Wet but colourful: Swinging Sixties at London's New Year's Day Parade 2014

We were so happy to be invited back to the London New Year's Day Parade that we forgot the rain and created a colourful pandemonium with all new costumes that reflected the 2014 parade motto Swinging Sixties.

The World's Biggest New Year Parade

The prestigious parade, the biggest of its kind in the world, runs every year from Green Park via Piccadilly, Trafalgar Square and Whitehall to Westminster Palace, passing a number of iconic London landmarks for a world-wide TV audience.

Traditionally, several highly skilled international marching bands are invited to the parade, and the London boroughs are staging a competition for the best entry among their ranks, so being in the parade for the second time after 2013 is a great honour.

Despite the weather, hundreds of thousands lined the streets for the full three hours of the parade to cheer on the participants.

New Rhythms, New Costumes, New Performers

For the 2014 parade, we rehearsed new rhythms, culminating in a two-minute showcase at the end of the route in front of a VIP grandstand, multiple TV cameras, and a horde of press photographers.

This year we were supported by dancers from the 2012 Legacy Project, who added visual impact, setting the self-designed costumes brilliantly in scene.

The Legacy by the 2012 Legacy Project will be performed on 25 January at The Place and also features several Pandemonium Drummers as dancers.

Press Echo

Our contribution to the parade featured on BBC London News, and a photographer from the Press Association managed to capture a great shot, which was distributed to news outlets world-wide, which you might have seen on ITV, Huffington Post, Mirror, Evening Standard and elsewhere.

The journalists could not quite decide whether our drum captain represented John Lennon (ITV) or Jethro Tull (Evening Standard).

Just before the start of the parade, a TV interview featured a small group of drummers including Pandemonium Drummers Secretary, who reminded the audience of our role in the London 2012 Olympic Opening and Closing Ceremonies.

Our photographer Vilma Laryea captured us on multiple points along the parade route:
2014 London New Year's Day Parade Photo Gallery

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Photos by Vilma Laryea

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ABOUTPandemonium Drummers

The Pandemonium Drummers were originally put together by London 2012 Ceremonies for the Pandemonium segment of Danny Boyle's spectacular Olympic Opening Ceremony. Following the Ceremony, the volunteer drummers kept on performing at a variety of events.

Based on their extensive training, they performed at other Opening Ceremonies, including the UEFA Champions League Final 2013, the FA Cup Final 2014, and the Heineken Cup Final 2014, and at a variety of large and small festivals as well as sports and community events. The Pandemonium Drummers are a returning act in London's major parades, including the London New Years' Day Parade, St Patrick's Day Parade, and the Lord Mayor's Show, and they coined Cheer Drumming, supporting runners at major sports events across the capital and beyond. The Pandemonium Drummers have supported the Special Olympics, the Teenage Cancer Trust, and a wide range of other charities.

The Pandemonium Drummers are a constituted association with charitable aims, and are working on a non-profit basis as volunteers.

[ More about the Pandemonium Drummers ]