IN PICTURES: Kingston 2025 begins with a bang
Kingston's six-month cultural event, Kingston 2025, started on Saturday (3 May).
The flagship celebration marks the 1100th anniversary of the crowning of Athelstan, first King of a united England, right in the heart of Kingston in 1925.
The official opening featured a one-off outdoor musical show in Kingston Ancient Market Place and performances inspired by the area's rich heritage and delivered with a contemporary twist.
Starting at 12pm, the free event began with various performances from different cultural groups in the borough taking place in the Ancient Market Place, outside the Bentall Centre, and outside M&S.
Kicking off the performances was a Tamil dance group, who wowed its audience with its brightly coloured garments.
Also among the performers was capoeira, a Brazilian martial arts group led by Quilombo Marcus Cabeça.
Cabeça teaches a type of martial arts decent from North Africa, which uses music to add a dance-like style to it.
Speaking about Kingston 2025, Cabeça, who has lived in Kingston for 18 years, said: "We've been involved in the celebrations of Kingston 2025 since the day of the designing phase and I really really enjoy to see Kingston Council putting as a theme worrying about the past of this nation, the present of this nation, and how this nation will probably look in the future, and embracing everybody.
"This makes us feel like we belong, and feeling like we belong is key for a nice healthy society and community."
Other performers included Korea Centre (a Korean dance group from New Malden), a Ukranian drum group, Gujarati performers, the Rose Theatre Youth Group, a K-Pop dance group, and the Voices of Hope Choir.
Speaking about Kingston 2025, Andrew, the 21-year-old son of the leader of Korea Centre, said: "Kingston doesn't often do events like this, so I am so excited to keep coming to the events throughout the next six months and celebrate the diverse range of culture in Kingston."
Whether those watching the performances had planned to attend the event on Saturday, or had just spotted the performances whilst passing by, it was clear that everyone was enjoying what was on offer.
A couple who travelled over from Putney, but visits Kingston often said: "This is a great event and it's great to see different cultures involved and people from all different parts of the world in one place."
Kingston Cllr Afy Afilaka, who could be spotted dancing along the music shared by the various performers, said: "I think this is such a good event and it's great to see so many people coming out and embracing different cultures."
Following the performances, at 2pm, was a live performance from Ukrainian band, Freedom Pulse, who, taking to the stage outside of the Ancient Market House, had crowds of people dancing.
Among the audience was The Community Brain's Robin Hutchinson, who said: "It's been a perfect day with a really positive celebration and vibe and a really wonderful way to start six months of celebrations."
Also among the audience was the Mayor of Kingston, Cllr Liz Green, and Kingston's own Town Crier, Michael Seigel.
Cllr Green said: "It's just wonderful – it's lovely to see so many people come out at the start of Kingston 2025.
"I'm super excited about all of the Athelstan celebrations that are going to be happening over the summer and it's really important to celebrate our history, our present and our future."
Finishing the day at 2.30pm, was the main event, Athelstan Among Us, a family-friendly show featuring music, dance, and comedy - a riotous whizz through a thousand years of Kingston's history.
Athelstan Among Us was a really great show which explored Kingston's history and what makes Kingston Kingston.
It taught the crowds about King Athelstan's crowning in 925AD (which brought the two kingdoms of England together), Joan Neville (the last person to be executed for witchcraft in 1660), Kingston's historical ducking stalls, Shrive Tide Football, and the various celebrities from Kingston, including John Galsworthy, Jaqueline Wilson, Tom Holland (AKA Spiderman), and Peaky Blinders' Joe and Finn Cole.
But what stood out to me most was the show's finding, that although Kingston's history of battles and royalty along with its "great" shopping and food options, togetherness, and sense of community all make up Kingston, what truly makes Kingston what it is today is "its people".
It truly was a fabulous start to six months of celebrations, and the council has done a great job in setting it all up.
Kingston Council leader, Andreas Kirsch said: "It's been absolutely brilliant and I'm so grateful to all the team and all the people taking part and all the residents joining in.
"It's absolutely wonderful to celebrate our past, our present, and our future. And what I think is absolutely amazing to show is that we are all there in our history, we are all Kingston, and we are one big family.
Wherever you come from, whatever your background is, in Kingston we come together, we celebrate together, and we stick together."
Kingston 2025 will be running for the next six months and other upcoming celebration highlights include :
- 28 June: Bridging Kingston - 150 school children perform a specially commissioned music piece at the Rose Theatre .
- 16 May – 10 January: Kingston Glamour Exhibition: Art, Innovation and the Suburbs - Kingston Museum.
- 6 – 8 June: Kingston International Film Festival - 64 films across four venues.
- 26 and 27 July: Athels Town Saxon Encampment & Re-enactment - a weekend full of the sights, sounds and smells of early mediaeval life, including a Saxon warrior parade across Kingston Bridge and battle reenactments.
- 6 September: River Cultures Festival - including a spectacular flotilla of boats ranging from modern day cruisers to Saxon crafts sailing up the Thames.
- 7 September: Kingston Carnival.
The programme is an exciting blend of large- and small-scale public events, exhibitions, talks, tours and outdoor performances.
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