There was a festival atmosphere in Limavady for the Twelfth as a good-humoured crowd descended on the north Derry town, swelling the population by about 20,000.
During the religious service in the "field" the crowd applauded speeches from the platform.
The Rev Stephen Dickinson, chaplain of the City of Derry Grand Lodge, criticised the British government, the Parades Commission and the Taoiseach, as well as Protestant church leaders.
Mr Dickinson said many Protestants were "baffled and burdened by what the British government was trying to do".
"They would want to open the prison doors and give early release to some of the most cold, callous and ruthless killers known to man.
"They were also baffled that the government would want to twist and turn in order to get terrorists into government and allow them to rule over the land they have tried to destroy by bomb, bullet and residents' groups," he said.
Mr Dickinson, a Presbyterian minister in Co Antrim, said the Parades Commission had been set up under a republican agenda to have the specific role of crushing the Orange culture. In his attack on Protestant church leaders, Mr Dickinson said Protestants were baffled that so many churchmen took out an advertisement encouraging others to vote Yes at the referendum.
"Yes to terrorist prisoner releases; Yes to terrorists in government; Yes for the destruction of the Protestant and unionist cause." He added: "Where do they get their text from scripture for any of that?"
Meanwhile in Belfast, the SDLP Assembly member, Mr Alex Attwood, has warned the British Prime Minister, Mr Tony Blair, on the dangers of undermining the Parades Commission.
He said: "Whatever its faults, the Parades Commission needs to be affirmed. The best method is government, political and community endorsement of Parades Commission principles - face-to-face sustained dialogue free from protest and intimidation." Also in Belfast, the Royal Black Institution has pledged to support the Protestant Reformed churches in their endeavours to highlight what it sees as the "central truth of the millennium". While there were many pagan forms of celebration to be held to mark the millennium, the institution said it would be calling on its members to set a "Christian example" in what it described as a "morally bankrupt, secular society".
The institution's pledge is contained in a resolution to be proposed at Scarva today when 6,000 members are taking part in the traditional "Sham Fight".
An Orange parade was disrupted for a while yesterday morning due to a bomb alert in the Railway Street area of Armagh.
Several houses were evacuated when British army disposal experts moved in to examine a suspect package. It was later declared a hoax.
An Orange parade in Ballinamallard, Co Fermanagh was also disrupted by a bomb alert yesterday. This was also a hoax.