Pageants 20

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  1. Arbroath Abbey Pageant, 1970
    The celebration of the 650th anniversary of the coming into being of the Declaration of Scottish Independence occurred in 1970. This anniversary date ensured that planning to hold the pageant had l...

  2. The Harrow Historical Pageant
    The Harrow Historical Pageant was one of the first of the inter-war pageants to return to the traditional civic style of the pre-1914 movement (see also the entry for the Reading Historical Pageant...

  3. The Warwick Pageant
    The success of the Sherborne Pageant attracted a good deal of notice, particularly in places with claims to long or illustrious histories. One of these places was the town of Warwick, site of an im...

  4. The Pageant of Centuries
    Buckden Palace was formerly the seat of the Bishops of Lincoln, first constructed sometime in the twelfth century and continually extended, rebuilt and repaired (due to recurring fires) over the ce...

  5. Staffordshire Women’s Institute Pageant
    Women’s Institute pageants were highly popular during the 1920s and early 1930s, and county pageants were also greatly successful: The following pageants were held: Norfolk (1926)Oxfordshire (1926)...

  6. Oxford Pageant of Victory
    From the book of words and its references to several hundred participants in some scenes, this appears to have been a very large pageant, and was one of a number held in the aftermath of the First ...

  7. The Pageant of London
    The Pageant of London was the main attraction of the Festival of Empire at Crystal Palace in 1911. Undoubtedly the largest and most ambitious pageant of the Edwardian period, if not the whole twent...

  8. Wallingford Charter Celebrations Pageant
    Wallingford lies roughly equidistant on the road between Reading and Oxford, just on the western edge of the Chiltern Hills. Though in 1951 its population was only 3514, it was able to celebrate a ...

  9. The Grand Historical Pageant of Gloucester
    The Grand Historical Pageant of Gloucester took place in the summer of 1930 and was the top billed event of a fundraiser for the Gloucestershire Royal Infirmary—which was trying to raise £20000 for...

  10. Historical Pageant of Claverley and Its Neighbourhood
    The village of Claverley lies at the extreme east of the county of Shropshire on a road some ten miles from Wolverhampton and around four miles from Bridgnorth. In 1931 its population was 1215, thi...

  11. Liverpool 700th Anniversary Pageant
    In reviewing the Liverpool pageant, one contemporary news piece somewhat churlishly pointed out that Liverpool was 'a grimy city', though it also added that there might be 'romance under its grime'...

  12. The Pageant of Parliament
    The Pageant of Parliament, also advertised as ‘Parliament and the People’, was a major pageant-play that took place in the Royal Albert Hall in 1934. It had an extensive run of 24 performances, a c...

  13. The Pevensey Pageant
    Taking place in 1908 in the ruins of the Castle, the Pevensey Historical Pageant was also a pageant of Sussex. While the episodes focused on Pevensey, it was only a small village of around four hun...

  14. The Kenilworth Castle Pageant
    The Kenilworth Castle Pageant was another landmark pageantry event in Warwickshire, following the Warwick pageants of 1906 and 1930. Despite being billed as a ‘Kenilworth’ pageant, it depended on v...

  15. The Ipswich Pageant
    The Ipswich Pageant of 1951 was staged for a coincidental dual purpose: firstly, as part of the much wider Festival of Britain celebrations (alongside hundreds of others, for instance at Arundel, B...

  16. Pageant of Runnymede
    In 1921 there had been outcry when the government attempted to sell Runnymeade Meadow for development, the proposal only being averted when the civil engineer Urban Broughton bought the land. His w...

  17. The Pickering Pageant (or Historical Play)
    Pageants were very popular in the North Riding of Yorkshire, as in other parts of the country, before the First World War. Thirsk staged a ‘historical play’ in 1907;  York in 1909; and Scarborough ...

  18. The Pageant of Ayrshire: The Story of Scotland's Struggle for Independence
    From the outset of planning for this event in 1932, there was no shortage of ambition to make the pageant of Ayrshire a success. Despite the unpromising venue selected, the uncertainty of the weath...

  19. Waifs and Strays Pageant
    The pageant was one of several arranged by the Waifs and Strays Society held around the country, though it seems that different scripts were used for each pageant. The society had previously held p...

  20. A Pageant of Ditchling
    The Pageant was put on by the Ditchling Players, a dramatic group that had been founded in 1923. The Players’ first pageant was staged in 1950, with a further being held during the Festival of Brit...