LONDON, ENGLAND – The first Lord Mayor’s Show of the 21st
century on Saturday November 11 promises to be a spectacular celebration
to welcome into office the new Lord Mayor, Alderman David Howard. Over
half a million spectators are expected to crowd the streets of the City
of London to witness this huge event.
To really appreciate the Show, you need to dig a little deeper. On the one hand, it’s a huge feat of planning and logistics. Six thousand people, 20 marching bands and 2000 soldiers, arranged in a procession 3 miles long on the winding streets of the City and keeping perfect time.
The Lord Mayor elect is blessed by the Dean of St Paul’s Cathedral.
And on the other, it’s a unique ceremony born by chance out of a political tussle 800 years ago. The Lord Mayor of London was one of the world’s first publicly elected officials, and the history of the Show is inseparable from the history of London.
The loyalty of the Lord Mayor might be less questionable now than it was in 1215, but the newly elected Mayor must still make his way to the Queens Bench to pledge allegiance to the Crown, just as Dick Whittington did in 1397. As you watch the Lord Mayor’s coach go by, remember that someone stood in exactly that spot four hundred years ago and marvelled at the sight of a camel on its way to meet Elizabeth I.
This year, the Lord Mayors Show charitable appeal is for The Barts Hospital Breast Cancer appeal. The Show is free to attend, of course, but we urge you to give generously to the Barts appeal.
The procession begins in the city of London at 10:50 when the Lord Mayor
departs from the Guildhall for Mansion House. There will then follow the
2 Minute Silence at 1100hrs before the procession sets off from Mansion
House. The celebrations end at 5pm when the Lord Mayor will light the
touch paper to over a ton of fireworks for a spectacular display from a
barge on the Thames between Waterloo and Blackfriars Bridges.
Photographic opportunities start with the Tri Service representatives at
Mansion House for the 2 Minute Silence. The Guard of Honour will be
found by 31 (City of London) Signal Regiment (V), accompanied by Royal
Marine Cadets, Air Force Cadets and the Central Band of the RAF.
Alongside, the Federation of Old Comrades will be remembering their
comrades from both the Korean War and the Battle of Britain. Reveille
will be sounded at 1102hrs followed by a flypast comprising a World War
II Lancaster and a Dakota.
Early in the parade, the pupils of Welling and Erith schools will turn
into skating banknotes, spinning in, out and around pots of gold in The
Woolwich float. Terriers in the Battersea Dogs Home contingent will snap
and bark to ensure the Show keeps in step to the rhythm of 20 bands,
including the international award winning Cavaliers Band.
Towering above this year’s 126 entries will be a giant Beachy Head
Lighthouse, while among several charities participating are the
unstoppable Whizz-Kidz, funded by the City’s own charitable Trust,
Bridge House Estates. Whizz-Kidz, the charity that specialises in the
provision of specialised mobility wheelchairs for disabled children,
return to the City as part of their 10th Birthday celebrations. In
addition, a life size fibreglass cow will represent CowParade, to
initiate their unique public art initiative and support over the next
year for ChildLine.
The Lord Mayor’s Charity this year is St Bartholomew’s Hospital, who
will be racing to get to the Show on time! Given only 6 weeks to prepare
for the show, the fund-raising team were also assembled at the same
time. However, they are still confident of raising in excess of GBP3M
for Barts Cancer Centre, as part of an overall appeal to raise GBP10M,
and they promise a loud and colourful float!
In a noisy musical pageant of almost unimaginable colour and variety,
which will, stretch over 2 1/4 miles, there will be more servicemen and
women on parade than at any other event in the year. With over 200
horses and 6,000 people participating in this, the 674th Lord Mayor’s
Show, it promises to be a fabulous day out for everyone.
