Mason Moore | Hinckley Reporter | 2 June 2022

THIS YEAR’S Proms in the Park event in Hinckley’s Hollycroft Park proved to be a success tonight (2 June), with an estimated ‘several thousand’ visitors in attendance.

The event, arranged by Hinckley and Bosworth Borough Council and Hinckley Round Table, seen residents and out-of-town visitors pay a visit to the award-winning park to watch the free concert, which formed part of the Council’s Platinum Jubilee festivities.

Leicester’s Bardi Wind Orchestra played a wide array of well-known tunes throughout the night. These included music from The Beatles, an ABBA medley, songs from Pixar’s “The Incredibles”, and 1940’s classics “White Cliffs of Dover” and “We’ll Meet Again”.

Vocal soloists Jenny Saunders and David Morris accompanied the Leicester-based Orchestra in well-known standards such as “You’ll Never Walk Alone”, “I Dreamed A Dream” and “Nessun Dorma”.

The night commenced with a traditional flag-waving style which seen a sea of people around the park waving their Union Jack flags.

“Rule Britannia”, “Jerusalem” and “Land of Hope and Glory” were played to mark the last few songs of the night and closing of the open-air concert.

The event proved so popular so that hundreds of people had to form a massive line all across the park just to get into the bandstand area where the main event was taking place, but it ended up reaching full capacity due to the popularity.

Hinckley and Bosworth Borough Council (HBBC) were made aware of this and confirmed on their Facebook page that there was “an overwhelming number of visitors wishing to join in the celebrations, and the bandstand arena was at capacity.”

As a result, those who wanted to enjoy the music that did not make it in to the bandstand had to do so from the periphery of the park.

In a Tweet, Council Leader Stuart Bray, described bringing the event back as ‘one of the best decisions’ that his Liberal Democrat-run Council have made – and he slammed the Tories for axing it when the Council was led by them in past times.

He said: “One of the best decisions my Liberal Democrat administration at Hinckley and Bosworth Borough Council made was to bring back the ‘Proms in the Park’ event.

“1000s of people here today. While I’m in charge, the event is here to stay. Shame on the Tories for scrapping it.”

Coun. Ann Pendlebury (Lib Dem, Hinckley Clarendon), hailed the event a success.

Speaking to the Hinckley Free Press, she said: “Proms in the Park was a wonderful evening well supported by several thousand residents. It makes us proud of our town, and the hard work of the organisers has made this event so successful.”

Coun. Michael Mullaney (Lib Dem, Hinckley De Montfort), stated that the event had an ‘amazing’ turnout, thanked all attendees, and echoed similar words to Council Leader Bray about the Conseratives’ decision to scrap the event when they were in charge.

He said: “There was an amazing turnout at the Proms in the Park in Hinckley. “Having been on numerous occasions there always a good turnout, but tonight’s was phenomenal.

“There must have been several thousand people there. It was a brilliant start to the Queen’s Jubilee celebrations in Hinckley.

“A big thank you to the Hinckley and Bosworth Borough Council officers for organising the event, to the orchestra, the Friends of Hollycroft park, all the other organisations who supported the event, and to everyone who came.

“We were disappointed when the previous administration cancelled this event some years ago.

“I’m delighted that the current administration brought back this popular event which has proved to be a huge morale booster for the town after the difficult few years the country has had.”

After the event, in Hinckley’s other nearby award-winning park, Argents Mead, Hinckley and Bosworth Mayor, Dawn Glenville, gave a speech about the Platinum Jubilee celebrations before lighting the beacon.