The award-winning Yes Peas! campaign is, for the first time, sponsoring a pea harvester to take part in the magnificent and historic Lord Mayor’s Show in London on Saturday 14 November 2009 at 11am, in front of an audience of hundreds of thousands of people.
The impressive PMC Harvester, kindly loaned by Fen Peas, is making its stately way beforehand from Fakenham in Norfolk up to the City of London, where it will represent not only the frozen pea industry but also the Worshipful Company of Farmers, in a 3-mile long procession that has nearly 800 years of history behind it, as the 682nd Lord Mayor of London, Alderman Ian Anstee, takes office.
The machine will be sporting the key messages of the Yes Peas! campaign - that frozen peas are fresher than fresh, that the best peas are frozen within 150 minutes of being picked - as well as explaining the work of the pea harvester.
Walking in front of the harvester will be The Master of the Worshipful Company of Farmers, Jeremy Courtney; the Senior Warden, Follett Balch; the Junior Warden, Peter Faulkner; Liveryman & Member of Court, Lindsay Hargreaves, just one part of the 6000-strong procession.
The first event to ever be broadcast live on TV, the Lord Mayor’s Show has survived the Black Death and The Blitz and this year’s event is expected to attract 500,000 people to the capital’s streets whilst millions more watch the parade at home on BBC TV. The commentator is Clare Balding, who will be receiving a ’hamper’ of pea-related items before the event, including the Yes Peas! recipe books and a bottle of pea champagne.
"We are delighted to be participating in this great and memorable event," says Martin Riggall, Chief Executive of PVGA which coordinates the Yes peas!
campaign. "It is a wonderful opportunity to demonstrate our commitment to British agriculture."
Master of the Worshipful Company of Farmers Jeremy Courtney, farmer, adds, "We would like to thank Yes Peas! for their generous sponsorship in bringing this magnificent machine to London. We know its spectacle, as well as the important messages it carries, will make it a highlight of the parade."
