HUNDREDS of students will be taking part in a celebration of our national identity.

Southampton City College is holding a St George's Day extravaganza featuring everything from morris dancing to Shakespeare to Bollywood performers.

This comes as people in Southampton are being urged to embrace their history by flying the English flag.

The Daily Echo has backed Southampton Itchen MP John Denham's call for the cross of St George to be displayed from every flagpole on St George's Day on Thursday.

Anyone without a flagpole is being urged to display flags from windows, balconies and any other vantage points.

This event, compered by former Saints manager Lawrie McMenemy, takes place at The Hub, which will be decked out with St George flags, on Thursday and will feature different aspects of English culture.

Organised by Southampton Festivals, this event will include performances by Red Stags Morris, a Southampton-based morris dancing group, Art Asia Bollywood dancers, accapella choir Delicious Sounds and folk singer-songwriter Pete Atkins.

Southampton's Nuffield Theatre will be showcasing its This is England project with students from Bitterne Park School, which is designed to give people the chance to talk about how it feels to be English and what it means to them.

The college's performing arts students will perform excerpts from Shakespeare's play A Midsummer Nights Dream' while photography students Anne Barratt and Sally Johnson will exhibit work from their Love Southampton project.

They aimed with images to capture the diversity of the city through residents' eyes.

Southampton Solent University will be screening films it has produced about community organisations and charities in the city who contribute to society.

Guests expected to attend include the Mayor of Southampton Sue Blatchford, who will open the evening alongside college principal Sarah Stannard with welcome speeches.

Ms Stannard said: “St George's Day is an important date in all of our calendars.

“We thoroughly enjoy commemorating and celebrating English culture and look forward to a jam-packed event of entertaining and informative fun.”