SURBITON FESTIVAL and CHURCHES' OPEN WEEK
17th-24th September 2005
This year the Festival coincides with the Churches' Open Week, celebrating the Centenary of Southwark Diocese. We are proposing to complement and support this by having extensive and varied exhibitions in our two churches covering the history and development of the Parish and the community over the last 100 years and more, as the Parish is 160 years old this year. They will include photographs, art work and archival material from the schools in the Parish, displays of church vestments and possibly plate. Archival material from the Festival, the local Residents' Association, and, if possible, mayoral regalia from the Borough of Surbiton (which was subsumed into the Royal Borough of Kingston on the formation of the Greater London Council) will also be displayed, together with a world timeline and historical material from the Parish archives and the Local History Collection.

We do not at present know when the churches will be open during the week, although we are aiming for Monday - Friday afternoons, 2.00-5.00pm, and Thursday evening 6.30-8.00pm if possible. This will depend on the availability of stewards. On Saturday 17th we hope to be open from 10.00am until 4pm and on Saturday 24th, 9.30am until 4.30pm. On Friday morning St Mark's will be open as usual for coffee and cake from 10.00am onwards, providing another opportunity to visit the exhibition.

The Festival itself has various events throughout the week: there is a Boat Rally on the Thames at Queen's Promenade over the weekend of the 17th September which includes an illuminated sail-past on Saturday evening: we hope one of the boats may represent the Parish. On Saturday 24th September there will be a Grand Parade at 12 noon starting from St Mark's Church, and moving down Victoria Road, where there will be market stalls, to finish near St Andrew's Church. The Parish will again have a festival stall this year. There will be publications and information on the Parish and the Friends of the Parish. Balloons and other small giveaways will be available.

St Andrew's Church will be open from 11.00 - 3.30, for tea and coffee, a place to sit and think, and a chapel for quiet prayer. There will be a dramatic event put on by some of the children at 2.00pm, and a service of Choral Evensong at 3.00pm.

Exact opening times will be available in September on a recorded announcement on the Parish Office number: 020 8390 9129.

Click here for a report on2004 Festival.