THE theme for next year’s St. Patrick’s Day parade will be ‘Books: Pages Thru The Ages’, it has been announced.

Revealing the theme for the 2018 parade was just one of the items on the agenda at the Project St. Patrick annual meeting.

Thanks to the continued support of Fermanagh and Omagh District Council, plans are now underway for Saturday, March 17, 2018.

The members of Project St. Patrick are pleased to announce that they have small grants available for schools, community groups and organisations to help produce their float (or walking entry) up to a maximum of £500.

Contact the organisers by email or phone for an Expression of Interest form, outline how your group will incorporate the theme, and submit by Tuesday, December 12.

“We will be writing out to schools in particular throughout the county so please keep an eye out if you wish to include preparatory work for the new school term’s curriculum,” a spokesperson said.

The parade organisers said that ‘Books: Pages Thru The Ages’ had been chosen because it was an “exciting and very flexible” theme limited only by the imagination of participants - be it the classics of the past to comic books of the future and even movie adaptations!

It’s a simple theme to adapt and one which it is hoped will be used to showcase the various organisations taking part to the 15,000-plus crowd expected to attend the 2018 parade, as well as the media coverage in press and on TV.

If you have any questions about the parade or wish to receive an expression of interest form, please contact Feargal on 07792 410028 or by emailing: info@projectstpatrick.com