London's New Year's Day Parade

The New Year's Day Parade is parade of 10,000 performers through the streets of the West End of London which takes place annually on 1 January.

The first year the parade took place was 1987 as the Lord Mayor of Westminster's Big Parade. The parade was renamed in 1994 and for 2000 only it was renamed the Millennium Parade.

According to organisers, the London parade is the biggest New Years Day street event of its kind. The parade is used to raise funds for charities in London and representatives from each of the 32 London boroughs are encouraged to take part as a 'borough entry' which are judged as part of the event. The parade is also used to honour people from each borough who have been heroic in some way during the previous year.

Every year BBC London holds a competition to find two talented young musicians to travel to the United States and play with an American High School Marching Band, both in America and then in the London Parade.

The 2 mile (3.2 km) parade route begins at Parliament Square in Westminster and continues along Parliament Street and Whitehall to Trafalgar Square. It then continues along Cockspur Street and Regent Street. The final section is along Piccadilly and the parade ends at the Green Park. The parade attracts around half a million spectators and there is ticket-only seating at the start and end of the route.

2007 parade

The 140-member marching band from Fort Myers High School in Florida, USA, were initially banned from taking part in the 2007 parade because US education officials feared they may be caught in a terrorist attack. The decision was later overruled and they will now be leading the parade of 2007.[1] The school has now accepted the offer to host the two winners of this years BBC London competition.

One of the American high school groups to perform was the Aberdeen High School Marching Eagles. They hail from Aberdeen, Maryland in United States.

In addition, the Troy High School marching band from Troy, Michigan, also marched in the parade, placing fourth place out of the numerous marching bands competing from Europe and the United States.

Over 200 Scouts from across London will be taking part in the 2007 Parade. The Scouts were led by the Enfield District Scout Band. This is the first time that London Scouts from the 6 different Counties have got together to do something which publicises Scouting to such a large audience. They will be starting the UK 2007 Centenary of Scouting Celebrations.

External links

• New Year's Day Parade - London
• New Year's Day Parade - London Image Gallery
• New Year's Day Parade - London: Photo Gallery by Halden Photography
• BBC News article
• Scouts taking part in the 2007 Parade