Mid Summer Watch

The first Mid Summer Watch Parade took place in Chester in 1498. Giants were a common feature of of pageantry in England and Europe but Chester was unique in having a family of giants, Father, Mother and two daughters.

Fantastic beasts also took part in the procession including the Unicorn, the Elephant, the Camel and the Dragon. Originally the dragon was beaten by 6 naked boys but this practice has died out!

The whole procession was lead by the drummer boy chosen each year and the ancient city drum.

If you missed the spectacle today then the whole thing is repeated tomorrow.

Later we headed to the amphitheatre where a shortened version of one of the Chester Mystery Plays, Creation, was played out. It was an excellent production.

The Mystery Plays were produced by the City Guilds in the 14th centuary with the last pre-modern performance being recorded in 1575. They were revived again in 1951 as part of the Festival of Britain celebrations and have been held every 5 years since. The next performance of the full cycle will be in 2013 and unusually they will take place in the Cathedral. The tickets went on sale today.

Take a look at last year's blip to see some images of last year's Starlight Walk.