Twelfth demonstrations in the local area

The town is the only one in Northern Ireland which has a Twelfth demonstration every year.

The lodges and about 20 bands will assemble on the Waveney Road at 12.30pm and parade through the town via Galgorm Road, the Pentagon, Lower Mill Street, Wellington Street, Ballymoney Street, William Street, Broughsane Street, Church Street, Bridge Street, Harryville Bridge, Queen Street and Antrim Road to the demonstration field at Ballee.

There are about 1,000 Orangemen in the district and the parade will be led by Castlegore Flute Band.

It is expected that about 15 lambeg drums will also tke part in the parade.

A religious service at 3pm will be conducted by Rev. Ian McLean, a Grand Chaplain, and then Mr Dunbar will address the crowd. There is always a strong Scottish presence in Ballymena for the Twelfth. The Immediate Past Grand Master of Scotland, Ian Wilson, was the guest speaker last year .His successor Henry Dunbar will bring greetings from Scotland this year.

CLOUGHMILLS

Forty four lodges from five districts – Cloughmills, Bushmills, Ballycastle, Rasharkin and Ballymoney – will take part in the North Antrim demonstration which is being held in Cloughmills this year.

The men and women of Duneaney Accordion Band will lead off Cloughmills district at the head of the parade.

There will be a rich variety of music on parade, including 10 accordion bands, 15 flute bands, two pipe bands and six sets of lambeg drums.

The parade will assemble on Drumadoon Road and set off at 1pm through the village to the demonstration field on the Clough Road.

There, a religious service will be held at 2.15pm when the guest speaker will be Joe Gaston, County Grand Master of Antrim. The district master, Stephen Anderson, will read the resolutions.

The Twelfth is held in Cloughmills every five years and a large crowd is expected at the North Antrim venue as the parade makes its way along the two mile route.

BROUGHSHANE

The 11 lodges of Braid district will gather for the Twelfth in Broughshane, for the third year in a row It is one of the smallest parades of the day with 400 Orangemen taking part but the Braid Twelfth is always a big attraction for visitors and tourists, who are staying in the area. Last year’s Twelfth in the village was a big success with scores of tourists from the United States and Europe,

Broughshane has stacked up numerous awards and the village is well known throughout Northern Ireland for its pristine appearance. This year will be no different as the villagers have worked hard to make it a beautiful location for the Twelfth.

The parade starts at mid-day at Tullymore Road and goes through the village to Beechvale and then back to the Community Centre on the Knockan Road.

The guest speaker will be Ian Wilson, Immediate Past Grand Master of the Grand Orange Lodge of Scotland.

The religious service will begin at 2pm.

PORTGLENONE

Only one Twelfth demonstration in Northern Ireland crosses a county border during the parade.

Sixteen lodges will take part in the Triangle Parade in Portglenone this year and they will walk in both Co. Antrim and Co. Londonderry.

In other years, Ahoghill and Cullybackey are the venues for the demonstration.

If you like lambeg drums, Portglenone is the venue to be at this year as there could be as many as 20 of the huge drums on parade. There is always the prospect of a few impromptu drumming sessions throughout the day and a lambeg competition will be held in the demonstration field in the afternoon. That is definitely something worth watching.

The parade starts, at 12.30pm from the Bellaghy Road in Co. Londonderry and goes over the bride into Co. Antrim , up the Main Street and into Townhill Road to the field.

Among those taking part in the religious service will be Rev. Sheridan McKay.