SIDEBAR

Jack in the Green

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May 05 2011

May Day in Hastings can mean only one thing. Time to get get dressed up in leaves and paint yourself green and parade through the old town. (Unless you’re into motorbikes, in which case you’d probably rather get dressed into your leathers and park up on the seafront.) I wouldn’t advise combining the two, driving while impersonating a tree, but it has been done, a) I’m not sure the police would look too kindly on it, and b) even if you don’t crash, someone else is quite likely to when they see you.

Jack in the Green traditional English May Day celebrations were revived in Hastings in 1983, and have become a major event in their calendar. Once released from the Fishermans Museum, Jack, who’s almost 3m tall, and covered in greenery and flowers from head to foot, leads the Grand Procession up to the Castle where Morris groups showcase their dancing, and the celebrations take place. At the end of the day Jack is symbolically slain and the Spirit of Summer is released for another year. Hooray.

 

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About this blog

The vast majority of posts in this blog are about quirky & eccentric competitions & festivals. I started it in 2006 in France with a competition I’ll never forget. Where contestants battle it out to become the World Champion Pig Squeeler, or ‘Cri du Cochon’. I had little knowledge back then of quite how far my pursuit of these kind of events would lead me. I’ve travelled all over Britain (and occasionally further afield) to capture our curiosities and quirks. There’s nothing uniquely eccentric about the British, you’ll find people all over the world up to all sorts of weird and wonderful activities, but we do have a remarkable capacity to embrace the madness. ‘A Brit Different’ is the book that was born from it, my labour of love! So what next? There’s always something interesting going on, so watch this space, only time will tell!

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