This year's event was inpired by Salford Trades Council which is celebrating its 150th anniversary in November. They had their first meeting at the Three Crowns Pub in Salford, and they continue to be an important voice in the community today. Our parade is therefore inspired by the importance of helping each other and strong community activism.

Lighting the Legend is built on strong community activity and this year is no exception. We worked with fourteen community groups, supported by the Heritage Lottery Fund, in order to make banners and lanterns inspired by our community heritage theme. We will be collecting memories and stories of Lighting the Legend and of the rich tradition of street parades and marches in the area, like the Whit Walks, that were once a proud display of community identity.

The procession itself was a great success, despite it being another rainy year, but it never puts our lantern bearers and our local audiences off. We were honoured to have our local MP Rebecca Long Bailey and our elected City Mayor Paul Dennett walking on the parade, along with hundreds of local people. We estimated an audience of around 1000 people, about 400 of whom walked the parade, and 600 either watched from their homes or waited at the Park for the finale. We walked through the grounds of Ordsall Hall to hear a soundtrack created by the Bee Garden after school club, and along a new route to Ordsall Park, so residents in the South of the estate could experience it walking past their houses for the first time. Our finale featured a performance by a symbolic character of community cohesion, the 'Nanna', as one of the most popular people in residents' lives. The event was closed by a spectacular firework event on Ordsall Park, sponsored by BCEGI and associate contractors. BCEGI recognized the power of this large, popular spectacular community event as a powerful way to connect existing residents with newer residents who they are currently building homes for on Middlewood Locks.

Special Thanks

This year we worked with a record 15 community groups and 17 volunteers to make Lighting the Legend. Special thanks goes to everyone who helped at;

Women in Stitches, Ordsall Trust, Celebrating Diversity, Salford Girls Club, Bee Garden, St. Josephs Primary School, Oranges and Lemons, Ordsall Community Café, Kids Corner Ordsall Nursery, KidzWiDreamz, Primrose Hill Primary School, Salford Threads, Salford Foyer, MMU MA Festivals and Events students and Mount Carmel Sheltered Housing.

We couldn't run the festival without the help of our fabulous volunteers. This year we had an amazing 17 people ome to help, doing all sorts of jobs. Thank you all so much:

Shannon, Morgane, Jodie, Michaela, Tina, Holly, Maureen, Debbie, Melody, Lucy, Taya, Zac, Awat, Nadia, Sheroon, Sophia and Nicola

We would like to thank the Salford Trades Council for the generous contribution they have made towards the event, as well as the in kind support from individual members and Unions.

We were also delighted to report that we have received commercial sponsorship from the partnership of contractors who are involved in the Middlewood Locks development, led by BCEGI. This sponsorship will pay for our firework display, which is being designed by our friends at Walk the Plank.