What moves us?

The Centre for Processional Culture UK (CPCUK) is a new membership body brought together to represent the interests and challenges of those making processions happen across the country.

Our aim is to become a go-to support body who can help find information and contacts to support processional events, bring together networks of those delivering processions and to advocate for this important collective, popular activity. To do this we provide membership resources on aspects of delivery such as risk assessment and traffic management and alongside this we will commission examples of processional creations such as puppets, new dance forms and banners.

Our Team

Esther Ferry-Kennington

Esther has been in processions since a childhood playing in street bands, as a Morris dancer in adulthood, and as a Producer at Horse + Bamboo since the early 2010s.

In 2019 Esther became Exec Producer of Encounter Festival Preston which delivers an annual torchlight procession through the City Centre with over 500 participants. Preston City Council have been a key supporter of this work so far, particularly as they look towards the next Preston Guild in 2032.

Director

Louise Platt

Dr Louise Platt is a Reader in Place Experiences at Manchester Metropolitan University. She teaches events and festival management in the Faculty of Business and Law. Her research focuses on festivity and place with a particular focus on processional cultures and community identities. She has published academic work in this area and sits on the editorial boards of leisure related academic journals and is a Fellow of the Royal Society of the Arts.

Research Lead

Rosalyne Norford

Rosalyne Norford is a creative producer and psychotherapist working across the arts, culture and health sectors. Her work combines creativity and wellbeing, supporting organisations to build infrastructure, deliver strategic projects, curate events and strengthen community engagement.

Associate Producer

Trustees

Jennifer Camilleri

(Chair)

Executive Producer, Horse + Bamboo

Jenn (she/her) is CEO of Horse + Bamboo, arts organisation based in Waterfoot, Rossendale. She has been at the charity for 8 years and was appointed CEO in March 2026.

Jenn began a career in theatre through fringe venues, managing the theatre above The Black Lion in Salford before founding her own pop-up theatre company, New Playhouse, which ran from The Great Northern Warehouse in Manchester.

Jenn is passionate about brilliant theatre for children & young people, festivals and outdoor events. She sits as Deputy Chair for Wonder Arts in St Helens, and is actively involved with CottonShed Theatre in Rossendale. When not in Horse + Bamboo, Jenn is a badminton player, often at live music festivals & always planning the next trip to Japan.

Rebecca Stewart

Managing Director, Sound Roots/ English Folk Expo.

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Sophie Parkes-Nield

Postdoctoral researcher on the National Folklore Survey for England project.

Sophie Parkes-Nield is a writer, researcher and lecturer living in Greater Manchester. A graduate of the University of Manchester and Manchester Metropolitan University, she holds a doctorate in creative writing and folklore from Sheffield Hallam University. She currently works as a postdoctoral researcher on the National Folklore Survey for England project. She also dances with Saddleworth Women's Morris and Clog.

For more information about Sophie and her work, please visit www.sophieparkes.co.uk

Tim Joel

Assistant Director and Head of Arts and Culture, Preston City Council

Frequently Asked Questions

Esther Ferry-Kennington, Director and Louise Platt, Research Lead were introduced in 2023 and both had separately come to focus on processions as creative, truly diverse activities which seemed to have no research or practice based overview.
By June 2025 this led to the registration of the Centre for Processional Culture in the UK CIC (16527313) with 4 trustees.
- Jennifer Camilleri (Chair) - Executive Producer, Horse + Bamboo
- Rebecca Stewart - Managing Director, Sound Roots/ English Folk Expo
- Sophie Parkes-Nield - Researcher in folkloric processional practice, Sheffield Hallam University.
- Tim Joel - Assistant Director and Head of Culture, Preston City Council
Work originated by Manchester Met Uni, Preston City Council & Horse + Bamboo has brought the Centre together and we have started relationships with existing groups from strategic bodies such as Global Grooves, Outdoor Arts UK & Without Walls alongside individual event committee members & researchers taking a viewpoint on individual practices.
Dr Louise Platt is a Reader in Place Experiences at Manchester Metropolitan University. She teaches events and festival management in the Faculty of Business and Law. Her research focuses on festivity and place with a particular focus on processional cultures and community identities. She has published academic work in this area and sits on the editorial boards of leisure related academic journals and is a Fellow of the Royal Society of the Arts.
Esther has been in processions since a childhood playing in street bands, as a Morris dancer in adulthood, and as a Producer at Horse + Bamboo since the early 2010s. In 2019 Esther became Exec Producer of Encounter Festival Preston which delivers an annual torchlight procession through the City Centre with over 500 participants.
Membership of CPCUK brings a range of resources and benefits and we have priced it so it is open to all. Firstly, you will be welcomed into a network of people trying to do the same thing you are, but in a variety of different ways and so we hope we can all learn from our shared network. We will offer regular online network meetings and ad hoc face to face meetings.

You will also gain access to resources which will help you run your event. This will include templates, training sessions and network meetings regarding -
- Safeguarding
- Fundraising
- Conflict management and de-escalation
- Risk assessment
- Traffic management
- Recruitment of new and younger committee members
- Evaluation

Processions come in so many shapes and sizes it’s difficult to pinpoint one single starting place, but often you might want to start with conversations with:
- Your local authority events or licensing dept
- The community or groups you want to process with
- Any groups in your local areas that already do processions
- Stakeholders in the local area where you want to do your procession
Coming to an online event with CPCUK is a good way to get started!
Our research page offers a range of interesting work on processional culture.
Our Instagram shares highlights and content from processional groups and stakeholders.
Joining an online meeting will help you find contacts and support and will help us know what you need. Your local authority might also be able to offer some pointers on events in your area.

Many thanks to our founding partners

Horse + Bamboo

Long-standing theatre and outdoor arts company. H + B delivers and supports various small-scale and community-led processions in Rossendale.

CPCUK had been established thanks to funding from

Preston City Council

Representing the iconic and historic Preston Guild Celebrations and working towards the next Guild in 2032. PCC has delivered Encounter’s large scale Torchlight Procession since 2015 and CPCUK has been developed directly from this experience. PCC as a local authority is a key example of good practice in terms of supporting large and small scale processional events across many sectors.

Manchester Met

Representing key research and academic development in this area. This is particularly focused on the work of Louise Platt who has been working in this area for over 10 years.

Become a member

Membership of CPCUK brings a range of resources and benefits and we have priced it so it is open to all.

Find Out More