ARTS & CULTURE
A Nation of Festival Goers
One of the oldest known festivals in the UK is harvest festival. A pagan event predating Christianity, it is traditionally celebrated on the Sunday nearest to the harvest moon. Unlike the US and Canada, here in the UK it is not a national holiday, but as summer draws to a close and autumn mists begin, thanks is given for an abundance of food for winter. One colourful event for this festival is
the Pearly Kings and Queens Harvest Festival Parade. A 140-year-old tradition, starting out at the Guildhall Yard and finishing at St Mary-le-Bow Church, the Kings and Queens dressed in their traditional black and pearl costumes stage traditional entertainment en route while raising money for charity. This year the event is on 29 September.
24 FOCUS The Magazine July/August 2017 Keeping with the theme of century
old traditions is the Swan Upping, held on the Thames every year in July since 1509. The Queen still owns all the swans in England. The Queen’s Swan Marker, with his team of Swan Uppers, counts the number of mute swans. The event plays an important role in the swans’ conservation. Many local schools are encouraged to participate in the counting and children are given the opportunity to get close to the birds. Alongside this, the Queen’s Swan Marker gives a limited number of talks in schools. This year, the census will take place on 17 July at Sunbury Lock and will finish at Abingdon Bridge four days later. The Swan Uppers are easy to spot; they are the men in scarlet uniforms. Moving a little further south, the
coastal town of Hastings hosts a true British May Day celebration called the Jack in the Green Festival. Jack is a man covered in a giant garland, who is paraded through the streets before being slain to release the spirit of spring. The celebrations run for four days, and music and dance events are held during the weekend. The wild costume parade (reputedly the most bizarre in Britain) begins at 9.45 on May Bank Holiday from the old wooden fishermen’s huts in Rock-A- Nore Road and finishes on the West Hill. The list of music festivals held in the
UK grows ever longer as each year passes. One of the newer events is the Wilderness Festival. With music, food, learning and literature among the lakes, forest and parkland of the
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