The Village, Guildford – opens on 10 June with events and street parade

 

The Village Guildford is a unique vibrant event space located in the heart of the town, which features a stage area, an open public space and seating. A mix of food concessions serving a tempting array of street food, retail outlets, toilets and a licensed bar will also be available for visitors to enjoy. The Village is just two minutes’ walk from the High Street, less than a minute from The Friary and is located between Commercial Road and Woodbridge Road.

The Village opens on Saturday 10 June with a spectacular street parade, which starts in the High Street at 10.30am before making its way to the Village, to arrive there at 11am. Included in the parade is a giant puppet called ‘Eartha’ Queen of the earth, characters from ‘Alice through the Looking Glass’ and ‘The Wizard of Oz’, Egbert the Eagle who will be joined by the Eagle Radio Love Crew.

Lead Councillor for Economic Development, Tourism and Climate Change, Cllr David Bilbe says:

“We want to provide residents and visitors with a new and unique venue in which to shop, eat and enjoy themselves. Our team has put in place an exciting events programme that is a great mix of free activities to enjoy throughout the summer. To assist us we have also partnered with a number of organisations that have direct experience of running events on similar sites to The Village.”

Open each week from Wednesday through to Sunday until December, there will be themed events and activities to enjoy. From food festivals, to film nights, live music, live big screen showing of summer sporting events, a car show, community and arts events as well as day time activities for all the family, there is something that appeals to a wide audience. The site also has free WiFi for visitors to use.

The Village is free to enter but for licensing and safety reasons some events will be ticketed.

Feedback from the original village last December was that potential tenants wanted greater certainty about the length of time that the venue would operate for, so we have created an events programme that extends across the summer months and beyond. Visitors also wanted a different experience. The Village, Guildford is no longer a ‘pop-up’ site but a longer-term opportunity offering a flexible, different space for retailers, traders and entertainment in our town centre.

Cllr Bilbe adds:

‘‘It continues to be important that we are able to provide an opportunity for local business and new start-ups to develop and grow. This type of new offering takes time to establish and we have improved the Village to make better use of this dynamic space ahead of the proposed redevelopment of lower North Street.”
For more information and events please visit: www.guildford.gov.uk/thevillage

 

Opening Times

Wednesday	10am – 8pm
Thursday	10am – 8pm
Friday	10am – 10pm
Saturday	10am – 10pm
Sunday	10am – 6pm

Programme of Event Themes for 2017

Theme	Date	Days
Emerald City	10/06 – 11/06	Sat – Sun
Spring into Summer!	14/06 – 18/06	Wed – Sun
Health & Wellness	21/06 – 25/06	Wed – Sun
Street food & gifts	28/06 – 02/06	Wed – Sun
Big Screen Sport	05/07 – 09/07	Wed – Sun
Big Screen Sport	12/07 – 16/07	Wed – Sun
Sport	19/07 – 23/07	Wed – Sun
Micro Motor show	26/07 – 30/07	Wed – Sun
Food & Drink	02/08 – 06/08	Wed – Sun
Festival of music	09/08 – 13/08	Wed – Sun
Summer Fun	16/08 – 20/08	Wed – Sun
Summer Fun	23/08 – 27/08	Wed – Sun
Film Season	30/08 – 03/09	Wed – Sun
Culture & Heritage	06/09 – 10/09	Wed – Sun
Health & Wellness	13/09 – 17/09	Wed – Sun
Our Planet	20/09 – 24/09	Wed – Sun
Back to School / The big draw	27/09 – 01/10	Wed – Sun
Food & Drink	04/10 – 08/10	Wed – Sun
Business in action	11/10 – 15/10	Wed – Sun
Inspired by Jazz	18/10 – 22/10	Wed – Sun
Halloween / Community in action	25/10 – 29/10	Wed – Sun
The Arts	01/11 – 05/11	Wed – Sun
Christmas	15/11 – 19/11	Wed – Sun
Christmas	22/11 – 26/11	Wed – Sun
Christmas	29/11 – 03/12	Wed – Sun
Christmas	06/12 – 10/11	Wed – Sun
Christmas	13/12 – 17/11	Wed – Sun
Christmas	20/12 – 24/11	Wed – Sun