Around 5000 people attended the BIG Seven – 0 on November 25th despite the cold weather. The birthday bash to commemorate Crawley’s 70th year was organised by Cohesion Plus and Same Sky working in partnership with Crawley Borough Council.

The festivities kicked off with a parade which went from The Broadway through Historic High Street before climaxing in Memorial Gardens. The parade featured some 400 people and was led by the Mayor of Crawley Cllr Brian Quinn and Cabinet Member for Public Protection and Community Engagement Cllr Michael Jones.

Once back in Memorial Gardens there was an exciting stage programme which featured Falco and the Hawks Jazz Blues as well as performances by Mark Lees, Ace Academy of Irish Dance, Four by Four Bhangra Dancers, Drumbeats African Drumming, Diego Garcia & Chagos Island Group and Versme Lithuanian Folklore Dance Group.

The festival was headlined by renowned Ed Sheeran tribute act Jack Shepherd and climaxed with an exciting light and firework finale which was enjoyed by the thousands in attendance.

In addition to the stage programme there were 18 community stalls including the Cultural Kitchen, Crawley Against Racism, Crawley Interfaith Network, Crawley Museum, Streetlight UK and Autism Support.

Gurvinder Sandher, Artistic Director of Cohesion Plus commented. “It was a great pleasure to work in Crawley for the first time. I am really pleased with the positive feedback we have received from members of the public. Despite the cold weather thousands enjoyed the celebrations and great credit needs to be given to our partners Same Sky and Crawley Borough Council for all their hard work and effort.