A DATE has been announced for this year’s Rushcart celebrations in Whitworth.

The distinctive family-friendly event will take place in the town on Sunday, September 3.

The procession, led by the Rushcart, will leave from Whitworth Museum in North Street at 1pm. It will travel up Market Street and arrive at the Riverside at about 1.20pm.

The fun will then continue in the Riverside car park for the rest of the afternoon.

This year a local business, Valley Cats, has provided some financial assistance and a grant from Crook Hill Community Benefit Fund has covered the cost of the road closure.

The Whitworth Rushcart is one of only four such celebrations that still take place in the UK, the others being in Sowerby Bridge, Littleborough and Saddleworth.

Whitworth’s cart is unique in that it is the only one in the UK to be covered in heather that is in bloom at this time of year, collected by the Whitworth Rushcart Men from the moors above Darwen.