With the Coronation of His Majesty The King and Her Majesty The Queen Consort taking place in under eight weeks, Wiltshire Council is encouraging residents to finalise their celebration plans.

A momentous weekend of nationwide activities is being planned, and people are being invited to take part in their own Coronation Big Lunch over the May bank holiday weekend (6-8 May). An idea first started by the Eden Project, the idea is to meet others and have fun together over food, whether it’s a full-blown street party, a picnic or a small gathering over a cup of tea.

Anyone planning an event that needs any involvement or permission from the council, such as road closures, will need to submit the relevant applications to the council before the event to enable it to take place. There can be a quick turnaround (two weeks) for straightforward applications on Wiltshire Council owned land/green spaces/parks. Due to the timescales required for events requiring road closures and licensable activities, such as live music or the sale of alcohol, and applications of this type taking longer to process, the council asks for applications of this type to be sent through before 31 March, an extension of more than two weeks on the original date. More information can be found at www.wiltshire.gov.uk/highways-king-charles-coronation.

There will also be the opportunity to celebrate the Coronation weekend by viewing or taking part in various national events that will take place over the extended Bank Holiday weekend.

The national celebration events include:

The Coronation Concert at Windsor Castle on Sunday 7 May
The Coronation Big Lunch, on Sunday 7 May
The Big Help Out, on Monday 8 May

Cllr Richard Clewer, Leader of Wiltshire Council, said: “The King’s coronation marks a special time in our history, and with Big Lunches set to take part across the country, we want to make it as easy as possible for communities to get involved and plan their own events throughout Wiltshire. We’ve created our webpage with lots of useful information for hosting a street party event and would encourage people to get any necessary applications in as soon as possible to our teams so that everyone can prepare and look forward to the celebrations!

“Whilst the original deadline for street closures has now passed, we encourage people to still send any outstanding applications in as soon as possible before 31 March.”

More information about the Coronation weekend can be found at https://coronation.gov.uk/