03/07/2026
Celebrating the Mid-Summer Festival
By virtually all measures, this year’s Mid-Summer Festival in Plympton St. Maurice was a resounding success.
Up to 1,500 people attended, money raised by local charity stalls reached nearly £3,000 and the sun shone, adding extra warmth to the countless smiles from toddlers to teenagers and young parents to pensioners.
The highlights of the village’s annual weekend celebration two weeks ago included:
• The London Inn winning the pub team tug-of-war in the men’s competition at Saturday’s Lamb Feast, with The Sir Joshua Reynolds getting a grip on the ladies’ crown.
• An encore performance from the Sir Joshua Reynolds Choir in the Lamb Feast arena, following their Friday evening concert at the historic Guildhall.
• Popular arena displays from the Susan Jane School of Dancing and Liv4Dance, plus exhibitions of judo and a dog show that featured more wags than England’s World Cup entourage.
• The chance to encounter emergency services without the emergency, with police, fire and ambulance services hosting interactive stalls at the Lamb Feast.
• The Art Exhibition by local artists drawing an appreciative crowd to the Guildhall on Saturday.
• More than 300 adults paying to view 19 of the village’s Hidden Gardens on Sunday. In addition, they enjoyed the rhythms of Drum Abundance in one particularly spacious and beautifully green retreat.
The event is sponsored by the Plympton St. Maurice Civic Association, but the months of planning and coordination depend on festival organiser James Heesem, plus a core team including Andy Cooper, Pete Lock and Wendy Evans-Phillips.
Heesem also credits the “small army” of volunteers who ensure the entire operation runs smoothly. These scores of helpers are especially vital to the Lamb Feast, where tasks run from early morning set-up, to safe preparation and efficient sales of hot food, to the late-evening clearing up on Castle Green.
Judging from the happy buzz around the village, those efforts were once again fully appreciated.
