The London Traveler

One of the best things about living in London is seeing the pageantry around centuries-old traditions. From the Ceremony of the Keys at the Tower of London to the Trooping of the Colour for the Queen, the pomp and circumstance is wonderful to see.

As a little bit of history, the City of London is a bit different than what many people think of as London. The City of London is commonly referred to as the “Square Mile,” and is the heart of the original Roman London settlement. It is now largely one of the two main business districts of the greater city of London. While greater London has it’s own mayer (Ken Livingstone), that office was only created in the last decade. The City of London, however, has had the Lord Mayor ever since 1189, and received an official Royal Charter in 1215.

Citizens of the City of London were allowed to choose their own Lord Mayor, but that Mayor still had to be approved by, and swear allegiance to, the King. What was originally an official procession has over hundreds of years turned into a huge parade through the center of the city.

This year’s Lord Mayor’s show is on November 10th. The parade is a little odd in that there are over 3 miles of people, bands, floats and carriages in the parade, but the route is only 1.5 miles long!

Finally, the day ends with a fireworks display set off from a barge in the middle of the River Thames.

More information can be found on the official Lord Mayor’s Show website here. There are great maps on where the route travels and where to watch the fireworks.

Date: Saturday, 10 November
Time: Parade starts at 11am, Fireworks are at 5pm
Where: All over the City of London. More here.
Cost: Free!

Photos are from Flickr.

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