Skip to content

Hundreds gather for city's centenary parade

Susie Rack
BBC News, West Midlands
Paula White
BBC Radio Stoke
BBC A woman wearing bright green and blue feathered wings which radiate in circles from her and shoulders. She is also carrying a fan and her face is decorated with jewels and face-paint. Her long black hair is braided and she is walking down the centre of a rainy street, with others processing behind her and onlookers lining the pavements.BBC
The People's Parade continued despite persistent rain

Persistent rain did not dampen the spirits of hundreds of people who turned out for a parade to mark a city's centenary.

Hundreds gathered on the streets of Hanley, Stoke-on-Trent, to watch the People's Parade - the centrepiece of ongoing 100th birthday celebrations.

The procession, featuring huge puppets, live music and dancing, began at 13:00 BST with about 1,000 participants marching for 1.5 miles (2.4km) from College Road to finish at Hanley Park.

Speaking before, organiser Susan Clarke, from Stoke Creates, said: "It really is going to knock everyone's socks off."

"We don't tell the world enough how good we are at doing stuff and how creative and imaginative we are.

"Take us seriously, stop putting us down because there's no reason to do that now."

More than 350 artists worked with 70 groups across the city on the procession - with the puppets including a representation of Burslem-born Lemmy from Motörhead, a giant clock and a 16ft-high (4.4m) figure which can interact with onlookers.

A largescale puppet held up by sticks carried by men in clear ponchos over pink tops. The puppet appears to be female and is yellow, red and blue, wearing goggles and smiling. A number of people can be see walking behind in the centre of a rainy street, with others watching from the pavements. Many are carrying umbrellas.
A 16ft people-powered puppet was one of the major attractions in the parade

Costume maker Holly Johnson made 100 cupcake costumes that were worn by pupils from Angela Beardmore School of Dance.

She said: "I've been told I could go to other cities and I could maybe do better, but we love Stoke so much that we want to help build the community here and we just wanted to keep help building the arts here."

Dave Lovatt, from Cat & Mouse Theatre Group, said his job was to get the crowd "roused up and excited" by sharing stories of local heroes on a megaphone, including Sir Stanley Matthews, Robbie Williams and athlete Jazmin Sawyers.

A woman in a bright yellow jacket, with a logo saying Team 100, posing with her hand on a red bus. She has short grey hair and is wearing crown earrings and a silver top. She is smiling widely.
Organiser Susan Clarke told BBC Radio Stoke, which has been touring the six towns in an open-top red bus, the parade would be spectacular

Children from Year 7 at Haywood Academy worked with artist Emily Andrews to create a replica of the city's incinerator, with an invented creature protruding from it that is part fox, part axolotl.

The children fed litter, picked along the route, to the "foxalotl" and recycling it afterwards.

"I grew up in Stoke, it's a big part of my life and a big part of who I am," Ms Andrews said.

Two women standing in a hall holding up homemade bright yellow flaming candles and blue and pink costumes. The woman on the left is wearing animal print trousers and a brown top and has long dark pink-tinted hair. The woman on the right has red dyed long hair in pigtails and is wearing a white T-shirt and bright floral dungarees. Piles of candles and costumes are behind the pair, in a mouth of a football goal.
Costume designer Holly Johnson, pictured with hatmaker Eve Travis holding the cupcake outfits, said she loves the city
A woman standing next to a carnival float, which has a red creature with the tail of a fox and the head of an axolotl protruding from a square cardboard representation of an incinerator.
Artist Kate helped children from Haywood Academy to create a new creature for the parade

The six towns, which were granted city status by King George V on 5 June 1925, marked the first official Stoke-on-Trent Day on Thursday.

Celebrations culminate on Saturday with Party in the Park at Hanley Park, with performances from local musicians and street food stalls.

A free street party with eight hours of dance music is also taking place on Piccadilly, Hanley, on Saturday from 14:00 to 23:00.

Follow BBC Stoke & Staffordshire on Facebook, X and Instagram.

More on this story
Related internet links