Beeston Castle joins St George's Day celebrations

Saturday 21 and Sunday 22 April 2012

Are you as brave asEngland’s Patron Saint? Visitors toBeestonCastleon Saturday 21 and Sunday 22 April will have the chance to find out, when a trio of medieval re-enactors prepare to greet them for one of the greatest festivals in the medieval calendar – the feast of St George!

“The English tend not to celebrate St George’s Day quite as vigorously today as they would have five hundred years ago, when work in the fields would have stopped and whole communities would have joined together to eat, drink and make merry,” explains English Heritage’s regional events manager, Karen Pike. “Our re-enactors will keep our modern-day visitors enthralled with re-tellings of the classic legend of St George and the Dragon, who is not only the Patron Saint of England, but also of soldiers, too.”

Indeed, younger visitors will have a chance to learn how to be a soldier themselves, with regular sessions of drill under the watchful eye of a pair of medieval soldiers, looking to recruit new combatants to their ranks!

“Beeston Castle is a wonderful site to hold an event like this – there really is no finer backdrop to the storytelling, and then children can spend hours playing in the woodland park, imagining what it would be like to have been a soldier laying siege to this formidable castle, or preparing an ambush for mum and dad as they walk around the site’s woodland trails!” adds Karen.

Hurrah forEnglandand St George! runs from11.00amto5.00pm, withBeestonCastleitself open from10.00amto6.00pm. Admission prices are £6.00 for adults, £5.50 for concessions and £3.50 for children, or free for English Heritage members. Please note that parking fees apply.

For more information, please call BeestonCastleon 01829 260464 or visit www.english-heritage.org.uk/beestoncastle

ENDS

Notes to editors: If you would like a pack containing details of all forthcoming events at Beeston Castle and throughout English Heritage’s West Midlands region, please contact Jay Commins on 0113 251 5698 or email jay@fim.org.uk

For further media information, or for a copy of English Heritage's 2012 events press pack for the West Midlands, please contact:

Jay Commins – PRO English Heritage (West Midlands)

Tel: 0113 251 5698

Mob: 07810 546567

Email: jay@fim.org.uk