Tynwald Day 2012: Thousands celebrate at St John's
- Published
Thousands of people gathered in St John's earlier to celebrate Tynwald Day, which is the Isle of Man's national day.
This year's event is the first to be presided over by Clare Christian, the President of Tynwald, which is the world's oldest continuous parliament.
The Queen's representative in the Isle of Man, Lieutenant Governor Adam Wood, inspected the Guard of Honour and the front rank of the Military Band.
The Duke of Lancaster's Regiment provided the Guard of Honour with soldiers coming from all over the north west of England for the occasion.
The ancient ceremony has been held at Tynwald Hill for more than 1,000 years.
Thousands of people watched the ceremony, which is the only day of the year when parliament is held in the open air and the public get the chance to lobby the law makers by presenting petitions.
Local artists performed Manx music on the fair field as part of the celebrations.
Isle of Man entertainment group the Play People performed live as well as giving workshops in activities including parkour and unicycling.
Ms Christian said: "The emphasis of this year's celebrations was firmly on presenting young people with exciting opportunities."
Traditional Manx dancing was also on show on the fair field at St John's.
The historic day was first codified by the Manx parliament on the hill in 1417. New laws are promulgated in both English and Gaelic.
- Published5 July 2012