of St Mary Magdalene Church, explained “we are excited about the return of Summer on the Mag, after not being able to host it for the last two years because of the pandemic. In celebration of the Queen’s Jubilee, this year will be bigger and better than before and we are delighted to be working in partnership with Freshly Greated and Magdalen Way Methodist Church to make it a particularly special event.
“Funding from the Diocese of Norwich Sharing Good News Fund means that we are also able to offer community members a free copy of the commemorative book, “Our Faithful Queen” which includes rarely-seen prayers from a book of devotions written for the Queen to use from 1 May to 2 June 1953 – her Coronation Day – and will help readers appreciate the Queen’s Christian faith. We will also have copies “The Girl Who Grew Up to be Queen”, with illustrations based on happyland characters to give to younger members of the community.”
Karen Jeremiah, Programme Director of Freshly Greated said, “Freshly Greated are thrilled to be partners for Summer on the Mag this year, already the event is shaping up to be looking like fantastic day and with additional funding from The National Lottery will have some exceptional activities to make the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee celebration truly memorable for the community.”
“We have been working with the community for around 1.5 years now and have been really impressed with the amount of hard work and warm spirit from people in the area to make everyone feel welcome and a part of the events that are organised.”
The event will be officially opened at 1pm by Lady Agnew DL, one of the County’s Deputy Lieutenants, and The Bishop of Thetford, the Rt Revd Alan Winton. The opening will also feature a special performance of Rise Up and Serve, a new anthem written especially for the Jubilee by The Rend Collective, Graham Kendrick and Mal Pope, by the choir of Ormiston Herman Academy, along with church musicians.
Later in the afternoon, local band Emily and Zak will perform on the stage and roving artists, The Guardsmen and The Land Girls, will entertain amongst the crowd. Attendees will also be able to join in with creation of a special community work of art by adding their own memory to a seven-sided column, each side for one decade of the Queen’s reign.
In addition Summer on the Mag will also feature The Actual Reality Arcade, made by local creative Matthew Harrison. The Actual Reality Arcade is a life-sized interactive game zone which allows participants of all ages to climb inside and re-live classic arcade games. It has previously toured the country and Europe, and will be open for new gamers during Summer on the Mag.
Revd Price continued, “we’re really excited about the programme we have put together for Summer on the Mag and are hoping it will be a wonderful community celebration of the Queen’s extraordinary years of service. Whether you want to climb inside The Actual Reality Arcade, enjoy the musicians and dancers whilst sampling some of the refreshments, get locked in a police van, climb on a fire engine, or even take an alpaca for a walk, we hope there will something for everyone! Please do come and join us.”
In addition to Summer on the Mag, there will be a second opportunity to mark the Queen’s Jubilee at a special service at St Mary Magdalene Church on Sunday 5 June, when the choir of Ormiston Herman Academy will also perform Rise Up and Serve.
More details of all that is planned can be found on the Facebook pages of St Mary Magdalene Church, Freshly Greated and Magdalen Way Methodist Church.