{"id":66474,"date":"2026-09-21T10:31:19","date_gmt":"2026-09-21T09:31:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thefamilygrapevine.co.uk\/midsussex\/?p=66474"},"modified":"2026-09-21T10:32:48","modified_gmt":"2026-09-21T09:32:48","slug":"record-turnout-for-haywards-heath-town-day-2026","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thefamilygrapevine.co.uk\/midsussex\/2026\/09\/21\/record-turnout-for-haywards-heath-town-day-2026\/","title":{"rendered":"Record Turnout for Haywards Heath Town Day 2026"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t
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Victoria Park was filled with the sound of music, laughter and community spirit on Saturday 12th September, as thousands of people came together for the biggest Haywards Heath Town Day yet.<\/p>

The annual celebration brought the town together for a full day of free entertainment and activities, with more than 100 stalls filling the park. Local businesses, charities, community organisations and groups came together alongside food and drink vendors, giving visitors plenty to see, do, eat and discover throughout the day.<\/p>

For younger visitors, one of the biggest wow moments of the day was the arrival of a life-size T-Rex. The prehistoric visitor proved a huge hit with children, who could get up close to the dinosaur and take in the impressive sight of a T-Rex roaming around Victoria Park. It quickly became one of the most talked-about attractions of the day, with families stopping to watch, take photographs and enjoy the unexpected encounter.<\/p>

There was plenty more for families to enjoy across the park, including funfair rides, face painting, balloon modelling, circus skills and crazy golf. The miniature railway proved popular with younger visitors, while the Classic Vehicle Show brought an impressive collection of vehicles to the park.<\/p>

The Mewes Vets Dog Show was a big hit, with dogs and their owners taking part in a range of fun classes. From proud pups to enthusiastic owners, the show brought plenty of wagging tails and added another much-loved element to the day’s programme.<\/p>

A key part of Town Day was the opportunity to showcase the wealth of local talent within Haywards Heath, with a packed programme of performances from community groups taking place throughout the afternoon. The day’s entertainment began with Haywards Heath Concert Band, who got the performances underway with live music in the park. They were followed by a fantastic variety of local choirs and dance groups, giving community performers the chance to take to the Town Day stage and entertain the crowds. Their performances provided a wonderful showcase of the talent, creativity and enthusiasm found within the local community.<\/p>

Alongside the entertainment, visitors could explore more than 100 stalls representing local businesses, charities, community groups and organisations. There were opportunities to learn about local causes, support community initiatives, take part in games and activities, browse a variety of products and meet the people behind some of the organisations that help make Haywards Heath such a vibrant place to live.<\/p>

There was also plenty of choice when it came to food and drink, with vendors serving a wide range of dishes and refreshments throughout the day. From street food and sweet treats to coffee and drinks at the bar, visitors could grab something to eat and make a day of their visit to Victoria Park.<\/p>

As the afternoon turned into evening, the focus shifted towards Town Day’s live music programme. Local performer Lizzie Bea took to the stage at 6pm, bringing her West End experience to her hometown. Lizzie has performed in major productions including Hairspray, Sister Act and Les Mis\u00e9rables, and her performance was a highlight of the evening programme.<\/p>

Annual Town Day comp\u00e8re Paul Stanworth returned to the stage at 6.30pm, performing an acoustic set of popular songs that the crowds enjoyed singing along to.<\/p>

Local indie-pop duo Sweet Loretta followed at 7pm. The Haywards Heath duo brought their feel-good sound to the stage, with their music drawing on influences from the 1970s and 1980s and providing the perfect build-up to the night’s finale.<\/p>

The celebrations culminated in a spectacular performance from ABBA ReBj\u00f6rn at 7.30pm. The highly energetic tribute band brought the music, costumes and unmistakable sound of ABBA to Victoria Park, performing a set packed with some of the group’s biggest and best-loved hits. Their performance had the crowd singing and dancing along as Town Day drew to a lively close, providing a fitting finale to a day of community entertainment.<\/p>

Town Day also provided an opportunity to support Town Mayor Cllr Duncan Pascoe’s chosen charity for his second term of office, Kangaroos Mid Sussex. The charity supports children and adults with learning disabilities by providing activities, opportunities and support. Visitors were able to make donations to Kangaroos throughout the day, with donation buckets positioned at the Town Council gazebos. Kangaroos also hosted a Quiet Area, providing a calm space for anyone who needed a break from the busy event.<\/p>

Town Mayor, Cllr Duncan Pascoe, said: \u201cTown Day is one of the highlights of the year for Haywards Heath, and it was fantastic to see thousands of people enjoying themselves in Victoria Park. The sheer variety of activities, stalls and performances really showed what a wonderful community we have here in Haywards Heath.<\/em><\/p>

\u201cI would like to thank everyone who came along and supported the event, as well as the performers, stallholders, event team and everyone else who helped make the day possible. I\u2019m particularly grateful to everyone who supported Kangaroos Mid Sussex, my chosen charity, and helped us raise awareness of the fantastic work they do.\u201d<\/em><\/p>

Haywards Heath Town Council would also like to thank the event’s sponsors, HAYDENSWAN Eyecare, Belvoir and P&S Gallagher, whose generous support helped make it possible to continue offering Town Day as a free event for the community.<\/p>

The Council would like to extend its thanks to all of the more than 100 stallholders, performers, community groups, food and drink vendors, and event staff who contributed to the day, as well as everyone who attended and helped create such a fantastic atmosphere.<\/p>

If you attended Town Day, please take a few minutes to complete the feedback form on our website: \u00a0www.haywardsheath.gov.uk\/town-day<\/a>. Your feedback will help us plan future events and ensure they continue to meet the needs and interests of our community. Thank you in advance for your participation.<\/p>

By Kelly Lewis<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Victoria Park was filled with the sound of music, laughter and community spirit on Saturday 12th September, as thousands of people came together for the biggest Haywards Heath Town Day yet. The annual celebration brought the town together for a full day of free entertainment and activities, with more than 100 stalls filling the park. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":12,"featured_media":66475,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1207],"tags":[],"directory-category":[],"event_categories":[],"class_list":["post-66474","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-local-news"],"acf":[],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-09-29 00:27:43","action":"change-status","newStatus":"trash","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thefamilygrapevine.co.uk\/midsussex\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/66474","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thefamilygrapevine.co.uk\/midsussex\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thefamilygrapevine.co.uk\/midsussex\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thefamilygrapevine.co.uk\/midsussex\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/12"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thefamilygrapevine.co.uk\/midsussex\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=66474"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/thefamilygrapevine.co.uk\/midsussex\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/66474\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":66479,"href":"https:\/\/thefamilygrapevine.co.uk\/midsussex\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/66474\/revisions\/66479"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thefamilygrapevine.co.uk\/midsussex\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/66475"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thefamilygrapevine.co.uk\/midsussex\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=66474"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thefamilygrapevine.co.uk\/midsussex\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=66474"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thefamilygrapevine.co.uk\/midsussex\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=66474"},{"taxonomy":"directory-category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thefamilygrapevine.co.uk\/midsussex\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/directory-category?post=66474"},{"taxonomy":"event_categories","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thefamilygrapevine.co.uk\/midsussex\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/event_categories?post=66474"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}