It’s always good to see a community coming together to create some energy in the town and this was no exception. We worked with Belinda and her staff in Solstice to brainstorm some ideas for the parade regarding routes, themes and general ideas.
One thing we were all agreed upon was that we wanted it to be colourful. Once we were all happy with what we came up with, we had to get in touch with all the people that we wanted to take part in the parade, from the Youthreach Progression Samba band, to the schools and community groups, to the volunteers.
The phone calls started, the emails were sent, the letters were posted. School secretaries made appointments for Delphine to visit all the teachers and she got busy making prototype hats and props that the children could make.
The hunt for volunteers began, with help from Jeanette and Stephen in Meath Volunteer Centre. The town council, the Gardai and the Civil Defence were brought on board. Road closures were arranged, local businesses were contacted and the word was spread via social media, newspaper ads and announcements at Mass.
We arranged transport for those who needed it and treats for those who wanted them. We organised an induction meeting for volunteers and teachers so they could get to know each other and go through the ins & outs of the parade.
The night before the event, we made last minute changes to our event specific risk assessment document while the council put barriers and traffic cones out on the Fair Green and stiltwalkers invaded the shopping centre.
Somewhere along the line, we had made friends with the talented Marta at Callmarta Foto and the kind people at Lord Consulting Engineers, who let her use their 3rd floor office window. But we still hadn’t sorted out the weather! The Irish rain was pelting down for days, but by Thursday morning, the sky was blue and the sun came out to play as the children arrived to their pre-arranged positions to meet their stewards.
After that, it was just a case of making sure that the kids were enjoying themselves and that wasn’t hard, with the Navan Samba band beating out their infectious rhythms. With the sun as our grand marshall, the townsfolk came out to wave us on our merry way as we walked the route. Shopkeepers stood outside their windows to take it all in while Marta ran up and down the street capturing it all. After that it was just a case of cleaning up, and going home to get ready for the Fidget Feet show that night...
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