Guild 2012 Processions

The Guild 2012 attracted large crowds throughout the week, starting with 25,000 people for the Trades Procession and reaching over 70,000 for the Torchlight Procession. The 2012 processions will go down in history as some of the biggest and best attended Guild processions ever witnessed.

The Guild procession route map outlining the path for all of the Guild processions can be found in the documents section.

Trade Procession 2012

In 2012, the decorated floats and walkers represented the current day industries, businesses and public services of the city. From the aerospace industry, to retail and agriculture, there were representatives of all sectors reflecting the economy in Preston.

With more than 110 individual vehicles and almost 3,000 walkers, the Trades Procession of 2012 was truly remarkable. Everyone pulled out all the stops to decorate their floats and create costumes that wowed the 25,000 strong crowd which had packed the route.

For photos of the trades procession visit Flikr - trades procession 2012.

Church Procession

The Christian Churches of Preston and the surrounding district came together to process from Moor Park to the streets of the city centre.

The Churches Organising Committee weaved the six Guild themes through the story of 'The Living Christ', which started with the resurrection and ended with G for God. The churches spent almost 3 years planning their procession entries - each making up the different sections of the Living Christ.

For photos of the church procession visit Flikr - church procession 2012.

Community Procession

The Communities Procession saw groups that have never worked together join as a collective to build floats and costumes. This formed new bonds that will hopefully continue to be built beyond the Guild. It also showcased the diverse communities which make Preston a great place to live, work, study and play.

The Community Procession saw over 8,500 participants representing schools, the voluntary sector, charities, communities and sports clubs. This made it the largest of the four processions. With an estimated crowd of 35,000 spectators, it was also the second highest attended procession.

For photos of the community procession visit Flikr - community procession 2012.

Torchlight Procession

The Torchlight Procession is unique in that, not only does it take places at night, it is open to all comers. Trades, community and religious groups are all welcome to take part, giving spectators a blend of all the previous processions.

The Torchlight Procession is traditionally the most attended of the four Guild processions. The Guild 2012 was no exception, with over 70,000 people lining the route to cheer on the participants.

For photos of the torchlight processions visit Flikr - torchlight procession 2012.

To view the full list of companies and organisations who took part in each of the processions see the participant lists in the documents section.