Somerset’s birthday was celebrated in style over the weekend of 11th and 12th May with the Big Somerset Picnic and other events taking place across the historic County of Somerset.
A large number of organisations took part in the Big Somerset Picnic and there were also many other events which took place over the Somerset Day weekend, all of which contributed to a greatly raised profile.
Eat:Taunton, the location of the biggest Big Somerset Picnic, attracted the largest crowds with thousands turning out to enjoy local produce from over 100 stallholders and soak up the atmosphere.
The Pride of Somerset Youth Awards were an outstanding success with the largest number of nominations ever received, making the judges task of choosing the winners from so many, challenging, to say the least !
Nearly 200 guests attended the spectacular Awards evening at the McMillan Theatre in Bridgwater where we heard about, and celebrated, some truly inspirational and heart-warming stories of remarkable young people.
Particularly pleasing was a comment from the Association of British Counties, who said “The county day phenomena continues to gather pace in 2024, with the biggest celebrations of these county days yet. Somerset Day in particular is now rivalling Yorkshire Day and Lancashire Day for its reach across the county.”
The organisers of Somerset Day also wanted people throughout the county to Fly the Flag for Somerset – and they did just that !
Somerset Day CEO and Founder Nigel Muers-Raby commented “Communities, organisations, businesses and individuals certainly rose to the challenge this year and it was wonderful to see so many flags and so much bunting – and to see the huge effort put in by so many taking part in the Big Somerset Picnic and the many other events”.