St Albans and Harpenden enjoy larks in the parks

PARKS and green spaces in the district were transported to the seaside for a series of fun events all over St Albans, Harpenden and the villages on Sunday.

Larks in the Parks took on the theme of A Day at the Seaside at six locations in the district and was incorporated into this year’s St Albans Festival.

Children at the various events had a visit from Mr and Mrs Neptune riding their faithful seahorses and the antics of a stilt-walking mermaid as well as live music from a range of local bands, drumming and circus workshops, and other entertainment.

There was also an opportunity to make decorated sunglasses and eat a stick of Larks in the Parks rock

Around 1,500 people alone took part in the Larks in the Parks afternoon at Victoria Playing Fields in St Albans – the only one of the six locations run totally by local community volunteers.

It was organised by the Friends of the Victoria Playing Field group which provided 25 of the 33 scheduled events and ran all the on-site activities.

As well as a host of activities including outdoor table tennis, giant Connect4, a chalk maze and apple bobbing, there was a mass water pistol competition with 165 pistols in play – a late addition to the event when it was discovered how hot the weather was going to be.

A core team of 16 planned and ran the event assisted by around 56 members of the local community who helped either before or on the day.

Jo Askham, arts development manager for St Albans Arts Sport and Health team which ran Larks in the Parks on behalf of the district council, said: “The weather was wonderful, the sun beat down and a great day was had by all.

“Larks in the Park is now in its seventh year and we drew larger crowds than ever before.”