St George's Day celebrations, V&A Museum of Childhood

The English, with their stiff upper lips and deep routed awkwardness, don’t celebrate the day of their patron saint with the with the bon viveur of other nations, for example, the Irish.

Almost no matter where you are on St Patrick’s day, Irish figures clad head-to-toe in green can be seen stumbling joyously out of pubs, voices raised in song. On St George’s day, however, the English celebrate their Englishness by turning their noses up at the thought of anything raucous and almost completely ignoring the day altogether - except for a few.

If you're determined to find some fun, the most you can expect to discover are small gatherings where English folk music is being quietly enjoyed or a small crowd of very embarrassed Morris dancing spectators. And that's about it.

The year St George’s day falls on Saturday April 23 and to commemorate our patron saint, the legend who slayed a dragon and saved a princess when he was a soldier in the Roman army - and never stepped foot on English soil - the V&A Museum of Childhood is welcoming the Trad Academy (London folk and dance competition) and celebrating St George's day the only way we know how: by giving families the chance to discover English folk music and dance traditions.

In partnership with London Borough of Tower Hamlets, the Becontree Brass band will be playing music to accompany the arts and crafts activities on offer.

So get down to the V&A Museum of Childhood to discover an ancient and quintessential part of England that will make you very much wish that English could learn to better embrace their fun-sides and celebrate their patron saint with some of that Irish panache.