Yorkshire day

About Yorkshire day

Yorkshire Day is celebrated on August 1st to promote the historic English county of Yorkshire. It was celebrated in 1975, by the Yorkshire Ridings Society, initially in Beverley, as "a protest movement against the local government re-organisation of 1974".

It didn't become an "official" event until Yorkshire's councils agreed on an "Official Yorkshire Day Civic Celebration" in 1985, which was held in York. Since then the host city or town has rotated across the region.

Traditionally, the region's mayors, Lord Mayors and other public figures attend the host town for a breakfast reception before meeting for a thanksgiving service. A street parade is then held, followed by a formal lunch to finish.

The date alludes to the Battle of Minden, and also the anniversary of the emancipation of slaves in the British Empire in 1834, for which a Yorkshire MP, William Wilberforce, campaigned.

In the Battle of Minden, British and German forces routed the French army in 1759 in what is now Germany. The King's Own Yorkshire Light Infantry played a prominent role in the battle and wore the traditional white rose on their caps.

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