Tilgate Park is gearing up for an unforgettable afternoon of free live music in celebration of its 60th anniversary at its Sunday Sounds event, running from 1pm to 7pm on Sunday 20 September.

This special, one-off event will take place in the picturesque Walled Garden at Tilgate Park, bringing together a fantastic line-up of local musicians and bands for an afternoon of live entertainment including:

• local acoustic performer Toby Urquhart
• indie rock band Kosta D and the Fortune Tellers
• modern rock powerhouse The Handfull
• authentic soul and blues band Soul Traders

Visitors can relax and enjoy a wide selection of food and drink, including vegan options from onsite vendors. Guests are encouraged to bring their own chairs to make the most of the afternoon and enjoy the performances in comfort. For the safety and enjoyment of all attendees, dogs are not permitted at this event.

Sunday Sounds is set to be one of Tilgate Park’s most memorable community celebrations – a unique, one off event offering a relaxed, family friendly atmosphere in one of Crawley’s most scenic outdoor spaces; a perfect way to mark 60 years of Tilgate Park.

Tilgate Park is one of Crawley’s most loved attractions and its 60th anniversary is a wonderful opportunity to bring people together. Sunday Sounds will showcase some brilliant local talent and provide a relaxed, family-friendly atmosphere for people to enjoy. We’re delighted to introduce this event as part of our anniversary celebrations.

Councillor Michael Jones

Leader of Crawley Borough Council

To plan your visit to Tilgate Park, visit our Plan your visit page.

To keep up to date on Sunday Sounds, see our Events page.

A lineside track fire has been revealed as the cause that disrupted rail services between London and the Southeast on Sunday evening.

Southern Railway says that the fire happenned between Gatwick Airport and Purley in Croydon.

Overhead signal cables became damaged in the blaze which led to disruptions yesterday morning.

Visitors are being encouraged to explore Tilgate Park like never before by taking part in the Tilgate Park Trail Challenge and discovering the park’s fascinating tree trail, both available throughout the summer.

As part of this year’s Tilgate at 60 celebrations, the free family-friendly trail challenge invites visitors to search for secret markers hidden across some of Tilgate Park’s most popular attractions, including Tilgate Golf Centre, Lakeside Café, Tilgate Watersports, Go Ape, the Walled Garden Café and Tilgate Zoo. Participants who find all the markers and solve the final clue can enter a prize draw, making it a fun challenge for families, adventurers and curious explorers of all ages.

Visitors can also explore Tilgate Park’s impressive collection of trees through the park’s tree trail, which highlights 30 champion trees from around the world, including species from China, Africa, Europe and America. Each trail tree is marked with its name and a number, creating a fun and educational activity for children and adults alike.

With the school holidays now underway, these trails offer the perfect opportunity to get outdoors, enjoy some fresh air and discover more of what Tilgate Park has to offer.

Councillor Michael Jones, Leader of Crawley Borough Council, and Councillor Chris Mullins, Cabinet member for Leisure and Wellbeing, recently completed the tree trail themselves, exploring the park and learning more about Tilgate Park’s diverse collection of champion trees.

Tilgate Park is one of Crawley’s most treasured attractions. The trail challenge is a fantastic way to celebrate Tilgate at 60 while encouraging residents and visitors to explore different areas of the park. Combined with the tree trail, there is plenty to discover, making it a great day out for families during the summer holidays.

Councillor Michael Jones

Leader of Crawley Borough Council

Visitors can download the Tilgate at 60 trail challenge from our Tilgate Park at 60 page, and start their adventure.

The tree trail can be found on our Attractions at Tilgate Park page.

Gatwick Airport has received the green light for its northern runway project.

It’s after the court of appeal rejected legal challenges brought on by two groups which opposed the plans.

The ruling brings to an end an eight-year planning and legal process which scrutinised every aspect of the expansion plan.

Reigate and Banstead Borough Council have successfully obtained a grant from the Chewing Gum Task Force, administered by environmental charity Keep Britain Tidy, to help clean up gum and reduce gum littering.

Reigate & Banstead Borough Council today announced ambitious plans to remove the chewing gum that blights local streets after receiving a £12,141.86 grant to tackle the issue.

The council is one of 50 across the country that have successfully applied to the Chewing Gum Task Force, now in its fifth year, for funds to clean gum off pavements and prevent it from being littered in the first place.

The Chewing Gum Task Force grant scheme – established by Defra (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs) and run by environmental charity Keep Britain Tidy – is open to councils across the UK who wish to clean up gum in their local areas and invest in long-term behaviour change to prevent it from being dropped in the first place.

The Task Force is funded by major gum manufacturers including Mars Wrigley and Perfetti Van Melle, with an investment of up to £10 million spread over five years.

In the past four years, the Task Force has awarded grants worth a total of £6.46 million, funded the cleaning of over 4.15 million square metres of pavements.

Monitoring and evaluation carried out by Behaviour Change – a not-for-profit social enterprise – has shown that in areas that benefitted from funding, a reduced rate of gum littering of up to 86% was seen in the first two months.

Reductions were still being observed six months after targeted street cleansing and the installation of specially designed signage to encourage people to bin their gum.

Cllr Hannah Avery, Executive Member for Neighbourhood Services, said: “We believe this funding can have a long-term impact in Redhill and local people will be inspired to keep the town centre cleaner and chewing gum free.

“Later this month, there will be a specialist, deep clean of the pedestrian area to kickstart the campaign, followed by bright signage on lampposts with a simple message to ‘Bin your gum’. We want local residents, businesses and visitors to all get behind it.

“The installation of 32 solar-powered, big belly bins in Redhill town centre in 2024 has helped to reduce litter, but now we want to remind people there is no excuse for dropping gum.”

According to Keep Britain Tidy, around 77% of England’s streets and 99% of retail sites are stained with gum.

Allison Ogden-Newton OBE, Keep Britain Tidy’s Chief Executive, said: “While chewing gum litter remains a stubborn eyesore in our public spaces, the good news is that this scheme is already driving major improvements.

“As an environmental charity, we know that every piece of gum dropped irresponsibly damages the environment, taking years to break down naturally, while also leaving taxpayers to foot the bill for costly clean-up operations.

“Everyone in Redhill can play a part in creating cleaner, greener streets for all by binning their gum properly.”