A FESTIVAL celebrating all things community is returning to Reading next month.

East Reading Festival is back after its successful 2023 event and is returning to Palmer Park on Sunday, June 23 from 12pm until 6pm.

The afternoon promises to be is a celebration of diversity and aims to strengthen the connections between the people and organisations of East Reading and beyond.

Building on previous years, the festival continues to ramp up its efforts to go green. The festival is one of a group of Reading festivals that have committed to share knowledge, locally and with other festivals around the country, as part of a national initiative to develop a Green Events Code of Practice.

With a wide range of stalls, a food court and two performance stages, the festival organisers are looking forward to welcoming thousands of visitors during the day. After its introduction in 2022, the ‘Give Speech A Chance’ stage, organised by Dreading Poetry Slam, will be returning to this year’s event with a line-up that features poetry, spoken word and acoustic performances.

Secure bicycle parking is available at Palmer Park and a number of buses, including the number 17, pass directly by the park. Visitors are also encouraged to bring their own reusable water bottles and to take any recycling home so that it can be placed in their council recycling boxes.

Matt Foster, one of the committee's members, said: “Following another successful event in 2023, our second since the lockdown, we’re really excited to be welcoming people back to East Reading Festival 2024.

He added: "We received some wonderful feedback from last year’s festival and hope to build on that success this year. We have a wide range of stalls and a diverse performance schedule planned, there should definitely be something for everyone at this year’s event.”

The festival would like to thank the volunteers and local organisations who make the festival possible. They also couldn’t run the festival without our kind sponsors, who this year include Aurora Family, Berkshire Music Trust, Berkshire Women's Aid, Palmer Park Bowling Club, EAS Health and Wealth, Fab4All, Progress Theatre, The Quran Project, RG Spaces and Stevie’s Kitchen.

For more information on this year’s festival, please visit www.eastreadingfestival.co.uk or www.facebook.com/eastreadingfestival.