Things to Do

The team behind the Weetabix Northamptonshire Food and Drink Awards is delighted to announce that, following a delay to its spring launch owing to the COVID-19 outbreak, the competition in now underway for its twelfth year! The Awards, which are run by the sector for the sector, are aimed at celebrating all that is great about local produce and drink, recognising excellence within the county’s dining venues and rewarding those who work so hard within the culinary sector. Thanks to ongoing support from its existing sponsors – new headline sponsor Weetabix, Booker, British Pepper & Spice, Daily Bread, Dawn Farms, Heygates Flour and Animal Feed, Howes Percival LLP, Moulton College, Northampton College and Whitworth Bros Ltd Flour Millers - and with continued support from SEMLEP (South East Midlands Local Enterprise Partnership) and Warner’s, the Awards will continue to offer public recognition to the county’s finest eateries and chefs, producers and..

It may have finished off the FA Cup final, seen Wimbledon whitewashed and even overcome the Olympics, but the team behind the county’s favourite annual fundraising bike ride are adamant that COVID-19 won’t have them running for cover! Which is why, with some creative logistical tricks up their lycra sleeves, should they be needed, plans are still in place for Cycle4Cynthia - the biggest fundraiser in the calendar for Northamptonshire’s Cynthia Spencer Hospice – to take place on Sunday, 20th September. The event, which has brought in more than £600k over the last 16 years, is a highly anticipated fixture in the diary of the hundreds of cyclists of all ages and abilities who take part each year, for whom it is a wonderful way of saying ‘thank you’ for the remarkable Hospice care given to their loved ones, and that’s why fundraising manager, John Helm, is offering some welcome..

Northampton’s LGBTQ and Allies Forum, Northampton Pride Committee and Grosvenor Shopping Northampton are encouraging artists, performers, community groups and individuals to get involved in a social distanced celebration of the LGBTQ community on Saturday, 18 July. Following the cancellation of Pride parade and associated events set to take place in the town centre due to the coronavirus outbreak, Northampton Pride Committee and partners will bring the community together through a Virtual Pride Festival and a motivational campaign across town. LGBTQ individuals in Northampton are invited to share their story as part of a motivational, art installation campaign that will take place across town for the month of July. They can get involved by submitting a 200-word story or a video to forums@northampton.gov.uk by Wednesday, 24 June. The submission could be covering areas such as coming out, living and being part of Northampton LGBTQ community and what Pride means to them...

Northampton is set to mark VE Day 2020 in a unique way this year, with a virtual programme of events taking place on the 8 May, to celebrate the 75th anniversary of the end of war in Europe. The celebrations, coordinated by Northampton Borough Council, will be streamed throughout the day, and can be viewed on the Mayor of Northampton’s Facebook page: www.facebook.com/MayorOfNorthampton An action-packed schedule, beginning with an 11am sermon delivered by Father Oliver Coss, will be followed by an extraordinary remote performance from the All Saints’ Choir. Speeches, readings and poems will also be shared throughout the afternoon, by the Mayor and Deputy Mayor of Northampton, the Lord Lieutenant, the Chairman of the Northamptonshire Royal British Legion and the Chairman of Northamptonshire Reserve Forces and Cadets Association. The day’s pre-planned proceedings will be honoured in a virtual manner; with a bugler playing the ‘Last Post’ just before 3pm,..