Big Weekend event aims to celebrate Thurston

A big weekend of events and activities is taking place in Thurston later this month to celebrate and showcase everything the village has to offer.

Thurston is a growing community with new housing developments set to substantially increase the size of the village. The library, parish council and other organisations and services at the heart of the community have teamed up to organise a packed weekend of activity for residents old and new from Friday 24 to Sunday 26 September. The event will also help to bring people together after the pandemic.

The events will be taking place in various locations around Thurston including the library, New Green Centre, Cavendish Hall, St Peter’s Church, the new primary School and rugby Club.

There will be a huge range of events for people of all ages to enjoy including:

• Activities for children including a weekend wings craft activity and a talk by children’s author and illustrator Nick Sharratt at Thurston Library at 2pm on the Saturday. There will also be a children’s disco and a chance to look round the new primary school

• A harvest supper and harvest festival service at St Peter’s Church

• Live music including a performance by Bury Student Orchestra at the New Green Centre.

• Sports and activity including a Zumba demonstration, carpet bowls, rugby match and cricket.

• Two fun treasure trails to enjoy; one a family walk and one a cycle ride with book tokens for the winners. The trails can be collected from the library.

• A garage sale trail around the village.

There is also much more on offer over the weekend with around 35 different activities. Full details can be found on the Thurston Parish Council website.

Thanks to generous donations from local businesses and groups there will also be a Big Weekend raffle and any money raised will be donated to Suffolk Mind with tickets for the raffle and other events on sale from the library.

Richard Fawcett, Chair of Thurston Library Friends, said:

“Thurston is a growing village with many new people coming to live here. We’ve all lived through such challenging times recently so we wanted to reach out to everyone whether they’ve just moved in or have lived here for years, and showcase everything our community has to offer. The library, like so many of the venues and organisations involved is a vital service at the heart of our community, and the Friends and Suffolk Libraries are very happy to help support the event.”

Christopher Dashper, Chair of Thurston Parish Council, added:

“The Big Weekend is the perfect opportunity to bring together residents and organisations from across the parish, a celebration of all that is on offer for the community in Thurston. A chance for everyone, including those new to the village, to recognise and sample all the groups and activities that run on a daily basis across this busy, growing community. The Parish Council, working hard to support the community, welcomes the opportunity to hear from members of the public over the course of the weekend.”