Umbrellas decorated with Union Flags shielded babies and the elderly from the sun in a Co Antrim town during a scorching Twelfth of July parade on Saturday.
Thousands of people lined the route in Glengormley to watch the visiting Black Skull Flute Band from Glasgow lead the Carntall Orange Order lodge, accompanied by dozens of bands.
The town, on the outskirts of north Belfast, was one of 19 venues across Northern Ireland chosen to host the annual parades, which mark the victory of Protestant William III over Catholic James II at the Battle of the Boyne in 1690.
Around 300 loyalist bonfires were lit before the “Twelfth” – most on the eve of the parades – and while most passed off without incident, a pyre on which an effigy of an immigrant boat was burned is being treated as a hate crime by police.
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A controversial bonfire in south Belfast, which has asbestos on the site and is close to an electricity substation which powers the city’s two main hospitals, was also lit despite appeals by the Stormont Environment Minister.
The Northern Ireland Fire and Rescue Service said it dealt with a “challenging” situation on Friday evening and one firefighter was attacked while attending a bonfire in Lisburn, Co Antrim.
A woman watching the Glengormley parade on Saturday said the “boat incident” at the bonfire in Moygashel, Co Tyrone, had “really annoyed her”.
“My grandson is mixed race, born and reared in Northern Ireland, and what happened in Moygashel scared me … of course it was racist,” Karen Buchanan said.
“My grandson is 27, works in a law firm and still gets abuse. It’s a small minority behind this, they know nothing.
“They don’t know about our own culture, they don’t know what we’re really about.”
Wearing a red, white and blue garland around her neck, Ms Buchanan’s daughter, Ashley Crosby, said the annual Twelfth parade was an important event for her family.
“We never miss it. Every year we come and this year it’s on our doorstep,” she said.
Calls were made for increased “tolerance” by an Orange Order leader on Saturday.
The order’s grand secretary, Mervyn Gibson, told crowds gathered in Keady, Co Armagh, following the July 12th parades, that they belonged to a to a “vibrant and diverse community proud of our heritage, culture and British citizenship”.
The senior Orangeman and Presbyterian minister urged them to “better promote these truths”.
“And I believe this generation and the next are up for this challenge. We must seek to create understanding, education, tolerance and mutual respect,” he said.
Around 30 parades due to take place were categorised as sensitive by the Northern Ireland Parades Commission.
An Orange Order feeder parade passed the nationalist Ardoyne shops in north Belfast without incident on Saturday.
The interface – the shops are close to the unionist Twaddell area – became a flashpoint for some of the worst sectarian summer violence until a deal was brokered between the two communities in 2016. It has remained peaceful since then.
On Sunday, a parade will return past the Ardoyne shops, but will be restricted to one band and 50 members of the order.
PSNI chief constable Jon Boutcher appealed for mutual respect at the marking of events.
“Our officers will be on the ground throughout the weekend, working in partnership with community leaders, event organisers and local representatives to support lawful, peaceful and family-friendly events,” he said.
“However, where necessary we will take firm and proportionate action to keep people safe.”
At the Glengormley parade, Lisa Walter joined her daughter Grace to watch the marching bands.
They live across the road and brought their fold-up deck chairs.
“It’s very important for us. It’s our culture. You see people who you haven’t seen since this time last year,” Mrs Walter said.
“We’ve never gone to the bonfires – too much drinking and yahooing. You’re either into them or you’re not. But the parades are different. Today is a family day.”
