This year’s Govan Fair takes place on Friday 7 June, with a grand procession of floats and bands parading through the town. The colourful pageant continues a tradition reaching back to the 18th century when the Govan Weavers Society revived the old fairs of medieval times.
Unfortunately I won’t be able to attend this year’s festivities, but I’ve written a short article on the history of processions for the printed programme. In the article, I take a long look back through history, to the Viking Age of a thousand years ago, when the kings of Strathclyde used Govan as their main ceremonial venue and as a place for their own processions.
If you happen to attend the Fair and pick up a programme, you’ll see my article a few pages in, together with others relating to historical and cultural topics from Govan’s past. In the meantime, here’s a link to the Procession page at the Govan Fair website:
Govan Fair 2013 – The Procession
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Heart of the Kingdom 