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WEEK LONG St. George's Festival
People from all over Leicester are being invited to join in acelebration of English life – past and present – at the city’s
new St George’s Festival.
The city council has announced the week-long event as a brand-new
addition to its 2009 festival line-up.
Running from April 19th to 26th, the festival will give people the
chance to celebrate English culture, as well as highlight the
regeneration work that’s transformed the St George’s area of the
city.
Cllr Andy Connelly said: “We wanted to help people to celebrate the
many things they love about living in Leicester and in England today.
We came up with the idea of the St George’s festival, which we hope
will be enjoyed by people of all ages, and from all cultures.”
Cllr Patrick Kitterick said: “The St George’s area of Leicester is
an
historic part of the city which has had new life breathed into it
thanks to the development of Curve, Phoenix Square and many other new
businesses.
“We’d like more people to enjoy this transformation and the
festival
will help to show off this area and celebrate what’s been achieved
there.”
The week will kick off with a ‘Knights, maidens, crafts and
stories’
event at Abbey Pumping Station on Sunday April 19th. Fish and chips
will be on sale from a vintage fish and chip van, and children dressed
as knights or princesses will get a free ride on the museum’s stream
train.
From Monday 20th visitors to the LCB Depot on Rutland Street will be
able to learn more about the development of the St George’s
conservation area at an exhibition set to run until May.
And on St George’s Day - Thursday 23rd April, Leicester Market will
host its annual re-enactment of St George’s battle against the
dragon.
The day will also see a graffiti workshop organised by the Cultural
Quarter Business Association, in collaboration with Pedestrian Arts.
Two graffiti artists will be creating a giant mural depicting what St
George’s Day means to Leicester, on the hoarding alongside the
walkway
near Yeoman Street and Halford Street. Everyone is welcome to join in
with the informal drop-in workshops that will be running at the same
time.
Also on the 23rd, the Leicester Morrismen will perform a traditional
Morris dance in Humberstone Gate West. And a celebration of English
folk song will take place at The Musician bar on Clyde Street in the
evening.
The festival finale will take place on Saturday 25th April, when Orton
Square hosts a family fun day. Entertainment will include court
dancing in the square, banjo music, contemporary street dance fusion,
and folk music.
The Timetarts team of historians will be bringing to life characters
from old England including a medieval knight on horseback, an
Agincourt archer, and an Elizabethan lady.
And there will be a chance to buy local crafts and produce from a
range of Leicester businesses including Pick’s Organic Farm Shop.
The
event will be launched by Town Cryer, Tony Green at 1pm.
Other activities taking place in the cultural quarter that day include
hourly audio tours, which will give visitors the chance to find out
about the unique history of the area.
And stories and crafts connected with brave knights and scary monsters
will be on offer aboard Leicester Libraries’ children’s bookbus,
which
will be parked close to Orton Square in the afternoon.
The LCB Depot on Rutland Street will host arts and crafts activities
for families with the theme of dragons and mythical beasts. Leicester
museums outreach arts service will give visitors the chance to handle
historic museum objects, make shields and art inspired by dragons, and
learn about mythical beasts from around the world.
And anyone who hasn’t yet had a look around Curve, Leicester’s
exciting new theatre, can enjoy ‘Sheroes and heroes – in word and
song’, also on Saturday afternoon. The show will feature rappers,
poets, story-tellers and musicians.
The festival will round off with events on Sunday 26th April,
including the Leicester city cubs’ and scouts’ annual St
George’s
Parade. The parade will leave the city centre at 2.15pm.
Full details of these, and all of the other events taking place
during the week are on the city council’s website at
leicester.gov.uk/stgeorgesfestival.
