Film commemorates former Mayor of Chichester's Covid thank-you

His Over The Rainbow party has been captured in a 15-minute film by Clive Hand assisted by members of the Chichester Film and Video Makers.

It’s a chance to relive the Over the Rainbow Party in Priory Park, but this time in the dry. Sadly, it really did rain on Richard’s parade on the day, but as Richard says, the wet weather really didn’t dampen the spirit of the occasion – and that’s what the film captures.

As he says, there is a lovely moment in the film when Chichester City Band are playing Somewhere Over The Rainbow with the euphonium soloist protected under an umbrella: “It is really quite moving.”

During his mayoral two-year term of office, Richard promised to throw a party for the whole of the Chichester community to say thank you to the NHS, particularly St Richard’s staff, but also to all the front-line workers – once the virus was manageable and most of us had had our jabs.

Having discussed it with the Chichester Community Network and through the Chichester City Council community affairs committee, chaired by Cllr Clare Apel, a separate, independent event committee was set up for Over the Rainbow, with the assistance of the Chichester City Council, drawing on the experience of the successful Priory Park 100 event in 2018.

The free event in Priory Park took place on Thursday, September 30 from 5-8pm under the Rotary banner. September 30 was the day of the celebrations for Priory Park’s centenary three years earlier.

Chichester vintage entertainer Dawn Gracie, the city band and the Chichester Big Band were among the attractions, with food provided by UK Harvest and Natures Way.

The film premiere is a private event at Chichester Cinema at New Park, but Richard is hoping to go public with the film at some point.

“I think it’s the sort of thing that really sums up how well Chichester did during the pandemic and it would be lovely for people to relive the experience of the party. We quite quickly forget about the worst of things but this was a thank you to all the people who stepped up at a really difficult time in the city and for everyone.

“The Record Office has taken in lots of things concerning the pandemic because they feel that in the future people will be wanting to know what it was like and what it was all about. During the pandemic a lot of little bits of film that I did for social media have now gone into the archives and they asked if there was going to be some sort of recording of the party. Clive Hand is fantastic and he has really captured a little bit of history. It was wet but it didn’t ruin the spirit of the occasion and it went very well.

“It was the first time that Chichester City Band and the Big Band were able to come out and perform and that was great and you can’t go anywhere without having a good time if you have got Dawn Gracie performing!”

Last year Richard also brought together the open letters which he wrote to the city during the crisis.

They were published by Chichester City Council as Covid Chronicles – 2020-21: The Open Letters of Chichester’s Mayor.

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