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!

At time of writing with all the numbers going down the government have recently brought the Covid alert level down to level 3 and we have just heard that they have brought the guideline for social distancing down to “one metre plus” with pubs, hotels etc allowed to open. Along with this there is talk of halls and other facilities being able to open in July and everybody is becoming aware of the term “Covid secure”, and making their risk assessments and other preparations,  so there seems good reason to hope that most of the events foreseen for our Festival will be able to go ahead with suitable safety precautions.

All the best to all who run community activities in Shefford and do let me know if you are considering running an event with an email to [email protected]

In light of the present Covid situation, with non essential shops opening today and hotels, pubs etc foreseen as able to open from July 4th I am preparing a very provisional program for Shefford Newsline August issue – on the basis of:

“possible events in the case that we are  able to go ahead, do not assume they will happen – please check in local media nearer the time”

– with that in mind would anybody considering an activity or event for the festival at the end of September please let me have a description of your idea by the end of June, with the date you envisage so that at least you get some early publicity.

We can then refine the program as things become clearer with help from  our good friends at LivingLife and with use of our own website and social media presentations right up to the last minute. Please see the registrations page here.

Hi everybody – we are seeing some gradual lifting of Covid restrictions – and looking at other countries who are slightly ahead of us it looks quite possible that we may be able to run a “new normal” – socially distanced festival in September. As you may remember Shefford Newsline is a major communication channel for the program – as they kindly publish the program in their August issue – so I am working to a deadline of the end of June to put a provisional listing together. Obviously this will be on the basis that events will only run if they meet guidelines – and if the guidelines permit the Festival to run overall – otherwise we will have to cancel it. However I believe that it is worth preparing for the best even if we do have to cancel at the last minute – it is my hope that the odds are in our favour.

A good example is the flowering of interest in a Garage Sale Trail event – so many homes have been cleared out and de-cluttered! Likewise I am encouraged by the gathering linkage of recovery with climate and other green issues – we have managed to come together to deal with the pandemic – let’s do the same for community issues like global warming and the environment.  Of course Festival events may need to be spaced out and number limited but I suspect that by September we will be accustomed to these adjustments and will be able to enjoy ourselves in safety.

Please let me know details of your event – either by email to [email protected]  or by registering on the website at https://www.sheffordcommunityfestival.co.uk/registration/

Look for news updates on the website at  https://www.sheffordcommunityfestival.co.uk/ and on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/groups/sheffordcommunityfestival/ 

Also at Shefford and Local Villages https://www.facebook.com/sheffordandlocalvillages/

All best for your health and that of our families.

Ian Deavin

Clearly the whole situation of public events is up in the air at the moment so the likely occurrence of our September Festival is in doubt – although if all goes well then it could be a “welcome back to normality” celebration – we shall see. As organisers we would welcome news of any planned events – there are one or two that ran last year that I am not yet aware of for this year – so please if you have thought of re-running your activity please let me know otherwise we could all get caught out when the brakes come off. If they don’t come off in time for the September Festival then we can review to postpone until later in 2020 or sometime in Spring possibly. There are also one or two newly planned events that I am aware of which are probably on hold – again please keep me up to date so we can be prepared.

Festival program – as usual I am working to a deadline of the end of June for August publication in Shefford Newsline  – and then to update it on the website and with support from LivingLife as event notifications come through. Getting your event into August publication obviously gives you a head start so, if you can please let me have basic information asap – by e-mail or by registering on the website https://www.sheffordcommunityfestival.co.uk/

With best wishes for good health to all – Ian Deavin – Organiser [email protected]

With best wishes for continued good health

Ian