The Community Brain's annual Seething Village Festival will now be held at The Lamb, Surbiton today, 25 February.

In a social media post earlier today, the charity announced that the change was due to "conditions at St Andrews Square and weather warnings".

The festival will be moved to The Lamb pub, and will still include live music, local vendors, and the traditional reading of Lefi Ganderson: The Goat Boy of Seething.

The start of the procession has been delayed until 1:30pm, but will still set off from St Andrews Square.

The festival marks the beginning of Seething Village's community-led events for the year, and sees up to 1,000 attendees.

The Community Brain is well-known for their novel fundraising efforts, both for its own community-oriented Museum of Futures and Kitchen Roots Community, and for other local charities like Creative Youth.

The Community Brain uses community-driven events such as the British Bread Gold Open (top) and Surbiton Ski Sunday (bottom) to raise funds for local projects (Photo: Ollie G. Monk)

However, founder and director of The Community Brain, Robin Hutchinson MBE, wants the festival's main focus to be on "[bringing] the community together at one of the most challenging times of the year".

Even without concentrating on fundraising, the event typically brings in about £1,000 from donations and drinks purchased from the charity bar.

A street parade has been held in the area since 2009 to celebrate the local legend of Lefi Ganderson: The Goat Boy of Seething.

Since this initial event, the festival has expanded to include live music, local traders and food stalls.

Robin Hutchinson MBE during the most recent Surbiton Ski Sunday, 15 October 2023 (Photo: Ollie G. Monk)

This year's event has required the work of 20 "remarkable" volunteer organisers, with Mr Hutchinson reporting that "more will be involved in making sure it's a success" on the day.

After a recent medical procedure, the charity's figurehead is "just looking forward to being there," having had to take a step back from planning this year's festival.

Last year's installment added a series of dumpling-themed activities to the itinerary at the suggestion of a community member, including an international dumpling selection from local vendors, dumpling origami, and even dumpling wrestling.

Meanwhile, 2024's festival will see the promotion of two new community projects: the Mini Cooper story, honouring Surbiton's role in the iconic car's development, and the Festival of Futures.

Mr Hutchinson hopes that locals will enjoy this year's community events, and that some attendees "perhaps think about getting involved in some way," before adding: "The most remarkable friendships develop when you work alongside others to create moments of fun."

This year's Seething Village Festival will take place at St Andrews Square, Surbiton, this Sunday, 25 February, from 1pm to 4.30pm with the following itinerary:

1pm – Band

1.45pm – Lefi Ganderson - The Goat Boy of Mount Seething Story

2.30pm – Parade

3pm – Band 1

3.45pm – Band 2

5pm – Finish

The Community Brain's event listing on Facebook can be found here.