Tynwald Day celebration of Island's history, culture and traditions

The Isle of Man celebrates its national day today – with St John’s the centre of attention.

The traditional sitting of Tynwald Court on the Tynwald Hill will see eleven new laws promulgated in a ceremony which dates back to Viking times.

Official guests have come from as far afield as Gibraltar, Spain, Norway. From the world of politics they include the presiding officer of the Scottish parliament, the deputy speaker of the House of Commons, a member of the Northern Ireland Assembly, a Conservative MP and the Gibraltar government's representative in the UK.

From the arts, celebrity film critic Mark Kermode is revisiting his Manx roots while the internationally recognised sculptor Michael Sandle is also on this year's guest list. 

Today offers Manx residents the opportunity to present petitions for redress of grievance – although it’s not yet known how many people will exercise their right to complain directly to parliament.

The laws being promulgated this year govern topics as diverse as bribery, fisheries, weeds, sunbeds, and income tax.

Historically, laws were promulgated in English and Manx to make sure everybody understood them – and they didn't come into effect until they'd been read out on Tynwald Hill.

Away from the pageantry and ceremony, there’s also the Tynwald Day festivities which takes place on the fair field.

As well as stalls, there’s traditional dancing, music and entertainment to please the crowds.

Before the sitting, Tynwald court gathers in the Royal Chapel for a National Day service.

Members will then process along a route covered with reeds to the hill for the open-air sitting.

After the promulgation of the laws and conclusion of the sitting, it’s back to the chapel for the captioning ceremony when Tynwald members sign off the new legislation.

It'll then be time to present this year’s Tynwald Honour to Normandy Veteran Hector Duff, who was also awarded a British Empire Medal in the Queen’s birthday honours list.