THURROCK Council has announced details of its Community Big Lunches for 2026, that will take place at venues across the borough.

Entry to the Big Lunches and the majority of activities, like bouncy castles, facepainting and entertainment, remains free and families are encouraged to take a picnic.

This year, Big Lunches will be held in South Ockendon, East Tilbury, Chadwell St Mary, Blackshots and Corringham.

The Big Lunch is a community-run initiative, supported by a partnership between Start Thurrock, Thurrock Council, Thurrock CVS, Impulse Leisure and Active Essex.

Visitors get to enjoy exciting workshops, performances and creative activities at each location, organised by Start Thurrock.

Impulse Leisure and Find Your Active Thurrock will be putting on physical activities, sports and games for people of all ages to try, plus there will be stalls, face painting, music and a DJ.

Some additional activities may incur a small cost, and refreshments such as tea, coffee, ice creams and cakes will be available to buy on the day.

As the Big Lunches have grown in popularity, so has the scale, with some events growing beyond the capacity of the original parks.

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To help address this and make sure residents can still enjoy events safely in their local area, the Big Lunch team is working with residents in some other areas to support their own smaller, community led events for people who live there.

This includes a community fun day in Purfleet-on-Thames, a community treasure hunt in Aveley, and Tilbury Riverside Project's annual Picnic in the Park which will be happening over the summer period.

As soon as dates and other details are confirmed, they will be publicised locally.

Cllr George Monk, cabinet member for Deregulation, Efficiency and Civic Pride, said: "We know how much residents and especially families love the Big Lunches and we are proud to support them and ensure everyone in the borough has a great, free community celebration close to them."

Katie Beadle, Creative Director at Start Thurrock, said: "The Big Lunches have grown year on year, and we're delighted to be working with partners to bring them back to parks across Thurrock again in 2026. It's really important for communities to have a stake in the activities happening on their doorstep and we've enjoyed working with residents to select new artists, workshops and performances they'd like to see this year, as well as including all the other activities they've come to know and love.

These are going to be great days for all the family – we can't wait to see everyone out at the events"

Big Lunches:

East Tilbury – Thursday 23 July

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Gobions Park, Princess Margaret Rd, East Tilbury, RM18 8TN

South Ockendon – Tuesday 28 July

Dilkes Park, Fairham Ave, South Ockendon, RM15 5NN

Chadwell St Mary – Wednesday 5 August

Pyramid Resource Centre, Heath Road, RM16 3AP

Corringham – Tuesday 11 August

Corringham Town Park, Springhouse Road, Corringham, SS17 7LF

Blackshots – Monday, 17 August

Impulse Leisure, King George's Field, Blackshots Lane, RM16 2LP

The fun at each event starts at 12noon and runs until 4pm.

For more information: Big Lunches 2026 - Start Thurrock