Queen's Diamond Jubilee: Wales to host over 300 street parties

The number of Diamond Jubilee street parties in Wales is set to exceed those which celebrated the wedding of the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge.

Councils have received 308 applications for street closures in June - 100 more than for Prince William's marriage to Kate Middleton last year.

Rhondda Cynon Taf council received the most in Wales with 58 applications.

Cardiff council received over 40 applications, while Merthyr Tydfil was the only council to receive none.

The number does not count more parties over the extended jubilee holiday weekend, on those roads which need no application to close.

The festivities, which will take place across the UK from 2 June to 5 June, mark 60 years of the Queen's reign.

In north Wales, Wrexham council received 14 street closure applications and a community party with a difference is being planned in Trelawnyd, near Prestatyn.

A carnival queen will be crowned in the village on 3 June, but all entrants must be close to the same age as the 86-year-old monarch they are celebrating.

"We have a lot of elderly people in our village who can remember the coronation, so it's nice to get them involved," said event organiser Valerie Meehan.

"Our village is quite rural and we haven't had a carnival for 12 years, so residents thought it was a great opportunity to get together again."

In Rhondda Cynon Taf, St David Parish Church in Hopkinstown will host a traditional long-table celebration.

People do enjoy a good party around here and it's a celebration they are keen to grab hold of”

The Reverend David Sheen believes the high number of parties across the county underlines the community spirit which still exists.

He said: "People do enjoy a good party around here and it's a celebration they are keen to grab hold of.

"There's a community spirit which has perhaps been lost in some urban areas.

"From a church perspective, the event appeals because the Queen is a woman of Christian faith and has underlined that in several of her recent speeches."

Many councils across Wales have now stopped taking street closure applications, but residents in Cardiff can apply up until 14 May.

Royal enthusiasts in the city can look forward to a home-coming parade by the Queen's guards on 2 June and a party in St Mary Street the following day.

At Chapter Arts Centre in the Canton area of the city, new community gardens will be decked with bunting and open for one day only on 3 June, ahead of their official launch a month later.

In Swansea, 28 street closure applications have been received by the council, which has also organised the lighting of a Beacon at Swansea Castle, as 2,012 are lit across the UK.

Flintshire and Denbighshire councils received eight and five street closure applications respectively.

The bordering counties will join in celebration when a beacon is lit at the top of Moel Famau on 4 June.

Protesters against the monarchy also plan to climb to the Jubilee Tower on top of the mountain as part of a national republican flag rally on the same day.

According to figures to local government, councils have received 6,500 applications for road closures across the UK, around 1,000 more than for the royal wedding.

SOURCE: Local authorities

Anglesey

4

Blaenau Gwent

10

Bridgend

10

Caerphilly

18

Cardiff

40

Carmarthenshire

6

Ceredigion

1

Conwy

12

Denbighshire

5

Flintshire

8

Gwynedd

1

Merthyr Tydfil

0

Monmouthshire

12

Neath Port Talbot

17

Newport

14

Pembrokeshire

12

Powys

21

Rhondda Cynon Taf

58

Swansea

28

Torfaen

8

Vale of Glamorgan

9

Wrexham

14

Total for Wales

308