Yesterday was a great day to be in town.
The sun shone, the city was buzzing and of course there was so much to see.
Now given that there will be lots of photographs of the parade I shall just feature some from St Ann’s Square.
Amongst the magic show, the singers and fast food, there was the Dante Society’s stall.
I have written about the Societa’ Dante Alighieri already.*
We joined a few months ago and have been impressed by the range of activities on offer.
And yesterday they were offering to teach people how to make pasta.
What I liked, was the large number of children who were engaged in the rolling and cutting of the pasta.
Our friend Bob Amato was there with other members of the society engaged in the fun and amongst the helpers was Bill with his fine pasta hat.
At which point I could slide into the story of Little Italy and the contribution made by the Italian community to Manchester, but then to be fair I would also want to mention the Jewish, Asian, Irish and Chinese communities along with plenty of others, all of whom have brought something unique to the city.
And after all that was the point of the day.
According to the Guardian, "about 100,000 people gathered to watch the annual Manchester Day parade, which had taken on a special significance in light of last month’s terror attack on the city’s arena.
The 22,000-strong procession was fronted by 22 young people, each bearing a balloon representing one of the 22 victims of the bombing.
The group held a banner reading 'Manchester remembers 22.05.17' and were followed by uniformed members of the city’s emergency services, honouring their response to the attack.
The parade featured 80 community groups, ranging from the Manchester Chinese Centre to the trans youth group Afternoon Tea and the Greater Manchester Fire and Rescue service. It was watched by the biggest crowd in the event’s history"*
My old friend Sally Dervan was there with the Crossacres Shakers and ttere were groups from Oldham and all over.
All of which made it a good day to remember.
And of course there is still the The Manchester Caribbean Carnival.
"This year’s carnival is again at it’s spiritual home of Alexandra Park, Manchester on Saturday 12th and Sunday 13th of August 2017.
In 1972 a group of mostly St Kits & Nevis and Trinidadian Eastern Caribbean immigrants decided to throw an impromptu carnival procession through the streets of their Manchester neighbourhood. This is recognised as the first Manchester Caribbean Carnival.
Less than a hundred people were present; but, although small in scale the first ever Manchester carnival was an important moment in the history of black britons and Mancunians.
Manchester carnival has brought caribbean culture to the forefront annually for over 40 years and is the north west’s largest celebration of caribbean music and carnival arts. The carnival is a vibrant celebration of caribbean music, dance, theatre and costume."***
So one down another to come ...... what a wonderful place to live.
Location; Manchester
Pictures; St Ann’s Square, 2017, from the collection of Andrew Simpson
* Societa’ Dante Alighieri https://chorltonhistory.blogspot.co.uk/search/label/The%20Societa%E2%80%99%20Dante%20Alighier
**Manchester Day: 100,000 gather in city centre for parade, https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2017/jun/18/manchester-day-100000-gather-in-city-centre-for-parade
***The Manchester Caribbean Carnival, http://themanchestercarnival.com/
Now given that there will be lots of photographs of the parade I shall just feature some from St Ann’s Square.
Amongst the magic show, the singers and fast food, there was the Dante Society’s stall.
I have written about the Societa’ Dante Alighieri already.*
We joined a few months ago and have been impressed by the range of activities on offer.
And yesterday they were offering to teach people how to make pasta.
Our friend Bob Amato was there with other members of the society engaged in the fun and amongst the helpers was Bill with his fine pasta hat.
At which point I could slide into the story of Little Italy and the contribution made by the Italian community to Manchester, but then to be fair I would also want to mention the Jewish, Asian, Irish and Chinese communities along with plenty of others, all of whom have brought something unique to the city.
And after all that was the point of the day.
According to the Guardian, "about 100,000 people gathered to watch the annual Manchester Day parade, which had taken on a special significance in light of last month’s terror attack on the city’s arena.
The group held a banner reading 'Manchester remembers 22.05.17' and were followed by uniformed members of the city’s emergency services, honouring their response to the attack.
The parade featured 80 community groups, ranging from the Manchester Chinese Centre to the trans youth group Afternoon Tea and the Greater Manchester Fire and Rescue service. It was watched by the biggest crowd in the event’s history"*
My old friend Sally Dervan was there with the Crossacres Shakers and ttere were groups from Oldham and all over.
All of which made it a good day to remember.
"This year’s carnival is again at it’s spiritual home of Alexandra Park, Manchester on Saturday 12th and Sunday 13th of August 2017.
In 1972 a group of mostly St Kits & Nevis and Trinidadian Eastern Caribbean immigrants decided to throw an impromptu carnival procession through the streets of their Manchester neighbourhood. This is recognised as the first Manchester Caribbean Carnival.
Less than a hundred people were present; but, although small in scale the first ever Manchester carnival was an important moment in the history of black britons and Mancunians.
Manchester carnival has brought caribbean culture to the forefront annually for over 40 years and is the north west’s largest celebration of caribbean music and carnival arts. The carnival is a vibrant celebration of caribbean music, dance, theatre and costume."***
So one down another to come ...... what a wonderful place to live.
Location; Manchester
Pictures; St Ann’s Square, 2017, from the collection of Andrew Simpson
* Societa’ Dante Alighieri https://chorltonhistory.blogspot.co.uk/search/label/The%20Societa%E2%80%99%20Dante%20Alighier
**Manchester Day: 100,000 gather in city centre for parade, https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2017/jun/18/manchester-day-100000-gather-in-city-centre-for-parade
***The Manchester Caribbean Carnival, http://themanchestercarnival.com/
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