National celebrations 

The Coronation is a time for celebration across the nation and the Commonwealth. There'll be a weekend of special events.

Saturday 6 May 2023

The Coronation ceremony takes place at Westminster Abbey, London. The solemn religious ceremony is conducted by the Archbishop of Canterbury. It will feature twelve newly commissioned pieces of music, showcasing musical talent from across the United Kingdom and the Commonwealth.

Sunday 7 May 2023

A spectacular Coronation concert will be performed at Windsor Castle. Iconic locations across the UK will be lit up using projections, lasers, drone displays and illuminations. The concert will be broadcast live from the grounds of Windsor Castle. It will bring together music icons, current stars, a world-class orchestra and art performances.

Monday 8 May 2023

A special bank holiday has been proclaimed by the Prime Minister in honour of the Coronation. This gives everyone the chance to join others in their area and good causes through Big Help Out activities.

Coronation Big Lunches will also be held up and down the country and across the Commonwealth over the Coronation weekend.

Find out more about the official celebrations on the Coronation website.

Local community events 

Barnsley has a long history of organising community events and street parties to celebrate national events. The late Queen’s Platinum Jubilee was a perfect example of this. There's lots of community events and activities being planned across the borough for the Coronation. It's wonderful to see people coming together to celebrate this milestone. 

National organisers are putting together an interactive map that will enable you to search your local area for events taking place. This is in progress, and we'll share it with you when it’s available. In the meantime, if you are organising a community event, please share your event on the Coronation website. This will ensure it's added to the interactive map.

Another way to find out what’s happening in your area is to follow our area councils social media pages. The area councils will be promoting things happening in their local area. 

If you're still thinking about organising a public event or need any help and advice, please contact our dedicated events team. You can email them at eventplanning@barnsley.gov.uk. 

Barnsley Libraries 

Our wonderful libraries never fail to disappoint and if the late Queen’s jubilee was anything to go by, we’re in for a reet royal treat! Our libraries will all be open on coronation day, Saturday 6 May. They'll be offering plenty of coronation themed art, crafts and activities for all the family. Our libraries will also be creating royal book displays including specially selected royal themed books.

Library @ the Lightbox in the Glass Works will be open on Saturday 6 May and will be live streaming the coronation ceremony on their digital screen.

Keep an eye out to find out what's happening at your local library

Barnsley town centre 

The Coronation of His Majesty the King & Twisted: Barnsley Festival of Natural Art.

Saturday 6 May, 11am to 4pm, Barnsley Town Centre.

We’re delighted to announce that we’ll be hosting a free, one-day event in Glass Works Square. It will feature a whole programme of entertainment, performances, and activities for all the family to enjoy.

A highlight will be welcoming Charles the T-Rex, a new large-scale willow dinosaur to our existing selection of willow ‘Fantastical Beasts’. Charles the T-Rex is a nod to the monarch’s new cypher which includes CR III, where ‘C’ is for Charles and ‘R’ is for Rex, which means King in Latin. Charles the T-Rex will lead the way in our new Kingly Beasts trail in Glass Works Square and mall.

The Coronation event will also feature performances from:

• Folk Dance Remixed - a unique, feel-good fusion of traditional folk and street dance styles around a maypole. This will also include some public participation workshops.
• Barnsley Longsword and Horizon College - Barnsley’s very own English sword dancing team
  will perform a traditional Mummer play with young students from Horizon Community College.
• Outdoor theatre performance by HandMade Theatre who specialise in sustainable outdoor theatre that is inspired by local wildlife – linking in with King Charles passion for wildlife.

Other activities will include:

• Willow crown making - willow artist Maggie Cooper will be on hand to help people make their own willow crown to take home.
• Land art –family art activities linked to nature and outdoors.
• Yarnbombing - Coronation themed woollen bunting and pom-poms created by local community crafts group Yarn in Tarn.

​Barnsley's live screening of the Coronation

We’re delighted to be one of 35 UK locations to host a big screen to show live coverage of the traditional coronation ceremony which will take place at Westminster Abbey on Saturday 6 May.

The screen will be located in Glass Works Square outside Library @ the Lightbox. There'll be picnic benches along May Day green enabling residents to watch the ceremony together. The ceremony will also be shown on an indoor screen in Library @ the Lightbox.

We'll also be screening the spectacular Coronation Concert on Sunday 7 May taking place in the grounds of Windsor Castle. The concert will bring together music icons and contemporary stars together in celebration of this historic occasion.

We hope to see families and friends gathering for these screening to enjoy a picnic but please note that it will be strictly prohibited to bring your own alcohol to the screening.

Times and full screening details are to be confirmed.

Barnsley Museums 

We’re delighted to announce that Cooper Gallery museum have confirmed that they’ll be hosting a Reet Royal Do. This is to celebrate the coronation on Saturday 6 May.

Come along for stories, crafts, and games in the garden. You can even bring your own picnic or afternoon tea to enjoy. The event runs from 11am to 2pm and is aimed at under seven's but everyone’s welcome to enjoy the event.

