Dartford comes together for Saint George’s Day

Dartford played host to one of its largest Saint George’s Day celebrations to date on Monday April 23 where 500 children from 8 local schools took part along with hundreds of local residents.

The High Street was abuzz with activity with a number of performances on One Bell Corner including West Hill Morris, Premier Brass Band, Brass Volcanoes and Folkin Fusion Drumming Collective.

The Schools began the parade from the Civic Centre and were led by North Kent resident Russell Palmer as Saint George himself. Special guests included the Mayor of Dartford Cllr Rosanna Currans and Council Leader Cllr Jeremy Kite MBE. The parade went through the Orchard Shopping Centre and onto the High Street where they were joined by a large scale dragon and hundreds of local residents who then followed the parade to its climax in Central Park.

There, some 500 school children sang Happy 92nd Birthday to HM The Queen before watching a short programme of entertainment which climaxed with the Premier Brass Band and the Folkin Fusion Drumming Collective playing Land of Hope of Glory and the National Anthem.

Gurvinder Sandher the Artistic Director of Cohesion Plus commented “I am very lucky to be in the position to work with organisations like Dartford Borough Council who share my vision of using events like Saint George’s Day as means of bringing communities together to celebrate shared values and what it means to be a citizen in Dartford in 2018. I strongly believe that the arts are an excellent way of breaking down barriers and bringing communities together and the Dartford Saint George’s Day celebrations are testament to that.”

The celebrations were organised in partnership by Cohesion Plus and Kent Equality Cohesion Council supported by Dartford Borough Council and Arts Council England in what were some of the biggest celebrations taking place in England. The aim of the event was to celebrate the patron Saint of England and bring together the diverse communities of the borough to celebrate this national day.