24 September 2008
Number-crunching at the Lord Mayor’s Show 2008
The final weeks of preparation are under way for the Lord
Mayor’s Show on Saturday 8 November as the participant list is
confirmed.
The 2008 Show will feature:
- 6,100 participants
- 220 vehicles – including a Sherman tank from WW2, vintage
buses, taxis, two steamrollers, a fleet of Morris Minors and a
horse-drawn Santa sleigh!
- 21 carriages – including the 251-year-old gold, Lord Mayor’s
State Coach
- 71 floats – including four sponsored by the City of London
Corporation
- 200 horses – 115 of which are military horses
- 13 marching bands
- 120 marshals
In a blend of history and modernity, Carnival dancers will
perform along side top club DJs, military marching bands and Hong
Kong acrobats as the 3.1mile-long parade winds its way through the
streets of the City of London, from the Mansion House to the Courts
of Justice via St Paul’s Cathedral and back.
A military flypast over Mansion House at 11.00am marks the
beginning of the parade to celebrate the inaugural outing of the
681st Lord Mayor of the City of London. The procession travels from
Mansion House to St Paul’s Cathedral, where the new Lord Mayor is
blessed by the Dean of St Paul’s before the procession carries on
to the Royal Courts of Justice. There the Lord Mayor swears an oath
of allegiance to the sovereign before the Lord Chief Justice and
Judges of the Queen’s Bench Division, as enshrined in the charter
of King John (the original of which can be viewed at the Museum of
London).
The processions then sets off at 1.00pm on the return journey
along Victoria Embankment to Mansion House, where the newly
sworn-in Lord Mayor arrives to be greeted by the City Aldermen and
livery company Masters in their colourful gowns.
The day culminates in a fireworks extravaganza between Waterloo
and Blackfriars Bridges on the Thames from 5.00pm.
Ends
Notes to editors
A full list of participants can be found at
www.lordmayorshow.org
Spectators can take their place on the procession route.
See attached
Key Facts and Figures information
sheet (58kb)
Press enquiries to Lesley Mair at the City of London on:
T: 020 7332 1754 or M: 07785 528 453; E:
lesley.mair@Cityoflondon.gov.uk.
For background, the history of the Lord Mayor’s Show,
high-resolution photos to download and further Press releases, go
to:
www.lordmayorshow.org/media