HUNDREDS of Southampton residents celebrated the final day of the Jubilee bank holiday in style - despite the rain.

Today, crowds descended on Mayflower Park for the Big Platinum Festival.

The event was organised by Unity 101 Radio and featured live music acts.

While the city’s sky turned grey, excitement was still very much in the air.


Read more: Live updates on last day of Jubilee celebrations


Joanna Brown, 28, visited the festival with her partner.

She told the Daily Echo: “This is definitely the best way to end the holiday. We’ve had so much fun this weekend. It’s sad that we are returning to normal tomorrow and have to go back to our nine to five jobs.”

Mark Heath, 34, added: “I came down with my sister and brother. We originally planned to do a barbecue and that’s it but we heard about this festival from some friends, and we are so happy to be here.”

The festival also featured a range of food stalls selling Greek food, churros, ice cream and Indian food.

There were activities and workshops such as cricket and football to keep the little ones busy.


Read more: Totton gets together for street party despite the rain


To keep the momentum going, The Big Platinum Band took over the stage and performed songs from some of the 54 Commonwealth countries. 

While enjoying the music, Jake Wright, 19, said: "The bands are really good. I think they've played some really nice songs today." 

The festival has proved to be a hit, though some were disappointed not to have been able to see the Red Arrows.

Tom Allan attended the event with his six-year-old son in the hope to see the flypast. 

However, the display was called off due to low clouds and "poor visibility".

Tom, 28, said: "I came here to show my son a great show but was a bit disappointed with the cancellations. 

"My son was very excited to see the aircraft. He was talking about them the entire day.

"But it's all fine, we'll definitely catch them next time."

The celebrations kicked off at 10am and will run until 9pm.

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