A procession for St Albans

In just over a weeks time, on the 21st June, there will be a celebration held here in St Albans to commemorate the life of St Alban, Britain's very first saint. After 1700 years the people of St Albans and the surrounding areas will reenact his life through the use of giant 12 foot tall puppets which will make their journey through the town from St Peters Church at 11am while retelling the story of Britain's first saint. It will be quite the spectacle, so why not join us?

We are expecting to see the puppets accompanied by a precession of people of all ages dressed up in flamboyant costumes of Roman soldiers, centurions and angels as well as many other characters who had a place in the story of St Alban.

So, what was his story? Well, St Alban was made Britain's first saint after being beheaded for coming to the aid of a Christian priest by the name of Amphibalus. The Romans were perusing him for persecution and in his search for cover he met St Alban who came to faith through Amphibalus and in an attempt to help him escape swapped cloaks with him. Amphibalus escaped but St Alban was arrested, trialed and sentenced to death. The Abbey marks the spot where he was beheaded. So, a cheerful story!