Higham Ferrers to celebrate the coronation of King Charles III with historical art competition for local kids

Higham Ferrers Tourism is leaning into its historical roots during the coronation period by launching an art competition for local school kids to get creative.

May 6 will see the formal coronation of King Charles III, and entrants to the competition are being asked to craft creative portraits of kings and queens of decades and centuries past, using their imagination to come up with an idea that defines their chosen monarch’s tenure.

Be it Edward III or Henry VI’s reign, during which time Higham Ferrers’ favourite son Henry Chichele was the incumbent Archbishop of Canterbury, there are a vast range of interesting personalities that have sat on the English throne.

An organiser of the competition said: “Perhaps they [Higham school children] could show an armada ship with their portrait of Queen Elizabeth I, or maybe their entry could show Queen Elizabeth II holding a marmalade sandwich.

“There is a wealth of royal portraits available on the internet to give inspiration.”

After submissions that are no larger than A3 are collected, they will be judged by celebrated local artist Ophelia Redpath, Sky Landscape Artist of the Year for 2021.

The winning work will be shown at a special exhibition in Chichele College on Monday, May 8.

It will then go on display at the Chichele Garden Fair on Saturday, May 27, before embarking on a tour of a variety of venues throughout the summer.

Schools are asked to collect entries by Wednesday, May 3. Entries must be labelled with names, ages and the name of the school or group.