On Saturday afternoon, I was incredibly pleased to head down to Crawley High Street to the St George’s festival where a good time was being had by all, to enjoy the music, as well as celebrate our inclusiveness as a town with Diverse Crawley and CCAR. at their stalls.
It brought back memories of previous festivals which had a variety of things, including a brass band, street theatre, Punch and Judy, cakes by the WI, dragon hats and face painting. Indeed, St George’s dragon itself was in attendance in 2023!
Some years back, as Cabinet Member for Community Engagement, I successfully arranged for Crawley Borough Council to hold an event to celebrate the day. This has now been going very successfully annually since 2016, with only a slight break when Covid intervened.
A story I was told by a volunteer one year, when the day was in full swing, a woman walked past and confidently announced that “you aren’t allowed to celebrate it these days” which seemed an odd statement given what she was standing in front of. I suppose it just shows you shouldn’t believe everything you read in the newspapers and on social media and that the lies and distortions of the hard right almost never bear any resemblance to reality.
It is completely untrue that people aren’t allowed to celebrate St George’s Day, or that joyless officialdom is trying to suppress it. For many years there was an annual parade in Crawley arranged by volunteers. I can still remember the announcement that the parade was not happening and I was pleased to be able to tell residents that Crawley the council would still be celebrating the day with a special event.
I wanted people to know that we recognise how important it is to celebrate our country’s national day, and that sometimes we have to come together as a community that is happy celebrating itself.
The truth is back in the 70s and early 80s the hard right did that side of things a lot of damage – but it is up to all of us to reclaim it from them. We are all part of our country’s life, whether those who wish to divide us like it or not.
Cllr Michael Jones
Leader, Crawley Borough Council