Folkingham Remembers Operation Market Garden

Held over the weekend of Saturday 14th and Sunday 15th September 2024, this FREE Event commenced at 10.30am and finished at 5.00pm each day. 

Saturday 14th and Sunday 15th September 2024

Our intention was to turn back the clock 80 years in Folkingham and to recreate the village as it was in 1944. There was something for everyone, with American GI Enactors walking the streets, The Land Army Girls and Home Guard in residence on the Millennium Orchard, and entertainers galore who transported visitors back to the Village Hall Dances of yesteryear. There was an extensive exhibition about USAAF Folkingham, so everyone could learn a little more about what life was like on the base.  Peterborough Wargamers demonstrated the battle for Arnhem with their models that fascinated so many of our visitors. We held a suite of lectures from a stellar cast of speakers, all able to shed light into the lives of the men who flew from Folkingham, and the villagers that welcomed them 80 years earlier. With the engagement of Folkingham Creative Arts, Lindissi and the Aveland Arts Attack team, there were a variety of make and take activities for all ages. 
The Map and Programme below demonstrate the range and extent of the activites and enactments, as well as synopses of the lectures. The whole weekend created memories and brought to vivid life the sacrifice that the American troops made through the year they spent in the village – the year of 1944.