Thousands of Orangemen, women and juniors – accompanied by in the region of 600 marching bands – are preparing to step out at various locations across Northern Ireland for this year's Twelfth celebrations.
Preparations are at an advanced stage for the biggest day in the parading calendar, with upwards of an estimated half-a-million people expected to participate or spectate in what is widely regarded as one of the largest annual festivals in Europe.
This year the GB News cameras will be focusing on Belfast, as the city hosts the longest Twelfth parade on the day, with participants walking over six miles to the field. A large contingent of Scottish visitors travel to take part in the Belfast parade.
Read more: Twelfth of July 2023: Times and locations of all parades taking place across Northern Ireland
“I know that tens of thousands of people eagerly look forward to participating in our parades each year – and I am one of them,” the Grand Master Most Wor. Bro. Edward Stevenson said.
The Grand Master highlighted that the significance of Orange traditions will be underlined by the scale of the parades.
He continued: “I do not believe there is any other event on these islands that can bring such vast numbers of people onto the streets as our processions, either by taking part or simply to watch them go by.
“It is a custom which has been maintained for over 200 years, passed through generations, and will continue to be upheld for many years to come.”
Wor. Bro. Stevenson added that the Orange Order continue to welcome an increasing number of international visitors to their celebrations who are keen to experience first-hand the spectacle of the biggest day in the parading calendar.
“To assist them we have a ‘Digital Twelfth Special’ which can be downloaded from the Grand Orange Lodge of Ireland website giving details of all the venues, articles on the history, heritage and culture associated with the Twelfth," he continued.
“The high calibre of music provided by some of the finest marching bands in the country will certainly add to the festival atmosphere. We are really looking forward to another glorious Twelfth.”
Full list of Twelfth celebrations in Co Antrim
Belfast
The parade to mark the 333rd anniversary King William III’s victory at the Battle of the Boyne in Northern Ireland’s capital city will leave Belfast Orange Hall, at Carlisle Circus, at 10am.
As is tradition, the Millar Memorial Flute band will lead the parade as it makes its way along Clifton Street, Donegall Street, Royal Avenue and Donegall Place to Belfast City Hall.
A wreath laying ceremony will take place at the Cenotaph in the grounds of the City Hall shortly before 10.30am and the parade will then proceed via Donegall Square West, Bedford Street, Dublin Road, Shaftsbury Square, Bradbury Place, Lisburn Road, Balmoral Avenue and Malone Road to the field at Barnett’s Demesne.
Orangemen and women representing a total of nine districts – accompanied by approximately 60 bands – will walk the six-mile route, traditionally the longest of all the Twelfth demonstrations.
As usual, thousands of spectators - including many visitors from other countries - are expected to line much of the route through the city.
Most notable will be the large Scottish contingent who travel to Belfast annually to both participate in and spectate at the procession.
The platform proceedings at Barnett’s Demesne will begin at 2.30pm and the chairman for the afternoon will be the County Grand Master, Wor. Bro. Spencer Beattie.
The Chaplain’s address will be given by Wor. Bro. Rev. Ron Johnstone.
Guest speaker will be Wor. Bro. William Humphrey MBE.
The return parade is due to leave the field and proceed towards the city centre at 3.30pm.
Ballymena
Twenty-seven lodges and 17 accompanying bands and lambeg drums will take part in the annual Twelfth celebrations in Ballymena.
There will also be two Ladies Lodges and two Junior lodges on parade. It is anticipated that a good turnout of visiting Brethren from England and Scotland will be in attendance.
The town is the only location in Northern Ireland which has a Twelfth demonstration every year. Belfast City also hosts an annual Twelfth parade.
This year the honour of hosting the parade belongs to the members of Ballykeel LOL 472.
The parade will assemble at Church Street Car Park. At 12.30pm it will proceed to the demonstration field at Wakehurst Playing Fields via Meeting House Lane, Castle Street, Church Street, Broadway, Broughshane Street, William Street, Ballymoney Street, Broadway, Wellington Street, Lower Mill Street, Pentagon, Galgorm Road, Waveney Road, Harryville Bridge, Salisbury Square, Henry Street, Larne Street, Larne Road, Wakehurst Road and Brooke Park.
In the field, the platform proceedings will begin with a word of welcome by District Master Wor. Bro. Willard Logan and Deputy District Master and Wor. Master of Host Lodge Ballykeel LOL No. 472, Wor. Bro. Matthew Armstrong.
