Leicester's St George's Day celebrations return

Festivities to celebrate St George's Day have returned to the streets of Leicester for the first time since the start of the pandemic.

Traditional activities, including Morris dancing, took place in the city's Cultural Quarter earlier.

Covid meant there were no city centre celebrations for the patron saint in 2020 and virtual events in 2021.

Elsewhere in the county, an anonymous knitter has created a St George's Day themed post box topper.

St George may not have actually been to England but Leicester has celebrated his honour in true English style.

There was traditional maypole dancing and Morris dancing, a medieval puppet show and a dragon model was on display.

It is believed that St George was born in an area which is now in Turkey and lived during the 3rd Century.

During his life he was said to have captured a dragon that was eating people in a city called Silene in Libya.

He became a Roman soldier but he protested against how badly Rome treated Christian people.

He was put in prison and eventually executed.

Now, England celebrates him as the county's patron saint on 23 April each year.

In Syston, Leicestershire, the mystery craftsperson known as Syston Knitting Banxy - or SKB - has also payed tribute to St George.

They have recreated the scene of St George and the dragon on a post box topper.

Fiona Henry from Syston Town News told BBC Radio Leicester: "It's a beautiful topper.

"George is dressed, as you'd expect, in his armour and his white bib with the cross of St George on.

"The dragon is facing the opposite way to him and the children actually adore him because I think he looks more like Puff the Magic Dragon that the dragon St George would fight."

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