Jack Drum Arts stage community carnival in Crook to mark Coronation

Jack Drum Arts, an arts organisation based in Crook, hosted a colourful community carnival in the town.

The carnival and gala event was aimed at using the Coronation of King Charles III as a catalyst to bring people together across generations to share and celebrate their experiences, hopes, and dreams. 

Year of The King is funded by Spirit of 2012, the official legacy funder of the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games.

People from all ages flocked to Crook today. Picture: Sarah Caldecott, Newsquest (Image: Sarah Caldecott, Newsquest)

Read more: HUGE crowd attends Darlington Dance Festival for town's Coronation celebrations

Jack Drum Arts is one of seven organisations to receive a grant from Spirit of 2012’s Moments To Connect fund, designed to explore how the major national events of 2023 can connect individuals and communities across social divides.

Year of The King draws inspiration from King Charles' love of the environment, which has become a uniting theme for the young and older participants.

The year-long Year of the King project will begin its second phase on Monday, May 8, with a parade through the streets of Crook, with guest of honour Jenny Flynn, Deputy Lord Lieutenant of County Durham.

Residents from all age groups demonstrated the drumming and dancing they learned and display the props and costumes they made during a series of community workshops.

Crook's young environmentalists take to the streets. Picture: Sarah Caldecott, Newsquest (Image: Sarah Caldecott, Newsquest)

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The parade then turned into a gala event at Crook Cricket Club featuring live entertainment from community groups and local bands, including Beyond Madness, family games, competitions, street theatre, family entertainment, and food and drink vendors.

Following the Coronation, Jack Drum Arts invited participants from across the project to form an intergenerational legacy group.

This group will meet regularly for six months, working with visiting artists in a broad range of mediums to create a collection of new multi-disciplinary artwork. This will be presented at a final exhibition in Crook in November, to coincide with King Charles III’s birthday.

Prior to the event, Helen Ward, managing director of Jack Drum Arts, said: “We are thrilled to have been supported by Spirit of 2012 to produce a large-scale community event working together with people of all ages from across our community in celebration of the Coronation of King Charles, an important moment in the history of our country.

Save our world! Picture: Sarah Caldecott, Newsquest (Image: Sarah Caldecott, Newsquest)

Read more: Party for the people: Coronation celebrated in street parties across North East

“Throughout his life King Charles has been passionate about a number of subjects but the ones that inspire us the most are his interest in, and support of young people, his love of the countryside and his concern for the environment.

“All of these things are core to the work of Jack Drum Arts and we have taken this as our inspiration for the parade which will feature as its centrepiece a Green King puppet.” 

A crowd of locals flocked to Crook for the parade. Picture: Sarah Caldecott, Newsquest (Image: Sarah Caldecott, Newsquest)

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Jane, Lady Gibson, Chair of Spirit of 2012, previously said: “The Coronation of King Charles is an event of huge historical significance.

“The UK has the opportunity to take the energy and excitement around it and create a lasting legacy.

“Jack Drum Arts' Year of the King will do just that - creating both a fantastic Bank Holiday community gala and parade and an intergenerational partnership between younger and older participants which will last long after the Coronation itself.

“Our Inquiry into the Power of Events recommends that events build common ground across divides and plans are made for longer term community volunteering; we're confident that with Jack Drum’s involvement, Year of the King will be a shining example of this.”

Picture: Sarah Caldecott, Newsquest (Image: Sarah Caldecott, Newsquest)

Picture: Sarah Caldecott, Newsquest (Image: Sarah Caldecott, Newsquest)

Picture: Sarah Caldecott, Newsquest (Image: Sarah Caldecott, Newsquest)

Picture: Sarah Caldecott, Newsquest (Image: Sarah Caldecott, Newsquest)

The Green King puppet. Picture: Sarah Caldecott, Newsquest (Image: Sarah Caldecott, Newsquest)

There was plenty of entertainment despite the rainy morning. Picture: Sarah Caldecott, Newsquest (Image: Sarah Caldecott, Newsquest)

The bad weather didn't put off the young environmentalists. Picture: Sarah Caldecott, Newsquest (Image: Sarah Caldecott, Newsquest)

Picture: Sarah Caldecott, Newsquest (Image: Sarah Caldecott, Newsquest)

Picture: Sarah Caldecott, Newsquest (Image: Sarah Caldecott, Newsquest)

The town was a sea of Union Flags. Picture: Sarah Caldecott, Newsquest (Image: Sarah Caldecott, Newsquest)

The parade was well-attended despite the rain. Picture: Sarah Caldecott, Newsquest (Image: Sarah Caldecott, Newsquest)

Locals were out in force showing their support for the community event. Picture: Sarah Caldecott, Newsquest (Image: Sarah Caldecott, Newsquest)

Picture: Sarah Caldecott, Newsquest (Image: Sarah Caldecott, Newsquest)

Picture: Sarah Caldecott, Newsquest (Image: Sarah Caldecott, Newsquest)

Picture: Sarah Caldecott, Newsquest (Image: Sarah Caldecott, Newsquest)

Picture: Sarah Caldecott, Newsquest (Image: Sarah Caldecott, Newsquest)

The Green King puppet put in an appearance at the parade. Picture: Sarah Caldecott, Newsquest (Image: Sarah Caldecott, Newsquest)

Picture: Sarah Caldecott, Newsquest (Image: Sarah Caldecott, Newsquest)

Smiles all round at Crook Community Carnival. Picture: Sarah Caldecott, Newsquest (Image: Sarah Caldecott, Newsquest)