PEACE-LOVING people once again came together in Leamington at the weekend in the hope of making the world a better place. The 37th annual Peace Festival drew thousands of revellers to the Pump Room Gardens on Saturday and Sunday (June 13 and 14).
And although the rain made Saturday somewhat of a washout, the crowds flocked back to the event on Sunday as the skies cleared and the sun came out.
Young and old enjoyed music, dancing, face painting and workshops covering everything from t’ai chi to knitting at the event, which was first staged in 1978, and is designed to promote peace and equality while living in harmony with the environment. Festival director Nick Holmes said: “The number of people who were there on both days and the fact they were all looking happy and clearly enjoying themselves in spite of some challenging weather is a real testament to all our hard work in the months leading up to the weekend and on the days themselves.
“With such a wide variety of stalls, in many ways it was almost like a larger festival and the organisers of the event, who are all volunteers themselves, were very pleased with how things went. “Overall, we felt the new site layout worked very well and made it a lot more open. Innovations like the giant paintable PEACE letters and the Toddlers’ Tree Ring seemed to be very popular but we’d welcome feedback on the event through our website or Facebook page.”
