Diamond year ahead for Crawley!

Crawley New Town turned 75 on Sunday (9 January) – the date in 1947 when it was announced that the area around Crawley, Three Bridges and Ifield had been chosen as the location for one of eight new towns around London.

On January 9 1947 the then Minister for Town and Country Planning, Lewis Silkin MP, confirmed the order designating Crawley as a new town. The intention was to move people and industry out of the overcrowded and bomb-damaged capital and into the countryside.

The aim was to create a town of 50,000 people by building nine new neighbourhoods between the villages of Three Bridges, Ifield and the small market town of Crawley. 

Since then, Crawley has grown beyond the original vision to become 14 neighbourhoods with a population of more than 120,000 people.

To mark the new town’s diamond anniversary, Crawley Borough Council asked students from across the town to design a logo to ‘badge’ the 75th anniversary events. Several quality logos were submitted and the winning design was announced at Crawley Museum on Monday (10 January).

The design, incorporating a diamond and all 14 colours of Crawley’s neighbourhoods, was created by Willow Smith who attends Dormans Youth Arts Centre.

The council is working together with Crawley Town Centre BID, Creative Crawley and Crawley Festival to plan a programme of events that celebrates the diverse and vibrant cultural life in Crawley. 

It’s hoped that 2022 will see the return of regular annual events such as Crawley Festival, WORDfest, STEMfest, FUSION Festival, St George’s Day, the Continental street market, Crawley Museum exhibitions and more. There are plans for an array of new events too, some specifically designed to celebrate Crawley New Town turning 75 with a vintage street party in Memorial Gardens in the spring, an exciting community show at The Hawth, tea parties and an end-of-year sound and light show.

Crawley Town Centre BID is working in partnership with Creative Crawley to create an exciting cultural calendar with pop-up workshops and exhibitions, youth and arts projects, food and craft fairs on the High Street.

Visit our events page for an up-to-date list of events.

In celebration of the 75th birthday, the council would also like to hear about any clubs, societies or schools that are planning, or would like to arrange, small community led events to celebrate the town’s platinum year.

The celebrations could be anything from community bake sales, 1940s themed parties, or a themed activity which remembers and celebrates any part of our town’s 75-year journey. Please email your ideas to events@crawley.gov.uk

In addition, the council’s Open Grants scheme is now open for applications for neighbourhood action. This can include events celebrating Crawley’s 75th anniversary so for more information and to apply for funding visit our grants pages. 

2022 also marks the 70th year of The Queen’s reign and Platinum Jubilee celebrations are planned for the first weekend of June with the lighting of the millennium beacon in Tilgate Park and the Big Jubilee picnic.

If you are planning a street party, visit our organise an event page for further information.
 

For the latest events information visit our events page, read Crawley Live, find us on Facebook or use #Crawley75 on Twitter (@crawleybc) for up-to-date information.