Bury set to Rock to the beat

The Rock, shopping and leisure destination is inviting the local community to help celebrate the launch of the development, by taking part in the Bury Beat Parade – an exciting feature within The Rock’s official launch programme on 16th July.

The Bury Beat Parade is a creative community initiative, which local schools and community groups from across the Bury area are being invited to take part in by entering artwork into The Rock flag art competition.

Letters to schools within Bury’s six towns have been issued asking pupils to participate in the competition by illustrating ‘What part of their local community are they most proud of?’. All the entries will be collated and a special judging panel, made up of representatives from The Rock, Bury Council, Bury Art Gallery, Museum & Archives and the Bury Times, will decide on the winning entries and which schools take part on launch day in the Bury Beat Parade.

The schools from each town will be invited to represent their area in the Bury Beat Parade carrying the flag displaying the winning artwork. The procession will bring together some 180 children, who will parade through The Rock led by a team of musicians and performing artists. Each team of children will be assigned their own colours, flags and t-shirts.

The launch will herald a new era for the town when The Rock opens its doors for trading, as it is the largest new retail scheme to be completed in the UK this year. The event promises to unite Bury with a spectacular day of celebration, colour and history, which will commemorate all that is special about Bury.

Commenting on the launch David Laycock, Centre Director for The Rock said: “The Bury Beat Parade will create a real buzz in the town in the run up to opening. Getting the local schools involved in this project and engaging with the community will help to form the heart of The Rock. We want this development to capture the real essence of Bury, which is why we have opened our plans for the launch out to the wider community and schools. We hope that the people of Bury are as excited as we are about opening this fantastic scheme.

“The Bury Beat parade is just one part of the fantastic programme of events that we have put together for the launch day. The 16th July will be a big day for Bury and we want everyone to put the date in their diaries and expect something special.”

Mrs Robinson, Head Teacher of St Marie’s R C Primary School said: “The school is extremely excited to be a part of such a momentous event for Bury. The Rock is a long awaited addition to the town and we are pleased that the local community it going to play such a big role in the celebrations. The children cannot wait to get involved in the launch day programme.”

Tags: Bury Attractions, Bury Shopping, The Rock