A feast of family fun for St George’s Day

St George's Day Dragon model amongst the crowds in Derby

Thu 31 Mar 2022

Derby's annual St George's Day celebrations, the city's family-friendly event highlighting English heritage and tradition in all its eccentricities, takes place in the city centre on Sat 23 April.

FOLK 3D will use dance, music and song to connect people of all ages and abilities to traditional local and national culture. Along with dance group Folk Dance Remixed, theatre group The Lost Boys and the Derby LIVE dragon they will lead the St George's Day parade from The Spot through the centre of town to the Market Place ready for an afternoon of entertainment.

The parade will leave The Spot at 11am and include Morris dancers, medieval re-enactors, street acts,singers, dancers, and lots more. Join the parade as it weaves through the streets arriving at the Market Place in time for the great tale of St George and the Dragon told by The Lost Boys at 12 noon.

Morris dancing will also take place at The Spot and Sadler Gate during the afternoon. St Peter's Cross will host Morris dancing, singing by local choirs and performances by Smoked Creature Encounter, supported by St Peter's Quarter Business Improvement District (BID) between 11am and 3.30pm.

Men dressed as St George and a Dragon in a re-enactment of the legend

The Market Place is the scene for The Lost Boys, re-enacting the legend of St George and the Dragon in their own inimitable style, folk act The Last Inklings, and singers from Rough Truffles and Kaleidoscope community choirs bringing folk songs from England, Cornwall, Georgia and Ukraine. Folk Friendzy will host a Maypole Workshop, Folk Dance Remixed will lead a Ceilidh Jam, and Priya Sundar will be performing her take on the story of St George and the Dragon through the classical Indian dance; Bharathanatyam.

Throughout the afternoon there will be a variety of events at the Market Place. Reach for the Core are providing free Have A Go Long Bow Archery, there will be displays of Armour and Medieval combat from 14th Century Medieval Combat group Team Falchion, along with a medieval sword fighting display, arts and crafts stalls, Phileas Fogg by Dizzy O'Dare and English tales of magical dragons, bold knights, and brave children by storyteller Maria Buckley Whatton. Make your own memento of the day with ScraggyMoo. The event ends at 3.30pm.

The full programme for St George's Day has been now released.