Chairman’s Column 14-6-2018

The 2018 Collett Festival was a brilliant success, with great events, ideal weather and a lovely atmosphere showing Shepton at its very best. 

Last week I wrote of my pride in Shepton, and again we can be quite sure that our town is on the up. The small dedicated team of Garfield Kennedy, Wayne Frapple and Mike Daniels, ably supported by our dedicated town council staff, delivered an amazing and memorable weekend in Collett Park for thousands of residents and many delighted visitors.

The traditional Collett Park Day once again gave many voluntary groups the chance to raise much needed funds for their charities, schools and societies. We plan to send out a survey to establish the totals raised for good causes, and seek feedback on thefestival in general. We also want to hear from any community groups who declined our offer to join in, since we want to give you the opportunity to participate in Shepton’s annual summer celebration in 2019.

During Collett Park Day, town councillors and volunteers manned our gazebo to listen to townspeople’s views on how we should manage Collett Park for its best long term future.  We still want to hear from many people of all ages (especially those good ideas!) to hear their opinions on the range of options that our consultants, Swan Paul, have presented to the Council.

Collett Festival continued into the evening when an enthusiastic crowd of revellers enjoyed a night of pure Madness when the very talented Los Palmas 6 tribute band came on stage, after local artistes, Shoot the Moon and Theo Wakeling, set the mood.

Our children’s event on Sunday drew thousands of excited young people (and smiling parents) who were royally entertained and thrilled by some amazing performers, including the brilliant Bubbleman and world-famous juggler, Haggis McLeod.  

I wish to praise and thank our efficient and professional securityand medical staff who had to handle a range of issues at all three events, including finding lost children and locating lost parents!

On Sunday for me, it was a tale of two towns since I attended the Mayor of Glastonbury’s Sunday Service. I left this traditional display of civic pride, consisting of a church service, parade andbuffet lunch, to return for our much jollier Children’s Festival!

The week of great events in Shepton continues into the weekend with Charles Chipperfield’s Circus in Collett Park for the first time. This honours and respects John Collett’s wish to have well managed commercial events take place in the park he bequeathed to the town over a century ago.  Then Saturday sees the return of the very successful Park Run (after a week off for Collett Festival). Watch out for the team of circus performers in this week’s mighty pack of runners.

Last but not least, remember the latest Sunday Market is this weekend.  I hope to see everyone there if you’re not too exhausted from this truly sparkling week of happenings in our amazing town.

Chris Inchley, Chair, Shepton Mallet Town Council