IT’S not yet an official holiday, but the bunting was out yesterday as the region celebrated St George’s Day.

Among those flying the flag for the patron saint of England was the Archbishop of York, Dr John Sentamu.

He threw open the gates of his official residence, Bishopthorpe Palace, near York, to entertain youngsters from a local primary school.

And he called for the English to celebrate their national day in style as he urged the youngsters to “rejoice in the land that they live in”.

He told them: “I would love this to be a day of dedication, that we will help those who are struggling within our country – help them like St George would have done.

“But it also happens to be the birthday of Shakespeare. Why couldn’t we have street parties where plays of Shakespeare and many other plays are being reenacted in our streets?”

Middlesbrough South and East Cleveland MP, Ashok Kumar, joined the call for the Government to make St George’s Day a public holiday.

He said: “There is a lot to be proud of in the English tradition. It isn’t all ale and roast beef either. England is also the country that gave the world Magna Carta, great literature such as Shakespeare and Chaucer, and indeed the concept of dissent that we saw with the English Civil War, the New Model Army and the Levellers.”

Meanwhile, villagers in Sadberge, near Darlington, celebrated St George’s Day with a full English breakfast, with profits going to back into the community.

Mayor of Darlington Ian Haszeldine said: “The Irish have St Patrick’s Day, the Americans have July 4, but we don’t really have a really English day, so it’s really important that we celebrate St George’s Day.”

Customers at the Artful Dodger pub, in Micklegate, York, celebrated by raising a glass or two to St George.

The York Brewery produced a special beer, Dragon’s Rose, and 20p from the sale of each pint was going to good causes.

Pub boss Marc Allinson said: “We are sick of everybody celebrating St Patrick’s Day and not St George’s Day.”

On the North York Moors, artists from as far afield as Kent, Suffolk and Cumbria will join Yorkshire musicians for a series of concerts and sessions in Danby Village Hall, on Sunday, from 11am to 5.30pm.

In Durham, the Durham Deanery held a St George’s Day Cream Tea at the city’s St Nicholas’ Church in aid of the Children’s Society.

In Sunderland, the first 23 people to visit the City and Arts Centre to issue a book on St George’s Day were handed a red rose.