Christ’s Hospital School students returned to London on the 9th of November, as part of the annual Lord Mayor’s Show celebrations.

Since 1974, the school has been invited to be a part of the celebrations, and this year was no exception.

This year was slightly different, as we welcomed the new Lady Mayor Susan Langley DBE, the third female to hold office, and the first to take on the ’Lady Mayor’ title.

The procession consists of bands, cadets, dance troupes, and floats promoting organisations, plus many more. This year’s route took the procession from Mansion House to the Royal Courts of Justice, before returning.

The celebrations have also gained traction on social media — posts made on the school’s official Instagram and TikTok accounts have gained over a million views cumulatively.

Destiny, an oboist new to the band this year, said this about her first Lord Mayor’s show: ‘My mouth hurt but it was a great experience…and I can’t wait to do it again. It was nice to see other people and what their schools do and how similar but also how different we are.’

Whitty, principal trumpeter and in his final year at CH, commented on his final Lord Mayor’s show: ‘It was really good fun. It was the fifth show for me; I’ve been doing it since LE (Year 9), so [there’s] a lot of memories, a lot of people, I’ve done it with. It was harder this year, being head of section… [I] had to pull my weight a bit more. Once we get going, it’s really good fun… It’s definitely my favourite band event in the school year.’

Whitty also gave a word of advice to those looking to join the CH band in the future: ‘You’ve got to join band, because Lord Mayors is just the best band event. There’s like 120 different groups all marching through, and there’s 250,000 people normally on the streets watching, so it’s really good.’

This year’s Lady Mayor’s Show was an incredibly impressive feat for all those involved and was enjoyed by many.