A celebration of gin and rum came to the University of Reading’s Great Hall.
The touring festival celebrates the popular drinks with a mixture of speciality spirits, music and drink ideas. It attracted lots of happy customers and is set to return next year.
A new coffee shop opened on Oxford Road. Portugese pastries are available at Time 4 Coffee, with owner Karim Acabarali saying they saw a gap in the market for such a venture.
Caversham Court Gardens was given a Green Flag and granted Green Heritage Accreditation – one of only 17 to be given the award in the south east.
South Street Arts Centre and The Grumpy Goat teamed up for a celebration of beer and music with Craft Theory. The celebration saw beers from Phantom Brewery, Double-Barrelled Brewery, Siren Craft Brew, Elusive Brewing and Dolphin Brewing.
Proceeds went to Refugee Support Group.
Kemianna Spence joined other Scouts for the World Scout Jamboree in South Korea. The 16-year-old explored the country, and met people from all over the world for the event which had the theme Draw Your Dream.
Reading Biscuit Factory celebrated its second birthday with a weekend of fun events, while a dinosaur takeover saw Reading town centre head back to the Jurassic era with some toy brick models. The prehistoric animals formed a trail that children could follow over the school holidays.
A Mela took over Palmer Park, acting as a showcase of the best in south Asian music, dance and performance. Among those performing were Channi Singh OBE, Jenna, Asli Baharan Punjab Siyan, Meshi Sandhu, Arma, and Malik.
Aradhana Singh, the Mela’s lead organiser, said: “We are thrilled to have witnessed such an overwhelming response to this community festive event” .
Reading’s uniquely named refuse carts added to its fleet. New trucks now on the streets include Dusty Binfield and John MaWasteSki. There is also a Bincent Van Gone.
A carnival came to Reading town centre. Marking the 75th anniversary of Windrush, the event brought dance, music, world food and carnival costumes. African band Yaram gave a display of traditional music and dancing at the event organised by CultureMix Arts and REDA.
Another celebration was the Kenyans in Reading Family Fun Day, held at the Ibis Health Club with organisers describing the atmosphere as ‘electric’ despite poor weather.
A new pancake restaurant opened in Reading town centre, and is a sweet-toothed haven. Fluffy Fluffy produces Japanese souffle pancakes with a range of toppings ranging from fruit to very chocolatey.
Reading Bus drivers were given an 8% pay rise, with union Unite praising the firm for its negotiation tactic of coming to the table with a good starting offer.
A warning was issued that the town could run out of burial space by 2030 unless new sites can be indentified.
Cllr Liz Terry said: “The acute shortage of space is mirrored in many other towns”.
Reading Festival took place, as ever, over the August Bank Holiday weekend. There were three days of music including Sam Fender, Sea Girls, The 1975, Only The Poets and Imagine Dragons.
Reading-based The Amazons’ Matt Thomson said: “It’s really good to be up there (on the main stage)”.
Also making their debut was Only The Poets on the BBC Introducing Stage. Lead vocalist Tommy said “This festival is a really big part of why we started and why we wanted to be in a band.”
