AYLESBURY’S 10TH ANNIVERSARY PROMS IN THE PARK RAISES THE ROOF
Aylesbury’s answer to the world famous Proms went off with a flourish last Saturday evening in Vale Park. In its 10th Anniversary Proms in the Park, organised by Aylesbury Town Council brought an entertaining variety of numbers including Liberty Bell, (better known as the theme from Monty Python’s Flying Circus) and music from the film Star Wars.
Soprano Jill Neenan, who was suitably dressed in a breathtaking fairytale pink ball dress, performed an impressive version of ‘The Laughing Song’ from Die Fledermaus before teaming up with baritone Richard Stark to perform a beautiful rendition of ‘Somewhere out there’ from Disney film An American Tail. Richard himself, who regularly performs in Operas and Concerts all over the UK, roused the audience with his solo performance of ‘Votre Toast’, the Toreador Song from Carmen.
The Aylesbury Concert Band, who were debuting their brand new smart black and green uniforms on the night, put on impressive performances of a range of pieces including ‘The Great Escape’, ‘Roller Coaster’ and extracts from Pineapple Poll.
Aylesbury Town Council completely exhausted their stock of glowsticks, glowing necklaces and glowing bracelets on the night and sold a large number of union flags, raising in excess of £300 for Mayor Cllr Graham Webster’s charities, Lymphoma and Pace. Needless to say the substantial audience was a sea of waving union flags and glow sticks as the Proms reached its stirring finale. Jill Neenan and Richard Stark sung ‘Jerusalem’, ‘Rule Britiannia ‘ and of course ‘Land of Hope and Glory’ accompanied by the Aylesbury Concert Band (and the audience!).
“I’m incredibly pleased with how well the evening has run,” said Aylesbury town Mayor Cllr Graham Webster. “The turnout has been great this year – and the weather has certainly been kind to us. The performances from Richard, Jill, and the wonderful Aylesbury Concert Band were as usual fantastic. I’m over the moon with the amount raised for my charities, it’s been an incredibly successful event for us and we’ve had lots of positive comments from people attending.”
The evening event in Vale Park followed a free Family Funday organised by the Aylesbury Church Network with a tug of war, BBQ, sports activities, face painting and many more activities.
On the Super Sports Sunday there were a range of have a go sports activities including tennis, golf, football skills inflatables plus a “Chill out” event on the big stage providing a fantastic opportunity for youth bands to play their music live on a festival sized stage. This event was coordinated by Southcourt Studios which is a project run by Aylesbury Vale Youth for Christ.
The free Family Funday, Proms and the Sunday Sports events were all part of ‘Parklife’ a collaboration between, the Aylesbury Church Network and Aylesbury Town Council facilitated by Aylesbury Vale District Council
Aylesbury Town Council’s next event is the Charter Day and Tudor Fayre, which takes place next Sunday (12th September) in Market Square from 11am – 4pm.