Our Year of Celebrations
29th April 2021 is Centenary Day
As a result of seven years of planning, an army of volunteers, collaborations with partners and the generous support of many sponsors we have put on a birthday for our town and community worthy of its status. We hope that the much anticipated Carnival will be held in 2022.
As we officially close our celebrations on Centenary Day, 29 April 2021, we believe we are leaving a Centenary legacy for the next 100 years, inspiring the next generation to be equally proud of our wonderful town.
Don't Forget...
The Great Centenary Chase
Ebenezer Howard - the Garden City pioneer
Ebenezer Howard had huge vision when he created the concept of Garden Cities and the marriage of town and country, building Welwyn Garden City in 1920.
The crowning glory of our year of celebrations must be this magnificent sculpture of Ebenezer Howard, created by local sculptor Ben Twiston-Davies, finally installed in pride of place on Howardsgate on 14 April 2021.
The statue is full of symbolism. He presses forwards giving a rousing speech before digging the first spadeful of earth of our Garden City. The rose in his lapel reminds us of his patriotism, his socialism, his belief in the importance of beauty and the marriage of town and country.
The story of the sculpture
We hope you enjoy this fascinating film covering the story of the sculpture, the inspiration; the creation and finally the installation.
Sculptor Ben Twiston-Davies shares the story of the man behind the sculpture and its place in wonderful Welwyn Garden City.
When the Welwyn Garden City Centenary Foundation was formed in 2014, our ambition was to ensure there was something for everyone. We can all be very proud of what we have achieved despite a global pandemic:
- The magic of our opening ceremony Garden City Lights
- Events celebrating sport for all
- Days of dance and song celebrating music and the performing arts
- 2020 bulbs and a share of 100 trees planted in each of our primary schools
- The hugely popular 20.20km Centenary Walk
- New welcome signs to the town by road, bus and rail
- The annual schools photographic competition
- Four City of Trees walks celebrating the town’s 19,000 trees
- The Henry Moore statue by the Coronation Fountain
- Our beautiful Centenary Woodland Garden on the Campus
- An International Symposium to be held in September 2021.
As a result of seven years of planning, an army of volunteers, collaborations with many partners and the generous support of many sponsors we have put on a birthday for our town and community worthy of its status. We hope that the much anticipated Carnival will be held in 2022.
As we officially close our celebrations on Centenary Day, 29 April 2021, we believe we are leaving a Centenary legacy for the next 100 years, inspiring the next generation to be equally proud of our wonderful town.
Peter Waine
Chairman of the Welwyn Garden City Centenary Foundation.
Our 100th birthday film
Nick Faldo
Professional Golfer
Woody & Kleiny
YouTubers
Alesha Dixon
TV personality
We would like to extend sincere thanks to all our sponsors, partners and volunteers, and our community without whom our fantastic year of celebrations would not have been possible.
Events to look forward to...
Carnival!
Parkway, WGC
We have taken great care to ensure the accuracy of every event listed here, but suggest you check details of events nearer the time just in case there have been changes.
Explore our Signature Events by clicking on the icons below
News
The Next 100 Years – Stay Involved
If you’ve enjoyed finding out more about our town’s history and are keen to stay involved in its future, you might like to read more about these proactive groups in Welwyn Garden City.
Great Centenary Chase – Winners
Thank you everyone who took part in the Great Centenary Chase competition. We’re delighted to announce our winners!
Woodland Garden – Planting Tips
The wood is a place of wonderment and learning; teaming with life and yet when we have those challenging, dry but shady sites within our own garden space, we tend to panic. Read some top tips from our Centenary Woodland Garden Designer Gianna Utilini.
Walk, cycle, run, explore & have fun outdoors in WGC!
Two new activity maps were launched yesterday as part of the Welwyn Garden City Centenary Foundation’s Sport for All project.
Collecting the Centenary
Welwyn Hatfield Museum Service and the Centenary Foundation have been working to record the Centenary year of Welwyn Garden City and the impact the pandemic has had on the planned celebrations.
Magnificent new statue of Ebenezer Howard on Howardsgate
The magnificent statue of Ebenezer Howard created by talented sculptor Ben Twiston-Davies has now been unveiled on Howardsgate. Creating a new commemorative sculpture to the town’s founder was one of the most popular requests from the community for the town’s centenary celebrations, and we ensured we found the right sculptor to do justice to the visionary founder of our town.
Celebrating 100 years of Music & Performing Arts in Welwyn Garden City
Welwyn Garden City has a long and proud history of amateur music and theatre groups since construction of the town began in 1920. The original founders of the town were passionate about music, theatre and sport which formed a vital part of Ebenezer Howard’s vision of building a town and community for healthy living.
Ebenezer Howard memorial makes way for new sculpture of our town’s founder
Eagle eyed residents may have noticed that the Ebenezer Howard memorial roundel has been lifted from its home on Howardsgate – a herculean task which took three hours!
Goodbye 2020, hello 2021
What a year 2020 was. Welwyn Harmony started the year on a high having just won the “Most Improved Chorus” award at a national ladies’ singing competition.
EBENEZER HOWARD: A Birthday Tribute.
Sir Ebenezer Howard OBE was born 171 years ago on 29 January 1850. This tribute outlines his life and how he founded Welwyn Garden City.
