Processional cultures: Cultural and community resilience

Processions have long been a defining feature of Northern working-class culture. Ranging from Rose Queen Carnivals and Whit Walks to brass band parades and civic commemorations, they bring people into the streets to celebrate, remember, and perform their collective place identity. Rooted, often simultaneously, in religious, industrial, and political traditions, these events transform familiar places into sites of festivity and belonging. They are not simply spectacles but lived practices: community-organised rituals that bind people to place, narrate local histories, and provide a stage on which working-class life and values are made visible.

The Manchester and Salford Whit Walks have taken place in the city centre since 1801 and persist in the face of many challenges. In this talk, Louise will present her research into these walks exploring themes of dwelling and placemaking; refrains and rituals; and, leisure and cultural continuity. She will then explain her ongoing work to map regional processions and to examine the role that processional cultures play in shaping so-called ‘post industrial’ identities.

ETHM Online Research Seminars are an ‘open’ research seminar series each year covering recent advances within the field. We have attracted speakers from universities across the globe to debate issues which affect the events, tourism and hospitality sector.