Exciting Summer Ahead For The West Midlands

This summer is set to be a very exciting month for those living in the West Midlands and across England – events being held for adults and children of all ages.

In light of the Queen’s upcoming Platinum Jubilee (70 years on the throne) and Her Majesty’s Official birthday (June 11th), the City Of Wolverhampton (Council) was one of the first in the country to make it free to apply for a road-closure, making it easier (and cheaper) for residents across the city to celebrate in style.

The director of communications for the City Of Wolverhampton, Ian Fegan said

“street parties are a fantastic way to bring the whole community together and a great way to create life-long memories”

He added

“if you’d be interested in having a street party in your road, the best way to start is by having a chat with your neighbours…you can then plan the party as a team, rather than having one organiser”

Earlier this month it was possible to apply via an application, however the date to submit this application has since passed.

Her Majesty is the first monarch to celebrate a Platinum Jubilee - her being coronated on the 2nd June, 1953 at the age of 27.

Next month, several more events will happen across the West Midlands –

Starting off with a Jubilee Bank Holiday on the 2nd - 3rd June.

During the Bank Holiday, the Light House Media Centre will aire a documentary on the Queen called "Elizabeth: A Portrait in Part(s)" about the Queen's life.

Screenings of this film will be at 2:15pm, 5:30pm and 7:40pm.

Currently, there’s a portrait competition on-going (started on the 8th April, 2022) to create a portrait of her majesty during her reign – with submissions of drawings, paintings and digital work all being accepted – the prize (after the competition is finished on the 31st May) is the winner’s art piece to be displayed in the Georgian Room at the Wolverhampton Art Gallery, afternoon tea with the Mayor at the Georgian Gallery (28th June) and a goody bag of platinum jubilee gifts.

To ensure the competition is fair, the competition is split up into 4 categories –

• Under 7’s (Children under 7 Years Old)

• 7 – 11’s

• 12 – 18’s

• 18+’s

The only rule is that it must be the entrants own work, and it can be no larger than A3 and that entrants include their full name, age, postal address and phone number/email address

Entries must be emailed to mayoral@wolverhampton.gov.uk , by post to the Mayor’s Office or hand-delivered to the Business Reception of the Civic Centre before the 31st May.

In the same week as the Queen’s Jubilee and Birthday, Movie fans are in for a huge treat as Jurassic World Dominion releases – the third in the “Jurassic World” franchise.

The movie was supposed to release last year, however due to the pandemic, it was pushed back a year.

Trooping The Colour at Buckingham Palace will also happen during this time.

Fast-forwarding to late July, the Baton for the Commonwealth Games (held in Birmingham) will go through the West Midlands via a variety of means including on a canal and in a helicopter

It’s said the baton’s tour will end at Birmingham’s Aston Hall on the day of the opening ceremony.

To finish, the Junction 10 of the M6 is expected to be finished in July - after construction work began in January 2020.

The work was done to tackle congestion on the junction and slip-road, avoid a major maintenance work in the future and improve the road conditions for all road users.