Locals are invited to join “spectacular” celebrations in St Albans city centre on Saturday, June 21, and enjoy a day full of fun, excitement and community spirit.
This year’s Alban Day: Pilgrimage & Festival will once again feature the giant puppets and eyeballs on sticks that have made the day so memorable in the past.
It will start by honouring the legacy of Britain’s first Christian martyr, Alban, executed at the hands of the Romans around 1,700 years ago, with a procession filling the streets on a pilgrimage leading to St Albans Cathedral from 11am.
From 12pm, a vibrant festival takes over the city centre, inviting crowds to enjoy music, delicious food and fun activities for all ages.
Kevin Walton, St Albans Cathedral’s Canon, said: “There is nothing quite like it in the whole of the UK as we celebrate Britain’s first saint and welcome pilgrims from near and far. The Alban Pilgrimage is the highlight of our year at St Albans Cathedral.”
A citizen of Roman Verulamium (the third largest town of Roman Britain on which St Albans was built), Alban was martyred for giving shelter to the Christian priest Amphibalus. Legend says Alban’s head rolled downhill after his execution and a well sprang up where it stopped.
The tradition of a pilgrimage to the site of his death can be traced back between 1,600 and 1,700 years, with the first written record of the pilgrim Germanus, Bishop of Auxerre (in current day France), in the year 429.
Today, the jubilant pilgrimage procession is a colourful re-enactment which tells the story of Alban’s execution using spectacular three-metre-tall carnival puppets representing the saint, Roman centurions, lions and chariots, followed by a vibrant festival.
Photo credit: Toby Shepheard Photography
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