Chester's Midsummer Watch Parade is a festival celebrated in
Chester
Chester is a cathedral city and the county town of Cheshire, England. It is located on the River Dee, close to the English–Welsh border. With a population of 79,645 in 2011,"2011 Census results: People and Population Profile: Chester Loca ...
, England.
History
A monk, Lucian, wrote of a Chester procession of clerics in the year 1195 in ''
De laude Cestrie
''De laude Cestrie'' ("On the Glory of Chester"), also known as ''Liber Luciani de laude Cestrie'' ("The Book of Lucian in Praise of Chester"Barrett 2009, pp. 1–2), is a medieval English manuscript in Latin by Lucian of Chester, probably a m ...
'', and city annals mention a parade in 1397/8, but it was not until the mayoralty of Richard Goodman who served from November 1498 until November 1499 that the "Wach on Midsummer Eve was first sett out and begonne". At every
summer solstice
The summer solstice, also called the estival solstice or midsummer, occurs when one of Earth's poles has its maximum tilt toward the Sun. It happens twice yearly, once in each hemisphere ( Northern and Southern). For that hemisphere, the summer ...
,
Cestrians
Chester is a cathedral city and the county town of Cheshire, England. It is located on the River Dee, close to the English–Welsh border. With a population of 79,645 in 2011,"2011 Census results: People and Population Profile: Chester Loca ...
would march through the streets carrying torches and wearing costumes during years when the famous
Chester Mystery Plays were not performed.
(A similar practise was performed every midwinter - the Christmas Eve Watch was a candlelit procession which would go from the mayor's house to the Common Hall where the keys to the city gates would be given to the mayor who, in turn, entrusted them to the watchmen who would keep the city safe over the festive season.)
In 1564 the midsummer watch parade included: '.
Putting the procession together was profitable for some and fun for others. An annual account includes: '
Despite the cancellation of the mystery plays in 1575, (although they were performed again in 1578) and the banning of the midsummer parade in 1600 by the Protestant mayor, Henry Hardware, the tradition was revived by the next mayor
Robert Brerewood, but without the devil in feathers and the naked boys. The parade continued for every year until the last quarter of the 17th century. The last Midsummer show was recorded in 1670, it was then moved to Whit Tuesday until 1678 and not revived until 1995.
The most famous part of the performance was the family of giants; massive pasteboard models of people carried by several performers. Other attractions included the dragon of Hell, the fools and the massive mounts, a precursor to modern floats - one was the 'Merchant's Mount', a pirate ship.
Modern Day
The parade takes place on the Saturday and Sunday closest to Midsummer and travels from the Cathedral, down Watergate Street, along the ring road, and then up a steep, narrow backstreet called 'Whitefriars' which leads to Bridge Street, and on to the Town Hall, where the parade ends with juggling, fire breathing and dancing.
The most famous attractions are a recreated family of giants and replica of the Merchant's Mount, as well as the Devil and Angel puppets and the flocks of geese, from 'Saint Werburgh's and Columba's Primary School'.
Saint Werburgh is the patron saint of Chester, and is often portrayed as a goose.
Further reading
* Gordon Emery, ''Curious Chester'' (1999)
External links
Chester's Midsummer Watch ParadePhotographs from the 2010 Chester Midsummer Watch Parade{dead link, date=November 2016 , bot=InternetArchiveBot , fix-attempted=yes
Festivals in Cheshire
Chester
History of Chester
Summer festivals