Chester will see this year’s Midsummer Watch Parade take place in the city on Saturday 20th and Sunday 21st June with entertainment from 2pm on both days.
Chester’s Midsummer Watch Parade is an astonishing festival of Giants and Animals and dates back to 1498. As just one of the historical annual Chester events, this is one of Britain’s oldest celebrated festivals. Originally the Parade took place on the years that the Chester Mystery Plays did not.
There is a call to the community to guarantee that this tradition continues and help is needed in many areas to help ensure that this year’s Midsummer Watch Parade is a huge success.
You can find details about taking part in this year’s festival at the Cheshire West and Chester Council website.
The parade will start of at the Chester Town Hall Square and travel down St Werburgh Street onto Eastgate Street, through to Watergate Street, Bridge Street, Northgate Street and back to the Town Hall.
Following the Midsummer Watch Parade there will be a celebration in the Chester Town Hall Square – of fire breathing, jugglers and dancing for all.
The Chester Midsummer Watch Parade has been the centre of controversy many, many years ago when the parade of 1564 featured not only the famous giants, hobbyhorses, unicorn, camel, dragon but the traditional ‘devil in feathers’ and a number of naked boys. The Parade was banned in 1600 by Henry Hardware, a Protestant Mayor. Robert Brerewood, the next Mayor, allowed the Parade to return without the contentious characters taking part.
The Midsummer Watch Parade continued to be performed up until 1678, although the date had been changed to Whit Tuesday in 1670.
Chester UK is very proud to have revived the historic parade in 1995.
This year’s Midsummer Watch Parade consists of over twenty different characters traditional to the parade. Possibly the most revered are the Chester family of Giants who have already taken their first trip out around Chester City Centre for a practise run in this year’s Roman Tours Ltd Chester Minerva Festival.