4,000 Scouts, Guides on parade today

The Scout Association of Malta and the Malta Girl Guides Association, for the third time, are today teaming up again to hold their annual parades together.

These events were formerly respectively known as St George's Day and Joan of Arc Day.

Around 4,000 Scouts and Guides will be participating in the joint parade. There will be 40 Scout Groups and 30 Guide Companies, which include 11 Scout bands.

The event will begin with a Thanksgiving Holy Mass celebrated by Fr Anton Briffa, OFM Cap., and Fr Marcellino Micallef, OFM, which will be held at St Publius parish church, in Floriana, at 9.30 a.m.

At 11 all participating Scout Groups and Guide Companies will form up on the Floriana Granaries in the prescribed order of marching and at 11.15 are scheduled to march off, led by the Mosta Scout Group Band.

The marching route will be through City Gate, down Republic Street round into Archbishop Street and up Merchants Street. The parade will be over by 12.45 p.m.

Air and Sea Scouts will again take part in the parade. The St Augustine Air Scout Group comes from the Central District while the Msida Sea Scout Group is part of the North District. The parade will be escorted, weather permitting, by three microlight aircraft piloted by members of the Scout Association.

The Qrendi Scout Group will be having a number of British Scouts from the 2nd Warrington West (St James) Scout Group marching within their ranks. These British Scouts are currently the guests of the local Group.

The Scout Fellowship will again this year take part in the march past together with the Island Trefoil Guild, taking part for the first time.

The Malta Girl Guides are celebrating 80 Years of Guiding in Malta with the theme of "Reaching Out". This parade will be part of the weekend activities of the National Guide Weekend, where this incorporates an exhibition in Bay Street, an anniversary dinner, Guide Cinema Day and this parade.

The MGG has special guests from WAGGGS World Board, Mette Groenvold, Diane Dixon from the WAGGGS European Committee and Fabiola Canavesi from the European Mediterranean Network.

President Guido de Marco, together with Mrs de Marco, patrons of the two associations, will take the salute on St George's Square, Valletta at about 11.45 p.m., while Youth and the Arts Minister Jesmond Mugliett, other ministers, MPs, members of the diplomatic corps will watch the march past.