Thousands of people enjoyed a full range of activities and entertainment in Dartford’s Central Park over the weekend.
Live music played out at the Big Day Out and the Big Chill Out, with tribute acts, local musicians and community groups all gracing the stage.
Dartford Borough Council partnered with Cohesion Plus to provide roaming entertainment across the park, while also working with Colin Wheeler to provide a fantastic steam rally where visitors could see all sorts of historic and vintage vehicles.
The free event offered ride vouchers so everyone could enjoy the Gallopers and Chairoplane for nothing. There were even vouchers to get money off the various food stalls on site. Plus there were visits from DAODS’ Chitty Chitty Bang Bang cast, the Kings of Dhol and America’s Got Talent: All Stars’ Tom Ball. Tributes to Madness, Take That and Spice Girls also performed, along with Channel 5’s Milkshake presenter David Ribi.
Roaming dinosaurs, Punch and Judy, community stalls and a special Kids Zone in the Outdoor Theatre were all provided as part of the free event.
This year saw the addition of the Big Chill Out, where live music, food stalls and rides remained from the previous day, with the addition of a free cup of tea for visitors to enjoy!
Leader of the Council Jeremy Kite MBE said: “After last year’s scorcher we were so pleased to see crowds return to Central Park for the second-ever Big Day Out. It was a fantastic day and it was brilliant to work with so many different organisations to make this whole weekend possible. It’s really important that our communities have every opportunity to come together at events like this. We didn’t want cost to be a barrier to anyone and so worked hard to ensure a packed programme that everyone could enjoy without having to put their hands in their pockets.
“There’s lots more to come this summer. Dartford Pride is this weekend, and we’ll be announcing our Outdoor Cinema screenings very soon.”
Carolyn Webb, Bellway London Sales Manager, said: “Dartford is an incredibly vibrant and diverse place with a very strong community spirit and it was wonderful to play a part in such a fantastic celebration of local life. It’s great to support this event as part of our development at Copperhouse Green. There are already lots of residents living on the development and this year’s Big Day Out was another great opportunity for them to mix with their new neighbours and the wider community.”