Lord Mayor’s Show 2016: Where to watch the procession and fireworks, how to get there and what to avoid

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The City of London will close down tomorrow for celebrations at the 801st Lord Mayor’s Show.

A day of fireworks, processions and tradition will follow today's transfer of power from current Lord Mayor, Jeffrey Mountevans to Andrew Parmley.

If you get stuck, the Lord Mayor’s show now has an app, obviously. But here’s our guide on how to make the best of the day…

The River Pageant

Cast your memories of the EU referendum flotilla aside, because if you’re up early enough tomorrow, you can see a far more dignified procession down the Thames. The new Lord Mayor will board the queen's barge, the Gloriana, and a flotilla of 24 other traditional boats will float downstream from Vauxhall at 8:35am.

They’ll pass Waterloo at 9:00am and London Bridge at 9:20am, before a ceremonial salute opening of Tower Bridge (currently closed to traffic) at 9:25am.

The procession

The walking procession sets off from Mansion House at 11am and takes half an hour to get to its end point – the royal courts on the Strand.

There’s three miles’ worth of procession, despite the route only being two miles long, so there’s a lot to see.

The return leg leaves Temple Place at 1:10pm and should be back at Mansion House by 2:30pm. It takes a slightly different route, via Blackfriars.

How do you know if you’ve seen everything? The City’s sanitation department is always at the back, so once you’ve spotted them, you’ve seen it all.

Here’s a handy map (PDF).

Free walking tours

These one and a half hour guided tours of the Square Mile leave at 3pm outside No 1 Poultry, near Mansion House. They end at Blackfriars and are suitable for all ages, with few hills on the route.

Fireworks

Fireworks over the Thames start at 5:15pm and can be seen anywhere between Blackfriars and Waterloo Bridges. Roads will be closed either side of the river for crowds. 

How to get there

Public transport is the only way to get into the City this Saturday. Go to St Paul’s or Bank to see the first half of the walking procession, or Bank, Blackfriars and Mansion house for the afternoon part.

Buses between Trafalgar Square and Liverpool Street will be diverted or not run at all.

Where not to go

Here’s a comprehensive map of road closures. Roads closed in the City will reopen at around 4pm and those around the Embankment will re-open at 6:30pm.

Bank, Embankment, Farringdon, Holborn, Moorgate, Tower Hill, Liverpool Street are expected to be extremely busy all day.

But you may as well pop by. Here's a taster video to get you in the mood:

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