Town rallies to mark historic procession

Tomorrow marks nine decades of the annual Kate Kennedy procession snaking through the cobbled streets of St Andrews and this year organisers have reached out to the local community to make the parade even more special.
By The Newsroom
Published 8th Apr 2016, 08:38 BST
Jessica Stevenson, Wendy Quinault, Austin Schurig, Mark Dennis and Fernando Maluf hard at work making the special 90th Anniversary Banner to be displayed in the 2016 Procession.Jessica Stevenson, Wendy Quinault, Austin Schurig, Mark Dennis and Fernando Maluf hard at work making the special 90th Anniversary Banner to be displayed in the 2016 Procession.
Jessica Stevenson, Wendy Quinault, Austin Schurig, Mark Dennis and Fernando Maluf hard at work making the special 90th Anniversary Banner to be displayed in the 2016 Procession.

St Andrews celebrates the 90th anniversary of the Kate Kennedy Spring Procession – Scotland’s oldest university pageant, held in its current form since 1926.

Adam Shaw, club vice president said: “We really want to emphasis how involved the community have been in the run up to the procession and how important we feel it is to make this a family orientated celebration.

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“Fife Council have sponsored us with £1000 for the family fun day, history trail and tapestry project which has been a major development for this anniversary year.”

Throughout the day, activities will take place in the Anniversary Marquee in St Salvator’s Quadrangle including face painting, book talks – and refreshments for the adults, which will be provided by around 20 student societies ranging from the baking society to the medieval re-enactment society.

There will also be a chance to trace the history of St Andrews in a specially designed nine-point history trail where lifesize historical characters linked to the town will be dotted throughout the ancient streets.

Maps – designed specially by professional artist Gillian Gamble – can be collected from the Anniversary Marquee before following the trail and completing the clues found with each character.

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A special commemorative gift will be given to the children who have completed the trail successfully. Adam said: “We’ve been working in conjunction with Gillian, author Carly Brown and Topping & Co and have a lovely surprise for those who manage to crack all the clues.”

Taking seriously their ethos for local charity work the club worked with children at HomeStart, who have created their own shields to hold aloft on the day of the procession.

Pupils from St Leonards, Madras College and Canongate have also had a hand in the procession preparation by helping to create the Great St Andrews Tapestry featuring 80 historical characters from the Spring Procession, beautifully coloured in and turned into a 15m long banner to be displayed on the railings of St Salvator’s Quadrangle.

The family fun day runs from 10am to 4pm on April 9 and the procession begins at 2pm.

Related topics:St AndrewsScotland