Mayor confirms exciting plans for Royal Hillsborough celebrations

September 28, 2021

Lisburn & Castlereagh City Council has been working closely with the local Hillsborough community and key partners to plan a programme of celebrations marking the award of Royal Status to Hillsborough Village.

Council Members were taken through the detail of the exciting plans at tonight’s full council meeting (28 September)

Mayor, Alderman Stephen Martin leads the Council’s Royal Hillsborough Working Group and said that he felt honoured to be Mayor during this time:

“I am delighted with how our plans to celebrate Royal Hillsborough are coming together and I am really excited to see them get underway towards the end of this month. A lot of time and effort has gone into making sure that we approach the celebrations in a way that is inclusive with a key focus on the people of Hillsborough.

I will officially launch the programme on Friday 22 October with a Civic Dinner to recognise those who are integral to Hillsborough community life and those who contributed significantly to our successful bid for Royal Status.

I am particularly looking forward to the Hillsborough Farmer’s Market the next day (23 October) which will be followed by a beautiful lantern parade in the evening involving children from the local schools. The night’s events will be closed with a community fireworks display for Hillsborough residents.

Moving into November, we have collaborated with St Malachy’s Church to hold an inter-denominational service of thanksgiving with local young people playing a key role in proceedings.

We plan to run the celebrations into next year, having secured funding from Tourism NI for a special concert to take place before March 2022. We hope that this will attract visitors from outside Northern Ireland and support the development of Royal Hillsborough as a key tourism destination. We also have a Community Fun Day planned which I hope will be a key highlight for local people.

Hillsborough is one of only 4 towns/villages across the UK with Royal Status. This is history in the making and a moment to be cherished and celebrated. I look forward to the year ahead.”

Full details of the programme will be published on the Council’s website in due course.