The Durham Miners’ Gala is currently in full swing – with bands, campaigners, and members of the public filing through the historic streets of Durham.
On what is a sunny and warm day in County Durham, the traditional trade union-backed event, which is known as the Big Meet, has managed to attract 200,000 people, where crowds have gathered to watch processions of brass bands and banners.
The gala was cancelled in 2020 and 2021 due to Covid, and its return is dedicated to the key workers who kept society going during the pandemic.
Read more: Durham Miners Gala LIVE: Thousands flock to event - updates
The Durham Miners’ Association (DMA), which organises the event, has allowed key workers to take pride of place on the County Hotel balcony.
Before the event ramps up for the afternoon, The Northern Echo is at the Durham Miners’ Gala where we have been asking people about what the Gala means to them.
This is what they had to say:
Jimmy Dodd, from Esh Winning, knows what it’s like to be working as a miner after starting at Bearpark pit in 1975.
Speaking to The Northern Echo, he was excited to see the return of the Gala, which he terms as the “best event of the year”.
He said: “This is the best day of the year – forget the Queen’s Jubilee, it’s Durham Miners’ Gala, it has returned – no more pandemic and let’s have it on.”
This emotional connection to the popular event also resonated with Diane Walton, from Thornley, who also attended today’s Gala.
“I have many friends in the village that had parents that were miners – the Gala just means everything to us. It’s what the villages were about, the communities about,” she said.
“This is the reason we come. It’s a real highlight, we’ve been gutted for the last two years, and it reminds us of childhood memories, and this is where the people of the villages come out.
“When we come out here at the Gala, we see that pride and togetherness that you sometimes don’t see too much these days.”
From those that are attending to those that are being celebrated. Hazel Kirwin, who is a pharmacist at South Tyneside and Sunderland NHS Trust, has arrived at the Gala, which is this year celebrating key workers like Hazel.
She told The Northern Echo: “I’m absolutely honoured to be here as a gust, as a key worker, it’s a special year to celebrate all of the key workers and all of the work that has been done and what’s ahead going forwards.”
Finally, there was time to catch up with City of Durham MP, Mary Kelly Foy, who said that dedicating the 2022 event to key workers was “great to see”.
She said: “It’s an absolutely wonderful day – great to be back together again after the pandemic.
“The sun is shining, and everyone is smiling – it’s a protest and a celebration of our working-class heritage, and solidarity, especially at this awful time of cost of living crisis and a government that is a shambles, but we can today smile and see old friends and listen to the wonderful speeches and brass bands.
“It’s great that it’s dedicated to key workers this year – they have helped us during the pandemic without a pay rise and it’s absolutely the right thing to do to dedicate the gala to key workers.”
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