Crowds enjoy St Georges Day Parade and Celebrations

Fri 29 Apr 2016

Derby’s city centre hosted a day of glorious celebrations organised by Derby LIVE, FOLK 3D and Heritage Lottery Fund for St George’s Day.

Hundreds of people lined the parade route, starting at the Ram, winding its way through the city before ending on the Market Place. Broom dancers, Morris dancers, stilt walkers and sword dancers all took part in the spectacle. Several schools including St Andrews, Portway Junior, St James Junior and Wyndham Primary Academy added to the festivities with their handmade colourful dragon puppets. Drummers provided the marching beat as the parade joined more performers on its way to the Market Place.

At the Market Place, folk group Open Road provided entertainment for the gathering crowds with their captivating music, ahead of their show with Derby LIVE in June, The Same Sky - A musical. Later on The Lost Boys made the Waterfall their stage as they acted out a hilarious rendition of St George and the Dragon which had audiences laughing and gasping, a perfect warm up for their up and coming performances at the Derby Comedy Festival, Ears on a Beatle and Me and Robert McKee.

Throughout the day events took place in celebration of traditional English heritage and culture, including Morris dancing, maypole dancing, a ceilidh, sword dancing and a variety of other vibrant acts. In addition to the live performances, archery sessions and the popular arts & crafts market took place on the Market Place.

Audiences were treated to performances by schools Portway Junior, St James, Wyndham Primary, St Andrews Academy as they performed songs with a Merrie England theme and heroic characters and brought their hand crafted dragons to life in mummers plays.

FOLK 3D, the folk arts animating schools and communities organisation worked with schools to put on the performances which have been funded by the Heritage Lottery Fund.

Jan Reynolds from FOLK 3D, said: “The event was fantastic from start to finish. It was delightful to be part of the celebrations and the work we were able to do with the school in the run-up and on the day was very rewarding.”

For more information on upcoming events in Derby City Centre, please visit our website or follow our Facebook and Twitter pages for regular updates.