New Year's Day Parade - Organisation

Organisation

The London parade is the biggest New Year's Day street event of its kind. The parade is used to raise funds for charities in London and representatives from each of the 32 London boroughs are encouraged to take part as a 'borough entry' which are judged as part of the event. The winning entry in the 2009 parade was the London Borough of Merton. The parade is also used to honour people from each borough who have been heroic in some way during the previous year. Every year BBC London holds a competition to find two talented young musicians to travel to the United States and play with an American high school marching band, both in America and in the London Parade. The parade dates back to the 1920s to celebrate the special relationship between England and the USA.

The 2 mile (3.2 km) parade route begins at Parliament Square in Westminster and continues along Parliament Street and Whitehall to Trafalgar Square. It then continues along Cockspur Street and Regent Street. The final section is along Piccadilly and the parade ends at Green Park. The parade attracts around a million spectators, and there is ticket-only seating at the start and end of the route.