St George and the flagon

The Irish, French and Americans all do it... so why don't the English? Celebrating your country is sadly neglected in England so the MA is launching a campaign to help pubs encourage consumers to get behind St George's Day on 23 April

The Irish use St Patrick's Day as an

excuse for some major partying,

just as the French embrace Bastille Day and America celebrates

Independence Day. It's a different story with the English - most don't even know when

St George's Day is, let alone the fact that he is their patron saint.

The MA is hoping to change all that and put April 23 on the map by encouraging pubs to make St George's Day an event that is as big as

possible. Working alongside Bruno Peek,

organiser of well-known national celebrations such as the Queen's Jubilee, MA has

developed a campaign to help pubs make the most of the opportunity.

Brewers and pubcos are already switched on to the idea and there are lots of ways

this enthusiasm can be taken up by pubs and ultimately enjoyed by your customers.

Peek says: "We lead such busy lives that

little time is devoted to appreciating the place where we live. That is why St George's Day on 23 April 2007 is so important.

"It is the one day of the year on which the

whole of England can unite in celebration of this great country of ours: its past, present

and future; its countryside, towns and

cities; its rich harvests, thriving industry and

commerce and - most importantly - people who live here."

St George's Day falls in a normally quiet time for the trade, which gives pubs time to create a really memorable event. This year it will

happen on a Monday, which means licensees can make a weekend of it, culminating with a final event on the day itself.

Other ideas for celebrating include

holding a general-knowledge quiz about your local village, town, city or the whole of England; developing a traditional English menu with dishes such as Lancashire hotpot,

shepherd's pie or fish and chips and ensuring that there is a good selection of English ales on offer to complement the menu.

Peek is also asking every pub in England to ring its bell and encourage customers to raise their glasses and make a toast to "England and St George" on Monday evening.

As well as celebrating everything English and putting on a special event, the MA has teamed up with Gaffney Party Products to

reward the licensee who puts in the most effort to decorate their pub for the occasion.

To win the Best Dressed Pub competition, with a first prize of £1,000 and a special commemorative plaque, you need to send us some pictures of your outlet dressed up to the nines for the event.

Pubs can enter by logging onto the website www.celebratestgeorgesday.com. The closing date for the competition is 28 April. The competition will be judged on a county level, with one overall national winner.

During the build-up to the event, we'll be bringing you lots of tips and ideas on ways to make this year's celebrations a real success

in your pub.

The website www.celebratestgeorgesday.com, is also packed full of information about St George himself and events that are taking place. There is also a brochure which licensees can download to help generate fun ways to get behind our campaign.

What pubs are planning for this year's event

The George, Liverpool Street, London

St George's Day is the busiest day of the year at this London pub, which is part of the Great Eastern Hotel, owned by the Conran Group. Manager Scott Atkins says: "Being the George, it's our day - there would be no excuse not to do anything. Last year we had morris dancers here, who danced on the street outside as well as in the pub. It was great fun - everyone was laughing, as the dancers stood out like a sore thumb in our area of London, which is full of City workers."

Atkins usually celebrates the day on the Friday before the event as weekends are very quiet in the City. He puts special ales on, which last year included Banks & Taylor's Dragon Slayer, Archers' Spirit of George and Charles Wells' Bombardier.

While the pub always serves traditional English food, Atkins makes sure there are dishes such as roast beef or pork belly on the menu for the day.

Atkins says: "The most important thing is to make it fun so people will want to go out and have a drink to celebrate. The morris dancers are always a really good laugh, but we also make sure we play songs such as Jerusalem a couple of times at the bar - everyone starts singing along."

Atkins is planning to hold a raffle this year and will perhaps also be adopting a sports theme and giving away signed England football shirts.

The Thomas Rigby's, Liverpool

This Wells & Young's pub holds a five-day cider festival over St George's Day, with ciders such as Thatchers and Biddenden's on offer.

It also stocks a few English wines for the celebrations, such as Lyme Bay's damson or black beer and raisin varieties.

Licensee Fiona Hornsby says: "Each year more and more people are getting into it. Our chef always puts on an English menu, with options such as steak pie, fish and chips, and shepherd's pie.

"We are also big on beer and food matching and always have eight cask ales on. Around St George's Day we sell beers such as London Pride and Black Sheep."

Hornsby played some old-time favourites music-wise for one day during the celebrations last year, using tracks such as We'll Meet Again and Land of Hope and Glory.

The pub also runs a St George's Day competition, offering free hats when you buy a certain number of pints.

The George Inn, Norton St Philip, Bath

The Wadworth-owned George Inn is a Grade-I listed building, so hanging banners out front is not exactly keeping with its style. However, it makes up for it inside with its food - dishes range from English steak stuffed with Stilton and wrapped in bacon, to home-made steak and 6X pie or individual beef Wellingtons. Puddings include bread and butter pudding and fruit crumbles.

Licensee David Satchell says: "We like to keep our celebrations to the day itself, as I'm not keen on days that stretch into weeks. We advertise a month in advance in local papers and in the pub, although most of our regulars hear about us through word of mouth and come back because they like our food."

The Benefits of getting involved

Momentum is definitely gathering behind the campaign to raise greater awareness of

St George's Day - and pubs have certainly benefited. Research by the Future Foundation in 2003 showed that pubs and restaurants could take £14.1m if they get behind St George's Day in the same way as many do on St Patrick's Day.

According to Punch Taverns, St George's Day is the third-biggest trading day in its outlets and cask ale sales swell by 5% over the week around it.

Sales at Mitchells & Butler were also up 100% on 23 April in 2004.

And Charles Wells said more pubs than ever celebrated St George's Day last year, causing an unprecedented demand for promotional kits. Its trade website www.thevalueofstgeorge.com, received a record number of hits.

Here's some of the ideas used last year to make the event such a success:

l A weekend-long festival, with morris dancers, Punch and Judy and fancy dress

l A themed show featuring artwork and poetry about St George

l A special St George's Day lunch or dinner offering British food such as bangers and mash or pies made with English beer

And a new MORI poll just released reveals:

44% of the country think celebrating St George's Day is "a very good idea"; 28% think it's "fairly good"; 33% want to get together with friends and family to celebrate St George's Day; 26% want to attend a local community event and 20% think the pub is the obvious place to enjoy St George's Day.