BECCLES AND BUNGAY JOURNAL REPORT TODAY by BEN OLIVE from THE LODDON EYE

Taken from The Loddon Eye 

Loddon at centre of Chet Community Festival buzz…

Chet Community Festival, Loddon
Saturday 10th September

On Saturday the Fire Station Meadow in Loddon, tucked behind the High Street and beside the Church, was filled with local businesses, groups, musicians and entertainers as the Chet Community Festival celebrated the diverse range of activities within the Chet Valley area. The event, which began at midday with a parade through the centre of Loddon, was a resounding success and was well attended until it finished at 7pm.

There was entertainment throughout the day with live music from local bands and arena displays from Kuk Sool Won, local dance schools Funky Feet and Centre Stage, and Norfolk Fencing Club. A wide variety of stalls covered everything the Chet Valley has to offer, from local craft sellers and charities to hand bell ringing and the Loddon Community Cinema.

Various games and activities kept both children and adults entertained but the most popular seemed to be the charity ‘stocks’, providing the opportunity to soak members of the community with a wet sponge. One of those in the stocks was local landlord Simon Peck who continued to raise money for Motor Neurone Disease Association, in conjunction with his support of Chris O’Flaherty who takes part in the Bupa Great North Run this year.

Organisers were very pleased with how successful the festival was and committee member Caroline Bown was keen to thank all those involved: “We were delighted at how yesterday’s festival went. The stall holders and entertainers were all wonderful and everybody who made the effort to come along and support it created a superb atmosphere in a beautiful setting. The Parade was really fun at the opening of the festival, everybody turned up looking gorgeous in all their uniforms. The food and drinks were delicious and the friendliness of all the people there made me really proud to live in this community. A special mention must be made to all the extras who have helped to make the day happen, some of them worked behind the scenes, some doing lots of manual work, some designing pictures and banners and producing them, the local businesses for providing financial support, donations and even a free bus service.”

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