Celebrate St George’s Day on April 23

If you happen to be in Trafalgar Square, London on Sunday April 21, then prepare to witness celebrations of all that is perceived as being quintessentially English.

It might be two days before St George’s Day on April 23 but the iconic square, will for the 17^th time turn red and white in honour of England’s Patron Saint.

There will be Sea Shanty’s, Morris Dancing, a photo opportunity with Pearly Kings and Queens, a Cockney Singalong and the chance to defeat a fiery dragon.

Celebrate St George’s Day in Spain

Here in Spain, several Councils, bars and restaurants in areas with a significant English population will be organising their own entertainment, often using the day as an ideal excuse to raise much needed funds for charity.

St George, who since 1817 has appeared on the reverse of British Gold Sovereigns is renowned for slaying a mythical dragon to save a princess in distress but how he became a British hero despite believed to have been born in Palestine is something of a conundrum.

Patron Saint since the Middle Ages

One thing is sure and that he has been part of the English psyche for centuries and according to one report, he was declared a patron saint of England and Catalonia, as well as Venice, Genoa and Portugal in the Middle Ages because he was the personification of the ideals of Christian chivalry.

According to legend, St George fought and killed a dragon on the flat-topped Dragon Hill in Uffington, Berkshire, where it is said that no grass now grows where the dragon’s blood trickled down.

Royal Family connection

The Prince and Princes of Wales have a relationship with the saint as their oldest son was christened George whilst their youngest son Louis was born on St George’s Day in 2018.