Celebrating The Coronation in Devon

This weekend is a bank holiday in honour of The Coronation of His Majesty The King and Her Majesty The Queen Consort.

The Lord-Lieutenant of Devon, David Fursdon, His Majesty The King’s representative in Devon, is encouraging everyone to get involved in the hundreds of events taking place across the county, from traditional street parties and lunches to live music events, fun-days, and galas. He said:

“The Coronation is a rare event that marks the crowning of our Constitutional Monarch. It is also a time of celebration for communities throughout the UK.

“We send our loyal greetings and warmest congratulations to His Majesty King Charles and Her Majesty Queen Camilla on this very special weekend.”

Saturday 6 May

The Coronation Service will take place at Westminster Abbey. Details of how and where to watch the service are available on the Government’s website. The BBC also has a useful timetable of how the day is expected to unfold. 

Most of our libraries will be open and some will be screening the events. Please check with your local library for individual opening hours, screening details and discover how they’re celebrating the big day!

Sunday 7 May

Neighbours and communities are invited to share food and fun together as part of the Coronation Big Lunch. There’s also a special Coronation Concert being staged and broadcast at Windsor Castle by the BBC. 

Monday 8 May

People are encouraged to try volunteering for themselves and join the work being undertaken to support their local areas as part of The Big Help Out.

Local events

To find out more about events taking place across Devon over the Coronation Weekend, please visit the website of the Lord Lieutenant of Devon. 

Coronation street parties!

The UK has a long history of organised street parties to celebrate national events, and communities across Devon have taken advantage of our offer to process minor road closure applications for the Coronation weekend for free, to enable them to enjoy events ‘traffic free’.

Over the long weekend, more than 150 roads and cul-de-sacs will be closed to traffic in communities such as Avonwick, Broadhempston, Hemyock and Tavistock, to enable local people to celebrate this historic event.

Some communities are holding celebratory picnic lunches, including Appledore, in Anchor Park; Barnstaple, Rock Park; Exeter Princesshay; Dawlish, The Lawn; Willand; and Kingkerswell.

A list of road closures can be found on our website.

Lend a hand, make a change

In tribute to His Majesty The King’s public service, The Together Coalition, which includes organisations such as The Scouts and the Royal Voluntary Service, are highlighting the positive impact that volunteering has on communities across the nation.

The Big Help Out will take place on Monday 8 May to encourage people to try volunteering for themselves and join the work being undertaken to support their local areas. There will be something to suit helping hands of all shapes and sizes, and the more of us who join in, the bigger help we will be!

If you can spare an hour, fantastic, or the whole day, amazing. If volunteering becomes a regular thing, so much the better! If we all do a bit, it will really help a lot. Join in. Lend a hand. Make a change. Visit The Big Help Out website to find out more. And to discover volunteering opportunities in your area, please visit the Devon Connect website.

Get creative with the Coronation toolkit

The Government has put together a range of useful templates and materials to help you with your Coronation celebrations, including homemade bunting ideas, recipe cards, music playlists and activity sheets for children.

It’s all available for free on the special Coronation website.

You can also take part in the Coronation Creative Challenge for a chance to showcase your creativity and share how you’re celebrating the Coronation by being featured in the Government’s Creative Challenge gallery.

To enter, share your creative content on social media using the hashtag #CoronationCreativeChallenge and tag the Government’s Department of Culture, Media and Sport using @DCMS on Twitter and @dcmsgovuk on Facebook and Instagram. Alternatively, you can email your entries to coronation@dcms.gov.uk with the subject line ‘Coronation Creative Challenge’ along with your first name, age and town, plus a photo or video of your entry.

Other bank holiday weekend information

With an extra day to fill this weekend, don’t forget there’s lots of ideas about how to get outside and enjoy the best that Devon has to offer on our Explore Devon website. There’s information about walking and cycling routes, as well as interesting places to visit and wildlife to look out for.

If you’re using the long weekend as an opportunity to crack on with some gardening or DIY, don’t forget that our Household Waste Recycling centres will be closed on Saturday 6 May for the Coronation, but will be open as usual on Sunday 7 and Monday 8 May. Visit our website for more details. 

Your home bin collection is also likely to be delayed because of the bank holiday, so please check with your local district or city council to find out when your bins will be collected next week.

If you’re planning to visit your local library over the weekend, please visit the Devon Libraries website as the opening days and times may vary. Don’t forget you can browse the catalogue, reserve and renew books online at any time.

If you need to get in touch with us over the weekend, you can call our Customer Service Centre on 0345 155 101 from 9am to 1pm on Saturday 6 May. Our Customer Service Centre will be closed on Sunday 7 and Monday 8 May, but you can email customer@devon.gov.uk ahead of it reopening on Tuesday 9 May or visit our website which has lots of useful information and advice.

Please visit the ‘contact us’ page of our website for our Emergency Social Services and Highways out of hours numbers.