Royal Wedding street parties - Are you going to one?

Reports are now suggesting there are as many as 5,000 street parties being organised to celebrate the Royal Wedding on the 29th April 2011. 

In Scotland, where the happy couple met, 12 parties are planned in Edinburgh, but in Glasgow the only celebration organised has been cancelled due to lack of interest.

Latest figures show seven road closures have been approved in Newcastle, 10 in Manchester, 15 in Liverpool and 16 in Birmingham.

There's a definite north-south divide. Fifty-three parties are planned in Bristol, 35 in Brighton, 30 in Cardiff, and around 500 in London.

But that's still far fewer than when Charles and Diana married. Some have blamed red tape and cost for a lack of 'street party spirit'. Last week the Prime Minister hit out at "petty bureaucracy" and urged people to celebrate, as he will be in Downing Street.

"Let me put it like this," he told the audience at a PM Direct event. "I am the Prime Minister and I am telling you if you want to have a street party, you go ahead and have one."

2 billion people expected to watch the Royal Wedding

It is anticipated that the Royal Wedding of Prince William and Catherine Middleton will be watched by 2 billion people around the world.

The Culture Secretary, Jeremy Hunt said: “The Royal Wedding is likely to be watched by a global television audience of around 2 billion.”

It is estimated that 750 million viewers watched the wedding of Prince of Wales and Diana Spencer in 1981. Princess Diana’s funeral reportedly attracted a worldwide audience of 2.5 billion people in 1997.

More than a million people are expected to celebrate the wedding by attending street parties or by watching the events on screens outdoors.

Tens of thousands of well-wishers are expected to flock to London on the big day.  Spectators will be able to watch the Royal Wedding live on two big screens in Hyde Park and Trafalgar Square.

As well as London, screens in cities across the UK will also broadcast the event – Birmingham, Derby, Dover, Eastbourne, Leicester, Liverpool, Norwich, Plymouth, Swansea, Swindon will all have big screens in major public places.

North America’s Eastern States will be just waking up when the service begins at 11am British Summer Time and, in regions such as the Middle East, the Far East, Australia and New Zealand, viewers will be able to watch events live in the evening.

For details of screen venues and street parties in your area please contact your local authority.

A new British beer to celebrate the Royal Wedding

Breweries have been hard at work producing special celebration ales with which to toast the health of Prince William and Kate Middleton - from Castle Rock's Kiss Me Kate and Marston's Perfect Union to Something Blue from Durham Brewery and I Will from Wold Top.

Wadworth brewery in Devizes, Wiltshire, is rolling out a Better Half ale and product manager Christine Evers said: 'We thought what better than to have a bit of fun and celebrate our heritage and Royal family with a celebratory ale.

'People are going to have more time to spend in the pub and we wanted to share in the celebration by creating a truly British product for them to enjoy.' Adnams' brewery in Southwold, Suffolk, has launched its limited edition Royal Wedding ale.

 Head brewer Fergus Fitzgerald said: 'Adnams has a history of brewing special beers to mark Royal weddings - three generations of them - so we couldn't let this one pass without opening up the recipe book again.'

Business is already booming for the Windsor & Eton Brewery, Berkshire, founded less than a year ago. Interest in its specially brewed Windsor Knot ale has come from as far afield as America, New Zealand and Australia.

The British Beer and Pub Association chief executive Brigid Simmonds said: 'Fine British beers have always been crucial to the nation's economic and cultural heart, so it is only appropriate that brewers are pulling out all the stops to make this a truly enjoyable event.'

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