Local people and visitors are invited to enjoy the spectacle of a ‘freedom parade’ by the King’s Royal Hussars in Winchester on Thursday 9 July.
More than 250 troops and the 36-strong band of the Royal Armoured Corps will march through the heart of the city in a great free show of ceremony and colour.
The event is being arranged jointly by the Regiment and Winchester City Council in celebration of the 300th anniversary of the Hussars.
The right of ‘Freedom of Entry’ to the city is an ancient privilege and allows a Regiment to parade through Winchester with ‘bayonets fixed, drums beating and colours flying’. It comes from a period in history when only trusted units would be allowed to carry arms within city boundaries. The City Council awarded Freedom of Entry to the King’s Royal Hussars on 5 January 2005.
The event is over lunchtime with the troops plus band ‘stepping off’ from Peninsula Barracks, marching down the High Street, forming up in the Broadway for inspection and then moving off around the King Alfred statue to fall out in the Guildhall Yard.
Approximate timings are:
12:10 Parade form-up at Peninsula Barracks
12:30 Parade steps off and turns right into Romsey Road, continues into Upper High Street, down pedestrianised area
12:40 Parade arrives in The Broadway and forms up; inspection of parade
13:00 The Parade moves off and marches around the King Alfred Statue and back past the Guildhall, giving eyes left as it passes the Guildhall steps , then turns left into Colebrook Street and left again into Guildhall Yard to fall out
There will be some temporary road closures during the day. Short closures will be necessary at crossing points while the parade passes by at lunchtime. The Broadway will be closed to traffic in the morning and for part of the afternoon. Buses will turn left out of the bus station during the day and leave from the back of the bus station for around an hour during the parade from 12:15pm to 1:15pm.
