SADDLEWORTH is gearing up to continue its popular annual Whit Friday traditions – and this year looks like a rare occasion when the sun will shine down.
On Friday, May 29, the day will begin with Whit Walks, with local churches processing through the villages accompanied by brass bands, banners, and walkers of all ages.
Road closures will be in place as well as parking bans from 9am until 12.30pm across Saddleworth’s villages.
In Uppermill, numerous processions will meet for a United Church Service, starting at 11am at King George V Playing Fields.
Meeting there will be processions from:
- Christ Church and St Anne – meet at Friezland at 10am
- Sacred Heart and St Chas – meet at Saddleworth Church at 9.30am
- Uppermill Methodist and Ebenezer – meet at School Street, Uppermill at 9am
- Kilngreen – meet at Sam Road, Diggle at 9am
- Holy Trinity Dobcross – meet at Platt Lane at 9.45am
Later in the day, thousands of people are expected to flock to Saddleworth for the Whit Friday Brass Band contests, dubbed ‘the greatest free show on earth’.
From about 3pm until midnight, there will be road closures across the villages to allow the bands, which attend from up and down the country as well as abroad, to perform.
Contests take place from 4pm in 11 locations – Delph, Denshaw, Diggle, Dobcross, Friezland, Greenfield, Grotton, Lees and Springhead, Lydgate, Scouthead and Austerlands, and Uppermill – with prizes up for grabs at each.
For more information including timings of each band contest, visit: https://saddleworthwhitfriday.co.uk
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