Dragon Parade pulls in crowds at 30th anniversary of Jarrow Festival

Around 250 people took part in the Dragon Parade, which was the first for the Jarrow Festival.

Celebrating its 30th anniversary, the Jarrow Festival brought fun to the residents of the town.

Rebecca Maw, communities operations manager for Groundwork, who organised the Dragon Parade, said it proved to be very popular.

The Deputy Mayor of South Tyneside, Coun Ken Stephenson, led the dragons in the parade, which left Jarrow Town Hall and made its way to Drewetts Park, in Church Bank, for a fun-filled afternoon.

Rebecca said: “It went really, really well and it was great that the sun was shining.

“We had about 250 people in the parade and residents were standing on doorsteps clapping and cheering as they went by, which was great for the kids.”

A number of schools and organisations took part in the parade having made their own dragons and the South Shields Boys Brigade and the Jarrow Sea Cadets provided the music.”

A variety of events are taking place over the Bank Holiday weekend as part of the Jarrow Festival.

Attractions include art and history exhibitions, craft sessions, music, children’s activities, guided tours of St Paul’s Church, afternoon teas, sports activities including the Aaron Todd Memorial Weekend football tournament and much more.

The activities are taking place at venues across the town, including Jarrow Hall, Jarrow Hub, Jarrow library, community associations, the Viking Centre and the town’s churches.

Other attractions include free First World War themed arts and crafts sessions on Tuesday and Wednesday, from 11am to 1pm, in Jarrow Hub. The art work will be used in a future community art project.