THOUSANDS of people flocked to Droitwich Spa over the bank holiday weekend for the four-day St Richard’s Festival.
It began on Friday night with entertainment in Vines Park which carried on throughout the event until bank holiday Monday.
There was also a host of stalls and markets, food and drink, classic and vintage cars, canal boat trips on the Pamela May, a dog show and the Great Droitwich Duck Race.
On Saturday there was a ‘Great Procession of Thanksgiving’ and re-enactment of the well-blessing by St Richard at the brine springs in the Great Pit in Vines Park.
It centred around events in 1248 when the springs ceased and, with the town facing economic ruin, the Bishop of Chichester – a son of Droitwich who later became St Richard de Wyche, led people in the cleaning the well, before giving it his episcopal blessing.
Tony Brannon, spokesperson for the Worcester-Birmingham and Droitwich Canals Society which organised the event with Wychavon District and Droitwich Town Councils, said the event went much better than anyone had hoped for.
“The hot weather certainly helped – we saw a lot of feedback on social media from people saying how much they had enjoyed the event and thanking the volunteers for it.
“It was a fabulous weekend for us and we’d like to thank everyone who came and made it possible.”
Visit www.strichardsfestival.co.uk for more on the festival.