After the event, why not pop along to the main event in the town centre for lots of entertainment, live performances and family activities.

Keep up to date with museum celebrations and updates on the Barnsley Museums website.

Virtual celebrations 

Keep an eye out on our social media accounts as we countdown to the big weekend. We'll showcase what’s taking place around the borough, take a trip down memory lane to previous Coronation celebrations and much more.

Like us on Facebook or view our Instagram.

Planning your own street party or gathering 

If you're planning on holding a small, private street party or a Coronation event, contact our events team. You can send them an email to eventplanning@barnsley.gov.uk. They can offer lots of help, advice and support to make sure your event runs smoothly, legally and safely.

If you need to close a road to celebrate the Kings Coronation you'll need to complete our online form. This needs to be submitted before 1 April 2023.

The Coronation Big Lunch 

You could use your party to take part in The Coronation Big Lunch. This brings neighbours and communities together to share friendship, food and fun. Sign up to receive your Coronation Big Lunch pack. The pack gives you all you need to get started with ideas, top tips, practical advice and loads more.

Sign up to The Coronation Big Lunch.

The Big Help Out 

We’ll be inspiring residents to take part in The Big Help Out on Monday 8 May. This is a chance to lend a hand and make a change. The Big Help Out will give everyone a chance to join in. From rolling up your sleeves to helping a local group, to supporting some of the UK’s best-known national charities. 

If you want to get involved or find out about volunteering opportunities available locally, visit The Big Help Out website. We’ll also be working with our area teams and Barnsley Community and Voluntary Services (CVC) to share with you Big Help Out opportunities across the borough.

Sending in your stories and photos

After the Coronation weekend, we'll be showcasing all the events, celebrations and activities that took place across the borough. These will become an important part of Barnsley’s archives for future generations to see how we celebrated.

Share your photos of your celebrations with our communications and marketing team. Email communications@barnsley.gov.uk. You can tag us on Twitter or Facebook using @BarnsleyCouncil. We’ll also be sharing your photos and stories on our social media pages.

Get involved virtually 

We hope to celebrate the coronation virtually to embrace and engage with all of our communities - but we need your help.

Please take a look at how you can get involved:

• How are you celebrating the Coronation? We’d love to hear your plans for the Coronation. Are you planning a street party or attending the town centre event? Maybe you’re having a family day watching it in the comfort of your own home? Whatever you plan, we’d love to know how you’ll be marking the occasion so we can share it on our social media channels.
• Have you met King Charles III on one of his many visits to Barnsley? Please share your story and any photo’s you may have.
• Do you remember the last time Barnsley celebrated a coronation – back in 1953 when the late Queen took to the throne? If you do or have relatives with memories to share, we’d love to hear them so we can share them with our communities.
• Are you planning a street party and have any top tips you’d like to share with others? Maybe you’ve some recipe ideas, tips on how to involves all ages or ideas for fun activities and games.

If you’d like to get involved, please get in touch at communications@barnsley.gov.uk

Activity pack and resources 

Details to be updated shortly.

The King's Coronation poster competition

We're really excited to reveal our King’s Coronation poster competition. This invites all children in Barnsley, aged four to 16 years old, to design a poster to celebrate the coronation of the King.

Instructions

Instructions

• Your poster should be on A4 paper or cardboard
• You can use felt pens, crayons, or paint - the choice is yours
• Your poster must include the following wording: Celebrating the Coronation of King Charles III in Barnsley 6 May 2023.
• Please include your name, age, address and contact number on the back of your poster
• Entries from schools, brownies, cubs etc are welcomed - include details of school/group
• Email a scanned copy of your poster to katetownrow@barnsley.gov.uk or post it FAO The Mayor's Office, Barnsley Town Hall, Church St, Barnsley S70 2TA
• Deadline: Friday 28 April

If you’d like to promote the competition within your school or organisation, you can download and print the competition poster which includes all details.

Winners

The competition will have three age categories (Four to seven years, eight to 11 years and 12 to 16 years old) with a winner and runner up in each category.

Winners will be invited to the mayor’s parlour in the town hall on Monday 15 May to meet the mayor and be awarded their prize, certificate and coronation keepsake.

Terms and conditions

• By entering the competition, you agree to have your photo taken for PR usage, if chosen as a winner.
• Entries must be the work of the person named on the poster and of the correct age category.
• Participants must be a Barnsley resident.
• By entering the competition, you consent to Barnsley Council processing your personal information for the purposes of contacting you if you are a winner.
• You also consent to your first name, age, and drawing being used on Barnsley Council social media and in other communications - any further data will be securely destroyed, and your data will not be used for any other purposes.
• For further information on how the council handles and processes personal data please see our privacy notice.

Disruptions over Coronation weekend 

We'll update you with any disruptions over the Coronation weekend.

Stay in touch

You can sign up to the Love Barnsley town centre newsletter to keep up-to-date with the latest news and events.