A street party to celebrate the Queen’s jubilee takes place on Saturday to mark the start of an exhibition celebrating Her Majesty’s links to Stevenage.

It may be a couple of months until the national party for the Queen’s diamond jubilee, but Stevenage will be flying the flag at the North Herts College campus in the town with a 50s style street party.

Access to Higher Education students have organised the free family fun day with a buffet, games, a vintage and crafts fair and a competition to design a card for the Queen on behalf of the town.

The main focus of the event will be an exhibition of photographs and memorabilia of the Queen’s visits to Stevenage during her reign.

After the event the exhibition will go on show at Stevenage Museum for two weeks after the party and money raised at the event will go towards helping to preserve the museum’s collection of royal memorabilia.

Organising student Kate Thomsett said: “The only other monarch to achieve 60 years reign was Queen Victoria so this jubilee really is history unfolding before our eyes and we want as many people to join in the celebrations with us as possible. As access students we are a diverse group of people with many different careers ahead of us and this event has enabled everyone to gain some valuable work experience in a real life situation.”

Doors open at 10am to 4pm and parking is available at the college.

If you are thinking of organising your own neighbourhood street party in June the closing date for applications to Herts County for a street closure order is May 1.

Last year the council had more applications for street parties to celebrate the royal wedding than any other authority in the UK, and leading members want to repeat that success.

Application forms can be downloaded from the council website and emailed to Herts Highways or posted to the address on the form. There is no charge for an order made for Sunday 3 to Tuesday 5.

Villagers are already signed up for a party in Great Wymondley, which is changing its name to mark the event - to Great Dymondley.

After a succesful traditional royal wedding tea party on the green last summer, villagers are planning an even bigger event in honour of the Queen in June.