In July 2016 over 2,000 people watched Canterbury’s inaugural Medieval Pageant Parade and over 1,000 people took part in the Family Trail across the city, which included activities at 14 heritage locations around the city throughout the day and into the evening. Here is what you, as a business or organisation in Canterbury City Centre, need to know:
All about the day
Medieval Parade – starting at 11am
Commemorating Henry II’s pilgrimage to the tomb of Thomas Becket in 1174, accompanied by his Queen, Eleanor of Aquitaine, the Parade features characters from history as well as local children in medieval dress, music, drama and pageantry. The Parade starts near the Westgate Towers at 11am and ends around 12:30 outside the Marlowe Theatre near the river.
Medieval Family Trail – 12:30pm to 5pm
Designed around children and their parents, The Westgate Towers and The Pound, Westgate Parks, The Beaney, The Canterbury Tales, Conquest House, Ortwin Thyssen Jewellery Makers, Eastbridge Hospital and the Franciscan Gardens and four of the city’s churches will host an exciting range of activities. Children visiting five of the locations and getting their brochure stamped in each one will receive a FREE chocolate medallion from the Cathedral Shop at the end of the day.
Other Activities – all day
Other events will be taking place throughout the day. See the website http://www.canterburymedievalpageant.co.uk for details.
Important Information
Inevitably, an event like this will bring some disruption to the city, and the aim is to keep this to a minimum so that life for businesses, residents and visitors can continue as normally as possible. But there will be some important changes that you need to be aware of:
Road closure
Starting at North Lane car park at 11am, the parade will walk up St Peter’s Street, High Street, Rose Lane, Whitefriars, Canterbury Lane, Burgate, Sun Street, Orange Street before finishing at the Marlowe Theatre forecourt. The Canterbury Lane closure will be put in place shortly before the parade arrives from Whitefriars. Vehicles will be able to come into Burgate, but traffic within Canterbury Lane will be held (no entrance or exits) during a short window of time to enable the parade to pass through. As soon as the parade has safely passed onto Burgate, Canterbury Lane will be reopened.
Waste
Businesses are asked to kindly not to leave waste out on the day in order to make the city as presentable as possible.
A-boards, Tables and Chairs
We kindly ask that no tables and chairs or A-boards are put out on the street along the parade route until after it has passed through.
