Montserrat makes history at London's St Patrick's Day parade
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| Published on Saturday, March 17, 2007 |
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BRADES, Montserrat: The island of Montserrat will be represented for the first time ever during the annual London St Patrick’s parade and festival on Sunday 18th March 2007.
Montserrat’s representation is being organised by the Volcanics Group, which is made up of Montserratians and friends of Montserrat, based in the Midlands with links in other cities in the United Kingdom.
It will be in the form of a decorated float, with the reigning Miss Montserrat UK, Joannah Richards and some of the contestants from the 2006 show, along with some young ladies wearing Montserrat’s national dress and a sound system playing music produced by several top Montserratian musicians.
The St Patrick's Day Parade and Festival is a free family event organised by the Mayor of London Ken Livingstone in partnership with Tourism Ireland.
The parade will start in Park Lane on Sunday at approximately 12 noon, finishing at around 3pm in Waterloo Place. The festival will take place in Trafalgar Square, Leicester Square and Covent Garden and run from 12noon – 6pm.
Chair of the Montserrat Volcanics Group UK, Juliette Brade, said: “The Montserrat float in the Mayor of London’s St Patrick’s Day Parade will be decorated in the colours of the Montserrat national dress, green, white and orange, along with the national madras, flags and other decorations depicting Montserrat’s St Patrick’s Day heritage. It will also carry two large banners with the logo and slogan of the Montserrat Tourist Board, and will be lead by a flag bearer. We will also have revelers walking alongside the lorry distributing leaflets about Montserrat.”
Janice Panton, the Montserrat Government’s UK representative said: “This is a landmark event in acknowledging shared ancestry with other Irish diasporas. As the Government of Montserrat UK Representative I am pleased to be able to assist the Montserrat Tourist Board with this promotion.”
The Midlands based Volcanics Group has been at the center of Montserrat’s traditional St Patrick’s celebrations across the UK.
They represented the island at the Leicester Irish Festival on Saturday 10th March, with a small booth, displaying information about Montserrat, its people and its Irish heritage and the attendance of the reigning Miss Montserrat UK Joannah Richards.
The group also entered ten year old Khalid Daley in the cultural section of the Leicester Irish Festival, where young Khalid was described as a major hit on the main stage when he performed two sets of Irish Ceili Dancing.
Montserrat Volcanics Group is also set to take part in the cultural event being organized by the Montserrat Association of Leeds on Saturday 17th March 2007. | | | | Reads : 475 | | | |
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