Pageant Master Adrian Evans
(Picture: PA)The man in charge of the Platinum Jubilee Pageant says the historic event will help “regenerate” the nation’s arts scene.
Pageant Master Adrian Evans has spent 18 months planning how to bring in more than 10,000 people from community and arts groups drawn from across the UK and the Commonwealth to help mark the Queen’s 70 years on the throne.
Mr Evans, who did a similar job for the Diamond Jubilee in 2012, has planned a vast parade that will echo the journey taken by The Queen at her Coronation in 1953 between Westminster Abbey and Buckingham Palace.
It will be watched by thousands who will line the streets and millions tuning in on TV and social media.
In Her Majesty the Queen: The Official Platinum Jubilee Pageant Commemorative Album, Mr Evans says: “So many people want to be part of this. It is not just about being involved in a large-scale project, it is because it is The Queen. This is the chance to say a huge thank you and a collective ‘Well done, ma’am’ from all of us.”
Among those taken part in the cornucopia of carnival, street art, circus, music and mass choreography are drummers from London, Bollywood dancers and BMX stunt riders – all of whom will be performing for the biggest audiences in their lives.
Mr Evans said: “Whether it’s Bridgwater Carnival in Somerset, the oldest carnival tradition in the UK, or Global Grooves in Manchester, the work they create for the pageant will be integrated and celebrated alongside everything else they do this year.
“We are investing in these community groups in a way that will help to regenerate the whole outdoor events industry.”
The pageant also includes a military march with all three branches of the armed forces followed by a display of dance and fashion through the decades from the Lambeth Walk to northern soul and disco with dancers surrounding open-top buses playing a soundtrack for each decade.
Mr Evans said: “We can tell a story of our people through dance and fashion as the United Kingdom has an extraordinary history of fashion and style. This will draw on communities throughout the UK and act as a reminder of how much we have changed, but also celebrate the future and what an amazing country we are.”
The day culminates with a concert at Buckingham Palace, featuring star performers and a children’s choir of 500 voices on a stage erected at the Queen Victoria monument.
“That will end in a balcony appearance from The Queen and extraordinary aerial effects in the sky above Buckingham Palace for an incredible finale,” said Mr Evans. “It’s not going to be Brian May on the roof [a reference to the Golden Jubilee in 2002] but we want something similarly iconic, a moment that etches itself into people’s memories and becomes characteristic of the event. In fact, we feel we have several of those sorts of moments.”
