The Duke of Cambridge will be the very special guest at a celebratory MK50 event in Campbell Park, Milton Keynes on 26 September.
His Royal Highness will meet a number of community leaders before joining a ceremony at the Milton Keynes Rose in Campbell Park to commemorate Milton Keynes’ fiftieth anniversary, at which The Duke will make a short speech before unveiling a pillar to celebrate the city’s founders in the early afternoon.
The Milton Keynes Rose features a calendar of days important to local people represented by 105 pillars arranged in the geometric design of a flower.
The Duke will also attend a festival zone in the park showcasing the city’s innovations, diverse communities, cultural aspirations and green heritage.
Campbell Park is cared for and maintained by The Parks Trust, an independent charity that looks after more than 6,000 acres of green space in Milton Keynes.
Local people are welcome in Campbell Park on a first come, first serve basis, and around 1,200 public viewing spaces will be available at the Milton Keynes Rose including a dedicated area for wheelchair users (also on a first come, first serve basis).
The Milton Keynes Rose viewing area opens at 8am and will be wristband controlled. Security searches will be in place. Wristbands will be available from 7am at the park entrance closest to the centre:mk (over the bridge).
A second public area slightly further from the Milton Keynes Rose (not wristband controlled) will have capacity for an additional 2,000 people.
There will be no public parking in Campbell Park on the day. Please visit www.milton-keynes.gov.uk or www.theparkstrust.co.uk for a list of security restricted items and for more information.
The Mayor of Milton Keynes David Hopkins and Milton Keynes Council Chief Executive Carole Mills will greet The Duke on his arrival at the festival zone.
Mayor David Hopkins said:
“We’re incredibly proud of the progress made by Milton Keynes in its first fifty years and we’re delighted His Royal Highness will get to see some of our achievements first hand, and meet Milton Keynes people, during our special year.
A city that started as the dream of politicians and planners in the late 1960s is now the most successful part of the new towns movement and a cultural artefact in its own right. Milton Keynes’ founders used their ambition, creativity, dedication and community spirit to shape and animate our ‘Amazing MK’, and we’re honoured that The Duke will unveil the newly dedicated Founders’ Pillar.”
David Foster, Chief Executive of The Parks Trust said:
“We are delighted that His Royal Highness will be visiting Campbell Park, one of our finest parks, and the Milton Keynes Rose. This shows the importance of the fantastic green space that Milton Keynes has to offer. We look forward to showing him the important role the landscape has in making Milton Keynes such a great place to live and work.
As an independent charity caring for over 6,000 acres of green space across Milton Keynes we are very proud to be part of such an important occasion and to welcome His Royal Highness to our parks.”
Debbie Brock DL, Chair of The Milton Keynes Cenotaph Trust, which co-founded the Milton Keynes Rose with Milton Keynes Council and The Parks Trust said:
“Artist Gordon Young’s incredible design of the Milton Keynes Rose charts the history of Milton Keynes right from events of the older settled communities through to the establishment of the New Town right up to the present day. Throughout the year people come to The Milton Keynes Rose to celebrate, commemorate and contemplate, they have met at times of shock and distress too. There are stories behind every dedicated Pillar, on many occasions bringing people together, creating shared experiences and building collective memories.
“We are honoured that His Royal Highness The Duke of Cambridge will visit The Milton Keynes Rose fifty years since the city was designated, acknowledging those Founders who made a difference to our lives today. Not only will the date of his visit live on in our memories but also be recorded in our unique civic space”.
In 2007, Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II visited Milton Keynes to mark its 40th anniversary, opening the stadium:mk, The Hub, and the St John’s Ambulance Centre at Greenleys. In 1979 Her Majesty opened the Civic Offices in Milton Keynes. Photographs from both years will be on display at the event.
Special MK50 events and activities have taken place throughout 2017 and many local organisations have experienced record visitor numbers. The anniversary is also an opportunity to look forward, with significant announcements made including the creation of MK:U – a new technology university for the city - as well as Milton Keynes’ bid to become European Capital of Culture in 2023.
