East Lancashire will celebrate St George’s Day with a host of events on and around April 23.

St George is the patron saint of England and there will be events held across the area to celebrate his day.

The biggest events confirmed so far take place in Blackburn, Colne and Whitworth.

Graham Burgess, chief executive of Blackburn with Darwen Council, said: “Times have been extremely tough for the borough recently but St George’s Day is a day that sees people from all walks of life join to celebrate what we love about living in England."

Mike Williams, tourism officer at Pendle Council, said: "There's going to be such a buzz in the town centre on St George's Day, and we hope to attract people from further afield who want to mark their patron saint's day with a fun day out.

"There will be so much going on to keep folk of all ages entertained, and music of different styles to appeal to everyone."

The chairman of Blackburn and East Lancashire Branch of the Royal Society of St George, John Williams, said: “The society is keen to involve the whole community in celebrating our Patron Saint’s Day and we invite everyone to join us at any of our events.

“We are sure that they will have a good time.”

As in previous years there will be shop window dressing, market stall and pub dressing competitions, and application forms are being circulated by the RSSG.

Sunday, April 17

A procession will wind through Whitworth as part of the town's St George's Day celebrations. Setting off from the corner of Market Street and Tong Lane it will end at the Riverside at around 2pm.

It will be immediately followed by a service of celebration, featuring live music and a performance of the Pace Egg play by the Curtain Theatre Company.

The Blackburn and East Lancashire Branch of the Royal Society of St George start their annual celebrations with a service in Blackburn Cathedral at 2pm. Standards of the Duke of Lancaster’s Regiment, British Legions and uniformed organisations will be presented, and the service will be attended by local mayors and the recently-appointed High Sheriff of Lancashire, Peter Mileham. The public are also invited to the service.

Saturday, April 23

Colne town centre will host a free family St George's event with music and entertainment between 1pm and 8pm. Folk, pop, rock and blues bands will entertain visitors from a stage alongside the market. Headliners will be Vicky and the Big Combo, and Diva Dynamics alongside local talent Andrea Louise and Katie Cruz. There will be a variety of children's rides, face painting, free donkey rides and a George and the dragon costume competition with prizes for the best medieval fancy dress.

In King William Street, Blackburn, there will be attractions including fairground rides, a car rally, maypole dancing, street dancing and cheerleading . Society members will once again be handing out roses to ladies and judging of Royal Society of St George window dressing will take place.

SOME of the area’s best local bands will help celebrate St George’s Day with a special event at Blackburn’s North Bar. The Day for England event runs from 3pm until 4am. Among the bands playing live will be Into the Black, Cassinin Club, India Mill, Sky Valley Mistress, The Shade, Matt Frayne and Skip the Jew. The evening will be a celebration of Factory Records.

Later there will be a St. George’s Day Dinner at Mytton Fold Hotel, Langho.