Seafront Event Causes Sparks Amongst Locals

Love them or hate them, they're back for another 8 weeks!

Author

Tom McCloud
September 13, 2024

Good morning, Southend. With so many events happening this past week and the weather shifting from warm-ish to cold-ish, how did you make the most of one of the last weekends of summer?

In today’s Southend Spotlight:

  • Controversial seafront fireworks are back for 2024

  • Old Leigh Regatta makes a triumphant return

  • Southend Airport receives some unexpected visitors

Don’t forget to check out the upcoming events list at the end of this email.

— Tom McCloud

HIGHLIGHTS
Old Leigh Regatta Returns After Five Years

After a five year hiatus, the Old Leigh Regatta returned with live music, performances, maritime traditions and more.
An estimate 10,000 people attended the regatta over the weekend, with entertainment and events taking place over both Saturday and Sunday.

The Leigh-on-Sea Regatta dates back to 1880 and has taken many different forms over the years. This year did not feature as many water-based activities as previous years, the main attraction was the live music, headlined by Denise Van Outen.

Did you attend? Reply to this email and tell us how it was.

Eight Weeks of Seafront Fireworks

Following the success of last year, the FREE Seafront Fireworks Spectacular returns this autumn with a display taking place every Saturday from 28th Sep - 16th Nov. The fireworks will be launched from a barge near the pier, so you’ll get a good view no matter where you are.

Fireworks Spectacular

Alongside Adventure Island’s Saturday late nights, the free entertainment brings a significant amount of business to the seafront, with arcades, ice cream parlours and pubs seeing a big boost.

Despite many locals loving the weekly entertainment, there are some critics that regard the multiple displays as excessive and a “waste of money.” However, much of the funding for these displays comes from local businesses such as Adventure Island, C2C and Kingpins Bowl.

Seafront traders and sponsors have put their hands in their own pockets to ensure the much-loved fireworks continue after they were thrown into doubt when Southend's business improvement district pulled out of organising the event last year.
The Seaside Partnership - a group of businesses across the city - stepped in last year to ensure the event went ahead for residents and have once again joined forces to ensure the fireworks go ahead.

Echo News

Surprise Guests as Southend Airport

It was a busy day at Southend Airport last Friday when nine aircraft were diverted from London Heathrow due to adverse weather conditions.

Diverted BA & KLM Aircraft

Southend Airport has also recently announce a number of new destinations, increasing their capacity of weekly flights. Successfully handling a number of diverted flights bodes well for the future of increased traffic to and from the airport.

THIS WEEKEND
Feel Good Festival

If you’re looking for an uplifting free event this weekend, why not take yourself down to Garon Park for the annual Feel Good Festival.

the Feel Good Festival

The Feel Good Festival is free to attend, there’s no need to order tickets, so make your way down and check out what’s going on.

The festival will be showcasing health and wellbeing resources, with activities related to nutrition and getting active. Local food vendors will be there alongside bouncy castles, performances and local market sellers.

LOCAL HISTORY
Southend High Street, 1942

Southend is rich with interesting pieces of history and every week we dedicate a section of this newsletter to sharing that history with you. If you have suggestions for the next piece, reply to this email.

Southend High Street has been a hot spot for retail since the late 1800’s and it was in 1902 that electric trams were introduced. The trams were removed in 1942, during the Second World War. It was in 1974 that the High Street was pedestrianised as it became a region shopping centre for Essex.

EVENTS
🗓️ Upcoming Events

Thanks for reading this week’s Southend Spotlight. If you have any thoughts please reply to this email and let me know!

— Tom McCloud