Dating back to 1850, the event is a Christian celebration marking Whitsuntide - the festival that celebrates the coming of the Holy Spirit in power upon the disciples of Jesus at the Jewish feast of Pentecost.
The Walk is held on Spring Bank Holiday Monday because it is the nearest British public holiday to Whitsuntide. This year it happened to fall on the 29th of May, which coincided with the weekend of both the festival as well as the 200th anniversary of the URC church at Rose Hill – which has supported the event since the Chesterfield Whit Walk began 173 years ago.
5. Chesterfield Whit Walk
This year's theme was the King of Kings Photo: Brian Eyre
6. Chesterfield Whit Walk
This year, the route has been changed to bring the event to a wider audience, with the procession moving through the Market Place and along Vicar Lane, before returning to the town hall via Burlington Street and High Street for the closing ceremony Photo: Brian Eyre
7. Chesterfield Whit Walk
Music on Vicar Lane Photo: Brian Eyre
8. Whit Walk
The Procession is a symbolic “going out into the world” by the local churches in memory of the event that was, in essence, the birth of the Christian Church. Photo: Brian Eyre