Pathfinders Parade and Picnic

Take part in a fun, family-friendly parade to celebrate the power of getting around on foot and highlight the importance of paths and walking routes. The parade will feature live carnival music and creative work produced by people living nearby and artist Frank McElhinney. We’ll finish the parade with a picnic, with free food and drink provided, and a range of activities to enjoy.

We will be following some of the walking route through to Glasgow from Cardowan that there is a campaign to get a proper path installed on, making it accessible for people with mobility needs and cyclists. We hope this parade will help demonstrate the importance of this route and what a big difference a proper path could make for the area.

The meeting point for the parade is at the Cardowan Miners Memorial from 3pm. The parade will leave at 3.30pm and the route will go up to the far corner of Cardowan meadow and then to the Happy Hub space run by the Cardowan Community Meadow group at 12 Dorlin Road. The full distance is about 0.7 miles.

All are welcome to join any part of the parade or picnic. If you just want to join for the picnic, you can come to the Happy Hub from 4pm onward.

We are running workshops at the Happy Hub to make decorations and props to take on the parade every Thursday afternoon until the parade from 12pm to 3pm. All are welcome to join these sessions. If you would like to come along to these, you are welcome to just show up, or you can find out more by contacting [email protected].

Accessibility

This event is open for everyone to attend and we want to make it accessible to as many people as possible. Please be aware that the route through the meadow does not yet have a proper path and the ground is uneven. As a result, it is not currently accessible to most wheelchairs and people with mobility issues may find that part of the route difficult. The earlier part of the parade is on a paved surface and is fully accessible. The parade will also include some loud music.

The picnic outside the Happy Hub is adjacent to a paved surface and should be accessible to all, with help from our volunteers. There is a toilet available for use in the Hub.

If you have any accessibility requirements you want to check about, or anything that you need to make attending possible for you, please contact [email protected].

This event is being organised as part of the Thriving Tomorrow project by Cardowan Community Meadow, Culture for Climate Scotland and Northern Corridor Community Volunteers, with funding from the Alliance for Socially Engaged Arts.

Photo credit: Freitas Junior from Pexels