THOUSANDS will descend on the village of Maguiresbridge next Tuesday for Fermanagh’s annual 12th of July parade. 

Large crowds – including many tourists from Scotland – are expected at the event, renowned for its relaxed and family-friendly atmosphere. 

Grand Master of County Fermanagh Grand Orange Lodge Stuart Brooker hopes that 2016 will be just as successful as last year’s event in Kesh. 

“We always have a good day in Fermanagh and it’s very much a family-orientated day with no tensions. It’s a friendly, local event that is open to all and there’s a social aspect to it too. It’s about a lot of people coming together making new friendships and renewing old ones as some of them don’t see each other from one year to the next. Hopefully the weather will be kind to us too, which always helps.” 

Mr Brooker says the Orange Order in the county is fortunate to maintain good community relationships. 

“Community relations are good and we feel that is important. As an organisation, we have been working hard in this direction over the past number of years.

 It’s also important that we are understood as an organisation and in order to be, we have to be able to tell our story. In recent years, we have become part of the community.”  

Three newly formed Junior lodges will also be on parade at their first Twelfth, including young boys and girls from Ballinamallard and South Fermanagh. 

“The Junior movement in Fermanagh has been very firmly re-established with four new Junior Boys lodges having been formed in the county and one Junior Girls,” Mr Brooker explained. 

Among the lodges on parade will be Ballindarragh LOL 689, who won the Best New Banner Award at this year’s Orange Community Awards.

This year, parade participants will gather next to an impressive new 3G sports pitch, developed by Maguiresbridge  Pitch Development Committee, which officially opened in May. First mooted three years ago, the project secured funding from the Department of Communitiess and bought six acres of land from local farmer Malcolm Hunter. 

The £360,000 facility will be used by the wider Maguiresbridge community for sports and games as well as local football teams. 

Mr Brooker, a member of Brookeborough Flute Band, says every parade is a year in the planning and preparations will begin immediately afterwards for the 2017 event in Lisbellaw.

“Some bands will practice all year around and others will start preparations as early as the spring.”