The Religious Service will be conducted by Grand Chaplain Wor. Bro. Rev. Ian McClean with the reading of Resolutions by District Secretary Wor. Bro. Hubert Scullion.
Presentation of awards will be made for best band on parade, best turned out lodge and best Lambeg drums.
The return parade will leave the field at 4.30pm to return to the Protestant Hall via Brooke Park, Wakehurst Road, Queen Street, Salisbury Square, Harryville Bridge, Waveney Road and Galgorm Road.
Randalstown
Randalstown District LOL No. 22 welcomes the East Antrim Combine to Randalstown this year to celebrate and mark the 333rd anniversary of the Battle of the Boyne.
The combine comprises nine District Lodges from Larne, Sixmilewater, Staffordstown, Carrickfergus, Cloughfern, Carnmoney, Antrim, Killead and will be led by host district, Randalstown.
The parade will include around 50 bands and numerous Lambeg drummers, who will accompany up to 2,000 members in the lodges as they make their way around the town to the main Demonstration field.
The parade will move off at 11am and follow a route which takes in Shane’s Street, Lower Main Street, turning right into Neillsbrook Road, passing the rugby pitches, via Park Green and emerging onto Ahoghill Road, turning left, joining Portglenone Road at the Point. Continuing past Memorial Orange Hall and Memorial Garden, turning right at New Street Corner, along New Street to the Demonstration Field at Dunmore Park.
The main parade will take about 1¼ hours to make its way to the field with the last lodge leaving the assembly point at 12.15pm approx.
The Platform Proceedings will commence shortly after the last lodge arrives in the field and the Guest Speaker will be Bro. Rev. David Bisset, District Chaplain, Sixmilewater District LOL No. 10.
Wor. Bro Stephen Logan, Antrim District, will chair the proceedings, with music provided by Bro. James Strange, Larne District.
The parade will leave the field at 3.30pm, making its way out of Dunmore Park turning right along New Street, again turning right an New Street Corner onto Lower Main street continuing along Shane’s Street to the buses.
After the main parade leaves Shane’s Street the local lodges, comprising Staffordstown and Randalstown lodges, will complete their usual route returning to New Street where Staffordstown Lodges will leave parade and Randalstown lodges will then make way to Memorial Orange Hall for dispersal.
Randalstown District is made up of four lodges - Hillstown LOL 176, Randalstown Purple Star LOL 941, Chichester LOL 1105, and Caddy LOL 1124.
Randalstown District has a strong reputation for fund raising and this year the proceeds of the street collection will go entirely to the N.I. Children’s Hospice.
Ballycastle
The annual North Antrim Demonstration this year will be hosted by Ballycastle District LOL No. 23 and will be held in the picturesque town of Ballycastle.
The other North Antrim Districts of Ballymoney, Bushmills, Cloughmills and Rasharkin will join with their Ballycastle Brethren to commemorate the 333rd Anniversary of the Battle of the Boyne.
The 43 lodges on parade will be accompanied by 29 bands and six sets of Lambeg drums.
Also on parade will be Rawlins White Memorial LOL 803 from Cardiff. They will be accompanying Moyarget Chosen Few LOL 1196, who will be celebrating their 200th anniversary in March 2024.
On parade for the first time will be a new Junior Lodge, Ballycastle District JLOL 8, which was formed earlier this year.
The parade will assemble at the football pitch on Ramoan Road to commence at 1pm. The parade will travel along Ramoan Road, Church Road, Coleraine Road, Castle Street, The Diamond, Ann Street, Rathlin Road, Strandview Road, North Street, Quay Road, War Memorial to Quay Road Playing Fields
The Districts will parade in the following order: Ballycastle, Cloughmills, Rasharkin, Ballymoney and Bushmills. Each District will lay a wreath at the War Memorial on their way to the demonstration field.
On the arrival of the last Lodge at the Quay Road Playing Fields, the Platform proceedings will commence at approximately 3pm.
The service will be led by Wor. Bro. Rev. David McCarthy, Deputy County Grand Chaplain. The guest speaker is Deputy Grand Master of the Grand Orange Lodge of Ireland, Rt. Wor. Bro. Harold Henning.
After the religious service, the Resolutions will be read.
On the completion of the platform proceedings, at approximately 4pm, the parade will assemble to parade back through the town.
