A WEEKEND of celebrations in honour of England’s patron saint got under way today with residents invited to an afternoon of rousing music with the Lord Mayor.

The York Youth Brass Ensemble begins the St George’s Day celebrations at the Assembly Rooms, in Blake Street, at 11am, kicking off a day of free music which will also see performances from several York Arts Academy bands, finishing at 3pm with the York Railway Institute Band.

Organiser Liz Topi, City of York Council’s events and festivals officer, said: “The majority of bands, apart from the brass bands, are from the Arts Academy, which used to be the council’s Performing Arts Service.

“It all takes place in the Assembly Rooms, which is now Ask restaurant. The people of York don’t normally get the chance to go in there and listen to some nice music while having a tea or coffee.”

Entry to the event is free and the performances will be attended by The Lord Mayor of York, Coun Brian Watson.

Tomorrow, the city centre will see thousands of Scouts, Guides and Brownies converge at The Eye of York, next to Clifford’s Tower, before parading to the Minster for their St George’s Day service.

A spokesman for North Yorkshire Scouts, said: “The parade meets at the Eye of York at 1pm and they will then make their way to the Minster at around 1.15pm for the service.

“After the service, they will re-form at Dean’s Park to take the salute at Duncombe Place before making their way back to the Eye of York.

“We are expecting about 2,000 people in the parade,” said the spokesman.

“We particularly like to do this because Saint George is also the patron saint of Scouts. “It should be a very colourful, lively and noisy event and everybody who comes along will be parading through the city with their flags.

“It’s a bit of a spectacle and it’s something we all proud to be involved in.”

The parade will see several roads in the city centre closed on Sunday afternoon.

The council has a issued a traffic prohibition order between 1.15pm and 4pm for Tower Street, Clifford Street, Coppergate, Davygate, Blake Street, Duncombe Place, Parliament Street and the Eye of York.