16 September 2008
Take your place for the Lord Mayor’s Show 2008
Event:: Lord Mayor’s Show
Date: Saturday 8 November 2008
Time: 11.00am – 2.00pm (Fireworks 5.00pm)
Cost: Free
Tube: Bank, Mansion House, St Paul’s
Website:
www.lordmayorshow.org
Chinese acrobats will perform alongside military marching bands
in a blend of tradition and modernity as more than 6,000 people
come together to perform in the Lord Mayor’s Show on Saturday 8
November 2008.
The three-mile long procession winds through 1.7 miles of
streets in the Square Mile to introduce the 681st Lord Mayor of the
City of London. It is a celebration of diversity, bringing together
groups from Hong Kong and Poland alongside City bankers, charities,
livery companies, inner-London community projects and many
more.
Their months of painstaking preparation create a walking history
of the City – from 1189 when Henry Fitzailwyn first held office as
Mayor to today - reflecting the Square Mile’s reputation as the
world’s leading financial and business centre.
One of the key aims of the Show is to develop social and
practical skills of young people in London and beyond by
encouraging and supporting their participation. As part of the City
of London Corporation’s commitment to education and inclusion, it
sponsors four floats from inner London community groups, to the
tune of £15,000 each:
- UINCAP International School of Capoeira - works with children
aged from four years in Lambeth to promote the Brazilian martial
art of capoeira. Incorporating dance, fight, acrobatics and music,
capoeira is used as a means of promoting physical fitness and
musicianship, self-confidence and team skills. Workshops with
international masters are arranged after-school and in holidays.
This will be a colourful entry, with Carnival costumes, painted
panels showing the history of capoeira and traditional Brazilian
music.
- In Toto Theatre - Combines puppetry, live music, storytelling
and dance to create a “total” theatre experience for children,
families and young people in Lambeth and Southwark. The group’s
Show entry takes the theme of “Art in the Air”, looking at the
migration of birds as a metaphor for the patterns of newcomers to
London. Musicians will march along-side dancers and
puppeteers.
- East London Food Access - ELFA promotes healthy eating and
operates fresh fruit and veg stalls throughout disadvantaged areas
of Hackney with produce bought from the City’s New Spitalfields
Market. ELFA also delivers fresh produce to nurseries, schools and
workplaces as part of a drive to improve residents’ well-being and
healthy weight. Oranges and Lemons will be the theme of ELFA’s
entry. Pre-show workshops will be organised for all age groups
creating a mobile market stall which will travel the route of the
Show on the day, accompanied with children performing the
traditional nursery rhyme.
City of London Family and Young People Services - Works with
children and young people within the City, providing after schools
clubs, youth clubs and holiday schemes. Their entry will feature
City residents of all ages and will take the theme of “the City on
holiday”, incorporating a South American drumming group alongside a
traditional London Routemaster bus. Costumes and musical
instruments for the day will all be made from recycled
materials.
Ends
Notes to editors
This year marks the 793rd Lord Mayor’s Show. The procession will
begin at 11am at the Mansion House following a military flypast. It
will travel from Mansion House, down Cheapside to St Paul’s
Cathedral, where the Lord Mayor will arrive at 12.10pm to be
blessed before proceeding to the Royal Courts of Justice on the
Strand. There he swears allegiance to the Sovereign. The procession
then makes its way back to the City, finishing at c.2.00pm.
At 5.00pm the Lord Mayor will light the touch paper to the
spectacular Lord Mayor’s Fireworks display on the river Thames,
between Blackfriars Bridge and Waterloo Bridge.
The Lord Mayor will be elected on Friday 29 September 2008 but
does not take office until the day before the Show, at a Silent
Ceremony held at the City’s historic Guildhall. A new Lord Mayor is
elected every year.
For Press enquiries or pictures from last year’s Show, call
Lesley Mair at the City of London on 020 7332 1754 or email
lesley.mair@cityoflondon.gov.uk.