14/04/2023
So, what is Sussex Day anyway?
Why, it's a day (June 16th) to celebrate all things Sussex! Yearly, it coincides with St. Richard’s Day – the patron Saint of our beautiful and rich county.
Sussex Day isn’t an ancient tradition, but more a recent creation, thanks to a 2006 collaboration between Worthing resident Ian Steedman and Henry Smith, then leader of West Sussex County Council and now MP for Crawley. Henry Smith liked Ian Steedman’s idea of celebrating Sussex's vast history and culture, and of restoring local pride in our communities. West Sussex County Council recognised the inaugural Sussex Day back in 2007, with many local councils and central government doing so in more recent times.
Since then, Sussex Day has grown organically across the whole county, a slow burner that’s gradually seeped into the pores of the county and the communities within. Events spring up here and there as Sussex Day gathers a little more momentum each year. “I like the grassroots feel of it” said Brady of Sussex Flag, “that it’s grown organically, that people do their own thing.”
For most of the last decade the Sussex Flag has been flown in the six rapes of Sussex in advance of Sussex Day. The rapes were administrative areas set up more than a millennia ago and were an early form of local government. Flags are flown at locations in Chichester, Arundel, Bramber, Lewes, Pevensey and Hastings.
At other locations the Sussex Flag is also flown and performances of Sussex by the Sea take place. In some communities, the reading of the Sussex Charter is also part of the proceedings.
Some county days are as old as the hills, but most are relatively recent innovations. Ours is on June 16th so mark your calendar, make a note in your diary, and be prepared to celebrate with us in a wonderful spectacle of traditional dance in the heart of Lewes!
A collection of beautiful aerial footage I shot with a DJI Phantom 3 drone, during the early hours and sunrises of summer 2015. This is a highlight to show t...
