Pancake Day comes early for King’s Choristers

With Shrove Tuesday falling during the half term holiday, the Chorister’s Pancake Race was held this week on Tuesday 14th February. The annual event, which involves the Cathedral Choir racing around the cloisters of Worcester Cathedral, is a popular tradition at King’s St Alban’s. This year was no different, as King’s St Alban’s pupils made their way through the Senior School campus and across College Green to take up their positions in the cloisters. The Cathedral Choir, made up of pupils from King’s Worcester and King’s St Alban’s were already in attendance. The Choristers were split into two teams, one for the Decani and one for the Cantoris, along with a few guest team members.

The race was made up of different elements, with each side of the cloister adding a different challenge for the participants. Whilst brandishing frying-pans complete with pancakes, the choristers were challenged with dribbling a football between some cones on one side, balancing a small bean bag on their head along another, and passing a hoop over their head on the third. There was also the added challenge of flipping the pancake on each corner!

The Worcester Cathedral Choristers are the oldest King’s Worcester tradition. They form a strong team of happy and talented boys, aged from seven. The Pancake Race is a great way for staff and pupils from King’s St Alban’s to show their support for the Choristers. It was a lively and exciting event; the children filled the beautiful and historic venue with joyous noise. There was lots of enthusiastic cheering and roaring to spur the teams on.

It was a brilliant start to the day. Mr Chapman, King’s St Alban’s Head, said, “It was great for the whole school to visit the cloisters of our beautiful Cathedral and support their friends.  It’s one of the more bizarre and less formal events we support at the Cathedral.  It was lovely to see Choristers from 7 to 13 working together and enjoying each other’s company.’