6,000 Orangemen expected in Ballynahinch for Twelfth parade

6,000 Orangemen expected in Ballynahinch for Twelfth parade

26 June 2024

BALLYNAHINCH will host this year’s Twelfth of July parade.

Thousands of Orangemen from across the district will be joined by brethren from Mourne at the event in the market town with the parade one of 19 taking place at venues across the province to mark the 334th anniversary of the Battle of the Boyne.

Brethren from the Castlewellan, Lecale, Saintfield and Comber districts will join those from the host Ballynahinch district.

Over 6,000 members of the Orange Institution and approximately 70 bands will be in Ballynahinch, with thousands of spectators lining the streets.

Officers and members of Ballynahinch District No 17 are looking forward to hosting brethren, sisters and bands from neighbouring districts as the Twelfth returns to the market town for the first time since 2017.

A series of events have also been planned in the lead up to the main demonstration and further details will be released in the coming weeks.

Prior to this main event demonstration, the District will have a number of other outings.

The first in a series of parades will be the annual Somme Commemoration which takes place in the town next Monday, July 1.

Brethren, sisters and bands meet at Ballynahinch Orange Hall at 7.45pm, with the parade including  an act of remembrance and wreath laying at the town’s War Memorial.

This year’s church service will be held in Ballynahinch Congregational Church next Sunday, July 7 with the district and accompanying bands parading from the War Memorial where they will meet up for a 3pm start.

On the Twelfth Day — the parade marking the 334th Anniversary of the Battle of the Boyne — will move off from the assembly area at the Moss Road at noon.

Forty five minutes earlier, the Ballynahinch lodges leave the town’s Orange Hall at 11.15am and parade through the town to meet with visiting districts.

The main parade route is via Belfast Road, Main Street, High Street, Church Street, Church Road, Spa Road and into the district demonstration field at Woodlodge Park, with platform proceedings commencing at 2.15 pm.