A WAITER on a unicycle, a plethora of picnics and popular drumming workshops made up a magnificent menu at this year's Bicester Big Lunch.

Thousands of people poured into Sheep Street, Market Square and Pioneer Square to celebrate one of the town's biggest annual events on Sunday.

Everyone was invited to pull up a pew for a place at the table to sit down, eat lunch and join together for the street party.

Jason Slaymaker, of OneBicester which organises the annual event, said: "The event was awesome, absolutely packed-out and I would say we had numbers similar to last year if not more – getting on for 5,000 people.

"Everyone bought along their picnics and were sat out in the sun in Sheep Street."

The event returned to the town centre for the sixth time and this year took punters back in time with a 1950s theme.

Food, dance, music and games packed the town with a number of performances across several stages as well.

There was also a host of community groups, sports clubs and charities hosting activities, staging performances and pitching up stalls.

Mr Slaymaker said one highlight of the day was the popular climbing wall which was a step up from last year with a bigger challenge.

Another 'big hit' with the crowds was the 1950s band the Sasparillas on the main stage who came out head to toe in costume and created a buzz among the audience.

Bicester Big Lunch was first staged by a group of volunteers to help bring together the community in the town.

Since, Bicester has also been labelled an NHS Healthy Town and local businesses and authorities are also looking to promote health, tackle loneliness and provide more events to bring people together in Bicester.

Bicester Big Lunch has been a instrumental factor in bringing together a host of community groups to celebrate over lunch every year since it started.

Mr Slaymaker said: "Everyone said it was the best Big Lunch yet and the atmosphere was quite different – it felt like everyone had come out together, relaxed and were really friendly and talking to each other.

"It was really nice to see Bicester come out in force and just enjoy spending time together as a community.

"It brings together all the hard work that we have over the past year and sets a precedent going forward for other events like the Bicester Festival and Bicester Carnival.

"It is about continuing that vibe with the exciting events coming up in the next few months."