Chester

The Chester Midsummer Watch parade dates back to 1498 and took place in the years between performances of the Chester Mystery Plays. The 1564 procesion is said to have included:

4 gyants, 1 unikorne, 1 dromodarye, 1 luce, 1 camell, 1 dragon, 6 hobbyhorses and 16 naked boys

The parades were continued until the late 17th century and revived in 1995 as a major event in the city calendar.

Common in Tudoer pageantry was the giant. A large figure made of pasteboard that would take several players to control. Chester was unique in parading a family of giants: Father, Mother and two daughters. The parade is traditionally proceeded by  the city drum and a young boy. It's components started with tradition and have been added to since the revival of the modern procession.

Traditional components are the dragon, "The Merchants Mount" a pirate ship marking the cities maritime heritage, the camel, the elephant and castle, and a unicorn. To that has been added more dragons, fish, St George, The Tree of Life, The ravens and St Werburgh surrounded by white geese. Today the Chester famiy of giants are joined by over 20 guest giants that parade along the city streets. The processions end is marked by the slaying of the dragon by St George in Town Hall Square.

This years event marks the end of the Chester World Town Crier Tournament. The town criers from around the world taking part in the competition also took part in the parade.

The parade takes place on the Saturday and Sunday nearest mid summers day. This set of photographs of The Midsummer Watch and Giants Parade were taken on the Saturday.

Link:

• Chester Midsummer Watch

See also:

• Chester World Town Crier Tournament
• Chester Town Crier

Click on any picture for a higher resolution slide show.