St George's Day Celebrations

Saturday, 23 April 2011

Tameside will be waving the flag for St George on Saturday, 23 April. A packed day of activities has been organised to celebrate England’s patron saint, and the Cross of St George will be flying proudly from the borough’s public buildings.

Between 11am and 3pm there will be a variety of free craft activities in the civic square, Ashton, including face painting, mask and flag-making, egg painting and pottery. North Tameside District Scouts will be present and there will be a living history display showing some interesting replica artefacts of everyday life in the seventeenth century. Watch out for walkabouts by a juggling jester on stilts, and a knight with a puppet dragon.

The Civic Mayor of Tameside, Cllr Jean Brazil, will perform the official opening at noon, and Ashton town-centre chaplain, the Rev Roger Reece, will give an Easter blessing.

Celebrations will continue with a medieval street show with two medieval troubadours bringing tricks, jokes and wonders with Escapology, Fire Eating and Dazzling Diablo, and dancing by the Milltown Cloggies who will perform traditional clog morris in the North West style.

Demonstrations by the Roundheads of Col Edward Montagu’s Regiment of Foote, will be performing drill displays showing how the English Civil War Armies used their ‘armes’ of musket, pike and drum. After the displays, there will be the opportunity for interested children to take part in a drill display using (non firing) musket and pike. And in keeping with Tameside tradition, members of the Royal British Legion  will be handing out “silken” red roses in other Tameside towns. Also, keep an eye open for a drama trio (St George and two knights) providing some mirth and merriment at various sites across the borough.

Tameside Council’s assistant executive member for heritage and tourism, Cllr Jackie Lane, said: “This year’s programme has something for everyone. It’s going to be a great day and I hope as many people as possible are going to join us to celebrate Tameside, England and St George.”

Contact Information
Send us a Message	Arts and Events Team Tameside MBC Council Offices Wellington Road Ashton under Lyne OL6 6DL  View local map
0161 342 4144
0161 342 2300