“I’ve got a tune here that will knock them – knock them flat,” said Edward Elgar as he finished the first Pomp and Circumstance March   - Land of Hope and Glory -  in 1901. It will knock them yet again on Saturday 8 September at the BBC  Proms in the Park which brings the excitement of the Last Night of the Proms to five locations across Britain. In Hyde Park the stars performing include Lesley Garrett, tenor Juan Diego Florez
and clarinettist Mark Simpson  - Winner of BBC Young Musician of the Year plus Special guest: Will Young.  Across the country hundreds of musicians will take part, bringing the festival to an estimated one million people.

Tickets are still available on-line at the BBC website or by phone for the events in London at Hyde Park, Swansea at Singleton Park, Manchester at Heaton Park, at Carrickfergus in Ulster and at Glasgow Green.

The programme for the Last Night in the Royal Albert Hall is deeply traditional. In addition to Pomp and Circumstance, it always includes  Hubert Parry's Jerusalem (a setting of a poem by William Blake), Sir Henry Wood's Fantasia on British Sea Songs, and Thomas Arne’s Rule Britannia.

Sir Henry Wood crowned

Many of the Promenaders will be in fancy dress, from dinner jackets to patriotic T-shirts. Many use the occasion for an exuberant display of "Britishness". Union Jacks are carried and waved, especially during Rule Britannia. Flags, balloons and party poppers are all welcome. Sir Henry Wood's bust is crowned with a laurel chaplet by representatives of the Promenaders, who then wipe an imaginary bead of sweat from his forehead.

Near the end, the conductor makes a speech thanking the musicians and audiences, and mentioning the main themes covered through the season. Finally, after God Save the Queen, Auld Lang Syne is sung.

Billy Bragg’s song Brickbat includes the line “I used to want to plant bombs at the Last Night of the Proms”, but he has mellowed and no doubt most people will enjoy the evening, just as many of them will have many times before.