Reesh Posted March 19, 2012 Share Posted March 19, 2012 We get a train to whatever destination and then we have a few beers, have a meal in a restaurant, visit pubs that are decked out for the event and in general enjoy ourselves and celebrate the day. Unfortunately if a band started playing music that was deemed as too English we'd probably have 2000 police out. Recently we have tended to stay out of Manchester as the EDL have been rumoured to be at the celebrations and the police have been heavy handed with some people. You were asked not to wear a badge with St George's Cross on either. It's a bit sad really as if l'd worn an Irish tricolour or a St andrew's cross nothing would have been said. Hopefully eventually the asses that make the Laws in the UK will not see the difference between St Patrick's Day and St George's Day and treat them as equals. Hopefully too we can rely on St George's day becoming a national holiday! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cyclone Posted March 19, 2012 Share Posted March 19, 2012 Asked by who? There is no legal difference between the days, so nothing to be changed by the legislature... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cyclone Posted March 19, 2012 Share Posted March 19, 2012 I've celebrated St George's Day since l was a kid. For the past 15 years l've always taken my son out on St George's Day and the following has grown every year. We usually celebrate it away from Sheffield in places like Leeds, Manchester, Newcastle or York. The reason behind this as the op has posted is that Sheffield celebrates anything that isn't representative of Englishness. The Council has always been like this Are you claiming that the council arranged events for St Patricks day? shameful in it's celebrations of everything relating to other people's heritage and culture. I certainly don't mind celebrating other culture's events but just for "fairness" it ought to at least try to support the English heritage...after all this is ENGLAND. I think that the council probably did exactly as much for St P day as it did for St G day, absolutely nothing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
happyaslarry Posted March 19, 2012 Share Posted March 19, 2012 As The Star's Diary page reported last Thursday, Mark Simmonite, who organises the annual St Patrick's Day beer tent in Fargte will do something similar, if smaller, for St George's Day. It will run over the weekend and include Monday, which is April 23. He was asked to do so by the city council, which will be giving some financial support. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Reesh Posted March 19, 2012 Share Posted March 19, 2012 Are you claiming that the council arranged events for St Patricks day? I think that the council probably did exactly as much for St P day as it did for St G day, absolutely nothing. I doubt whether the Council run it as l know alot of the Irish community in Sheffield work hard to organise things, but l'm sure alot of time and resources are put in by the Council to support this event! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ms Macbeth Posted March 19, 2012 Share Posted March 19, 2012 Sheffield council have a directory called Help Yourself. In it there are links to Irish, Welsh and Scots societies who all celebrate things Irish, Welsh and Scottish. There are also societies for people who have moved here from much further away. No-one appears to have seen the need to set up an organisation to celebrate Englishness in Sheffield. http://www.sheffieldhelpyourself.org.uk/default.asp Could that be because we live in England, the majority of people here are English, the majority of food and drink sold is English, and the majority of customs in our daily life are English? I'm Scottish, but I've never felt the need to join a Caledonian society wherever I've lived. But some people do feel the need to be amongst their own. It also appears that the only saints day that is celebrated by having a beer tent on Fargate is St Patrick's. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kthebean Posted March 19, 2012 Share Posted March 19, 2012 Does anyone actually celebrate St Patricks Day though. Most of the people I saw on Saturday seemed to be celebrating Guiness Day or Stupid Hat Day or Tenuous Excuse to Get ****faced Day. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cyclone Posted March 19, 2012 Share Posted March 19, 2012 I doubt whether the Council run it as l know alot of the Irish community in Sheffield work hard to organise things, but l'm sure alot of time and resources are put in by the Council to support this event! Maybe you could check exactly how much time and resource before complaining about the council supporting foreign celebrations and not English ones... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grappler Posted March 19, 2012 Share Posted March 19, 2012 It's extremely recent to England, yes. It has grown out of a twofold impetus; Guinness wanting to make a big advertising gimmick out of it, and the English eagerly hooking onto any excuse to get drunk. The notion of Saint's Days having any siginificance at all, though, belongs exclusively to the Catholic church, which was effectively outlawed in England in 1553, and has never recovered. There have been times where even mentioning that it was "St. George's Day" could get you into serious trouble for being a closet Catholic. Although we still have the same flag that we used to have, we really don't have any right, nor any need, to claim a patron saint. April 23rd just doesn't really mean anything to the English, and there's no particular reason that it should - unless you wish to celebrate Shakespeare's (alleged) birthday. Think you have hot the nail on the head..... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Orphee Posted March 19, 2012 Share Posted March 19, 2012 A day to celebrate all things English would be excellent; but I would propose an extra bank holiday for Trafalgar Day in late October. (Partly because we already have four bank holidays during April and May, and none at all between late August and Christmas.) Can't we choose a better day than one to do with a war? What about something that's actually fun? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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