Grand finale for Leamington's Rugby4Heroes festival

The Old Leamingtonians RFC Rugby4Heroes Rugby and Music Festival helps to raise money in memory of the service men and woman from Warwickshire and the West Midlands who fell during Iraq and Afghanistan.

The festival is also used to remember two soldiers in particular - Private Joe Whittaker from Stratford and Private Conrad Lewis from Claverdon. Both soldiers were killed in action in Afghanistan.

This year’s event, which will take place from May 11 to May 13, will be the tenth and final year of the festival. Over the last nine years the event has raised over £94,000 for armed forces charities.

This year the chosen charities are: Help for Heroes, ABF The Soldiers Charity, 353 and The RAF Charitable Trust.

The weekend will feature rugby, live music, street food, camping and glamping. On the Saturday there will be senior/adult rugby competitions and mini rugby for U6-U10 age groups on the Sunday.

There will also be a flypast by the Battle of Britain Memorial Flight Spitfire on Saturday and Sunday, a display of military vehicles and a parachute jump by the Army’s Red Devils team on Saturday evening.

Mike Vallance, project leader for Rugby4Heroes, said: “With this being our grand finale year we are making sure this is the best one ever. We started off as a small festival and I am really proud with what we have achieved. We always said we want to get to 10 years or to £100,000 and we plan to smash it and exceed the target and finish on a high. We want as many people as possible to come down.

“I would like to thank all volunteers, supporters and sponsors.”

Tickets start from £5 and range from day tickets to weekend and camping passes.

To buy tickets click here