Lincoln Castle to host summer events

Lincolnshire County Council leaders launched the events, which will start with a Great British Outdoor Picnic celebrating the Queen’s Jubilee in June, on Friday, October 1 — otherwise known as Lincolnshire Day.

The aim will be to theme each event with food and drink from the county — for example for Wimbledon the event will feature British strawberries grown here.

Executive Councillor for Environment and Economy Colin Davie said he expected it to bring thousands of people to the area.

“A lot of small businesses have suffered because of COVID and this event is about them,” he said.

“It’s about our small producers, giving them a marketplace, giving them a platform to sell their wares, but also to tell people who visit this great city, about how great they are and how great the food that we produce in this county is.”

The event will also aim to be zero carbon by, as well as using local producers, disposing of waste locally and making sure it’s not disposed unnecessarily.

“[We want to make sure] our carbon footprint is reduced before we even let the first stall holder or the first person through the door,” said Councillor Davie.

The series of events will culminate with the return of Steampunk on the August bank holiday weekend.

Councillor Lindsey Cawrey, executive councillor for heritage, said Lincoln Castle had become a central part of many people’s lives during the pandemic with hundreds using it for socially distanced exercise.

“It was the obvious choice, the obvious location for next year’s celebration,” she said.

“It’s a celebration of all that’s great about Greater Lincolnshire – our foods, our music, our drinks.”

Council leader Councillor Martin Hill said it was right to announce the series of events on Lincolnshire Day.

“We want to really promote Lincolnshire and make a big celebration of Lincoln today, because we’re very proud of our county and we want to make sure that we encourage businesses, for people to come and work here and basically enjoy our wonderful county.

“We’ve seen how vibrant it’s been over the summer months when things were relaxed, and I think compared to a lot of other places, it’s doing very well, so we just need to build on that to make sure we have a good venue next year.”