The order for the return parade will be Cloughmills, Rasharkin, Ballymoney, Bushmills and Ballycastle.
Throughout the day there will be a collection in the town which will go towards the vital service provided by the Northern Ireland Air Ambulance.
It is 136 years ago since the first Twelfth Demonstration was held in Ballycastle in 1887.
Portglenone
Sixteen lodges will take part in the ‘Triangle’ Twelfth of July parade which will be held this year in Portglenone.
They come from the Districts of Portglenone, Ahoghill and Cullybackey, with the parade rotating around the three venues in turn.
The main parade will move off at 12.30pm from the assembly point at Portglenone Free Presbyterian Church on the Hiltonstown Road, Portglenone.
It will follow a route through the village along Hiltonstown Road , Cullybackey Road, Main Street, over the bridge to Clay Road. Demonstration field on right had side opposite the filling station.
The Twelfth celebrations in Portglenone will have an extra special significance for one participating lodge as it marks a huge milestone year.
The Brethren of Milltown True Blues LOL 205 from the host Portglenone District LOL No. 7 are this year celebrating their 225th anniversary.
It is also a first Twelfth for the newly dedicated banner of the Glebe LOL 231 from Ahoghill District.
As always, the emphasis is very much on family with food and entertainment for children, including inflatables, have been arranged in the field.
The religious service from the platform will be conducted by District Chaplain Rev. Samuel McKay.
Although one of the smaller Twelfth demonstrations, it will feature a good mix of bands, including pipe, accordion, flute and of course, Lambeg drums!
Broughshane
The Braid Twelfth of July celebrations will be held in Broughshane this year, with Aughafatten True Blues LOL 1184 having the honour of being the host lodge.
The parade, which will feature two sets of Lambeg Drums and nine bands, will start in the Commons, Tullymore Road, Broughshane at 12noon.
It will make its way down the Tullymore Road towards the Carnlough Road, taking a right and parading on down Main Street, through the village, to Beechvale, where it will turn around and come back up Main Street.
The parade will then turn up the Church Entry and continue to the demonstration field at the corner of Buckna Road and Rathkeel Road.
Platform proceedings will start at around 2.30pm, with musical accompaniment by Aughafatten Accordion Band.
The speakers on the day will be TUV Leader Jim Allister and Grand Chaplain Rev. David Reid, of Ardstraw Presbyterian Church.
There will be food, refreshments and entertainment for children in the field.
Following the platform proceedings, the parade will reform at 4pm to return to the Commons, off Tullamore Road.
This year, Jamison’s True Blues LOL 532 will be wearing new collarettes. This is the first time they have been changed in 40 years, and were purchased after fundraising events by the lodge members.
Broughshane village sits in the Braid and lodges participating in the Twelfth here are Buckna, Pollee, Broughshane, Teenies, Jamison’s Trues Blues (Skerry), Aughafatten, Glenarm, Carnlough, Cairnalbana, Lisnamurrican and Ballygelly.
Upper Ballinderry
The 333rd Anniversary of the Battle of the Boyne celebrations for the South Antrim Combine will be hosted in Upper Ballinderry.
Upwards of 2,000 Orangemen and women are expected to be on parade, with Brethren from seven districts - Lisburn, Glenavy, Magheragall, Royal Hillsborough, Derriaghy, Ballinderry and Aghalee - taking part.
The parade will start at 11.30am from the assembly field at the Ballinderry Road, Upper Ballinderry side. It will turn right onto the Glenavy Road at the Junction of the A26 parade up the Glenavy Road turn left onto North Street parade down short stop at the War Memorial Hall to lay a wreath.
At the bottom of North Street turn right at antiques shop past Ballinderry Parish Church to the Twelfth field on Lower Ballinderry Road.
Leading the way along the 1.3-mile route will be the host District, Ballinderry LOL No. 3.
At the field there will be family entertainment, with bouncy castles stalls and games etc.
At the platform there will be a religious service and speeches, which will get underway at 2pm.
The “Cairns Culbert Memorial Cup” will be awarded, during the platform proceedings, to the best presented lodge in the South Antrim Combine parade.
Following the platform proceedings there will be displays of Lambeg drumming.
Children’s entertainment and live music will be in the field before the parade arrives and again before and after the platform proceedings.
The return parade will commence at 4.30pm approximately.
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