The festival has got off to a rather late start this year, but with lots of enthusiasm! So we are delighted to welcome sponsorship from John R Ford – a family-owned and run local Ford dealership that has been serving the local community for over 60 years. They are proud to claim a long-established reputation for excellence in both the products they supply and the way in which they look after their customers. John R Ford supply new and used cars plus aftersales servicing/MOTs and tyres.

Meet their team here and phone sales on 01462 629629

We are delighted to announce another sponsor for the 2021 Community Festival – The Garage is a friendly and professional family run MOT and service/repair centre where they pride themselves on the quality and friendly service that they supply to their customers. They explain that their professionally trained team – which has over 40 years’ experience in the motoring industry – will take care of all your needs.

The Garage Shefford is pleased to offer emergency personnel, members of the Armed Services, and some other professions 10% discount on presentation of a valid Blue Light Card.

* MOT Tests and A/C recharges are excluded from this offer. *

Contact them at thegarageshefford.co.uk or by phone at  01462 414820

We are delighted to have The Railway Steamer on board as our first local sponsor – Anne Hughes has worked so very hard over the past year to create an environment for families, sports fans and drop-in dining of all kinds. They now have a range of Covid distanced outside seating from pods to mini-marquees with a great program of events planned – we are excited to see what they do over the festival period!

Contact here

As organiser of the Shefford Community Festival I propose to be in town from time to time on Market Days – so do please say “Hi” and chat about what you could do to get involved with the Community Festival.

Dates for September 2021 are announced – Friday 17th to Sunday 26th

We have selected the dates for the festival next September to fit the normal last week of the month – we hope this advanced notice will enable people to consider their participation and planning well in advance. Please remember to notify us early on so that you can gain the most publicity for your event and make the whole festival a great success!

You can register and notify us here.

Sadly, our Community Festival was cancelled this year – apparently because of a misunderstanding about the actual nature of a virtual festival in this context and its implication with regard Covid security – nonetheless it was considered there was no option other than cancellation. Fortunately, thoughtful heads prevailed and all that has been cleared up so I am hopeful that we will be able to return next year with a bigger and more all-embracing festival.

As it worked out however community spirit really came through and there were a number of physical events which had already been planned and were able to go ahead independently – for example the annual Garage Sale Trail was a great success with a record number of registrations – and raised £220 for the Shefford Lights Committee. The new Shefford Scarecrow Festival also seemed to catch the mood with some impressive tableau – run co-incident with the similar Clifton scarecrow event, apparently Garage sales and scarecrows go together! Spoon Village was a favourite as well and continues to grow – like Shefford itself. Social distancing was encouraged everywhere and generally was observed by everyone. It was great to see so many couples and families walking round town, maps in hand enjoying the brilliant weather – such a contrast to the rain of last year!

Otherwise we are aware of a number of regular events that continued throughout the period of the cancelled Festival – including for example the Bowls club who now seem to be operating again and my own re-started Tai Chi classes at the Community Hall after a summer in the park at Digswell. Other regular classes seem to have gradually restarted at the Community Hall and the STMA, and elsewhere. Our community has proven resilient and pro-active in the face of the Corona virus – we are learning to live with it by making responsible adaptations. Let us look forward to next September 2021 and hope for a bigger and better range of events than ever.

I have personally been heartened by the number of people who have already asked about next year, so it is my intention to invite all stakeholders to an open meeting at some point – probably after Christmas, in the hope that we can initiate things like banners and street dressing – I bought the banners this year and would really like to see them in use. At that point when other seasonal community events have passed and perhaps the social distancing regulations have clarified or diminished, we could be in a better position to plan for September 2021. Dealing with Covid appears to have brought out the best in people and it is great to experience the underlying humanity of our society.

In which vein I would ask if there is anybody out there who would like to help out? So far the Festival has been managed by myself with help from a couple of volunteers and financed by myself – we could do with help if you have some time – please contact me at [email protected] or on 07860 218334

Following conversations with interested parties regarding Covid 19 guidelines we have reluctantly decided to cancel the 2020 Community Festival.

While we ourselves do not organise any events or activities it has been suggested that we should not promote other peoples events either – on the off chance that they may not meet the guidelines – a great shame.

However – lets all look forward and please do contact me if you would like to be part of 2021!

As we approach our Festival period it is clear that some events can readily be managed whereas others may not. This depends on Covid guidelines as they change and if you are running an event you should be sure you comply with the latest regulations.

Likewise if you are thinking of attending a listed event please be aware that it may be cancelled at the last minute.

Please also see our Legals notes.

Interestingly it seems that there are a few Festival activities that we may be able to run in September – like the Garage Sale Trail – which I see is already being publicised by Country Properties and online by the organiser Lesley Whiteman, on similar lines I have recently been notified of a Scarecrow Festival being organised by Jo Wright for the weekend of 19th and 20th Sept as a curtain raiser to the Community Festival. Then there is the EAT Feast street food event which has already run successfully elsewhere – if we can organise a venue  for them in Shefford.

What can the ingenuity of our community create within government guidelines? I propose to run a “Tai Chi in the Park” session at Digswell each Sunday from 11.00 am  free of charge – so maybe a kite flying group could come together at Digswell  – or perhaps the dog walkers of Shefford would like to organise a rally? Anybody for country dance or line dancing? We have these public spaces in our town Digswell, Millenium Green, the Flit riverside walk and the Hit riverside off Churchill Way – who can come up with the most creative Festival event for six people – or perhaps multiple groups of six?

Will the Bowls club and the Art Society run their annual events? We hope so. On a more general front it is great to see our local hospitality venues opening up and maybe they can find a way to join the Community Festival – I certainly enjoy picking up a take away cappuccino from The Loft so maybe that will be my daily festival event!