Fabulous 40s Festival was simply '˜best yet'!

'˜The best yet!' That's how organisers of the fabulous 1940s' Festival in Woodhall Spa have described this year's event.
People power: A packed main street in Woodhall Spa at the height of the 40s Festival.People power: A packed main street in Woodhall Spa at the height of the 40s Festival.
People power: A packed main street in Woodhall Spa at the height of the 40s Festival.

Held last Saturday and Sunday, the festival attracted more than 40,000 people who basked in glorious weather.

Hotels, guest houses and other businesses were packed as the event delivered a boost to the local and regional economy.

Improved parking arrangements paid off, although ELDC did issue 42 fixed penalty notices.

As for the weather, Horncastle-based LIVES treated 50 casualties - 60% of which were for heat related incidents, double the number in 2017.

Andy Hunter, chairman of the organising committee, told the News: “I’d like to thank everyone who came to the festival.

“The feedback we’ve heard so far seems to suggest this has been the best yet, and while there will always be tweaks and improvements to make, I’m delighted how the weekend went.

“We take care of all the organisation, but it’s the visitors who make the atmosphere, and the residents who welcome so many to our village that keeps bringing people back.”

Visitors and residents took to social media to praise the ‘seamless’ organisation, excellent traffic and parking improvements - along with the packed programme of entertainment.

Temperatures soared for the four Battle of Britain Memorial Flight flypasts, while visitor numbers were on a par with 2017, even with the rival attraction of England’s World Cup quarter final on Saturday afternoon.

With the huge range of entertainments, dances and parties, re-enactments and living history groups, vintage and military vehicles, and competitions, the event has been deemed an ‘amazing weekend’.

Many have also praised business owners and the Woodhall Spa community in general for their enthusiasm and welcoming attitude.

An additional spend on traffic management this year kept roads free of queues, and the increased number of shuttle buses ferrying visitors to and from the four car parks paid off.

There were reduced waiting times at the car parks and shuttle bus pick-up points.

Highlights included the flypasts by the BBMF on both days, crowned by a Sunday afternoon appearance by the Lancaster bomber ‘Thumper’, based at nearby RAF Coningsby.

There was a skirmish re-enactment in the Pinewoods and regular sightings of a Winston Churchill impersonator.

Dave Skells, Traffic Management, from Louth, delivered the complex traffic plan while Coningsby-based SRP Hire Solutions provided crowd barriers, toilets and portacabins for the crew.

Related topics: