May Day, Beltane and Jack-in-the-Green Events

Still not sure what to do to celebrate Beltane or May Day? Here are some events taking place today, tomorrow and Monday:

Now to – Sunday 2 May; Hastings Jack-in-the-Green Festival – traditional annual event to celebrate May with music, a procession, Morris Dancing, a May Queen and Jack-in-the-Green. Full four-day festival programme culminating on Bank Holiday Monday with the Jack in the Green parade itself, starting at 9.45am in Old Town. For full details visit the festival website: http://www.hastingsjitg.co.uk/

Now – Sunday 2 May; Mind Body Spirit London Wellbeing Festival. Venue: London Olympia, Hammersmith Road, London W14 8UX. One-day tickets booked online cost £9/£11. For more details and to book tickets, visit: http://www.mindbodyspirit.co.uk/london or https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/mind-body-spirit-london-wellbeing-festival-2016-tickets-16612171452

Now – Sunday May 1; Spirit of the Marsh Beltane Camp and Gathering 2016. Three day family-friendly pagan camp with talks, workshops, music, meditations, plenty of pagan and spiritual ceremonies, children’s entertainment and Beltane fire. Venue: Trusthorpe, bear Mablethorpe, Lincolnshire LN12 2PS. Tickets: £40 adults, under-12s go free. Details and booking: http://www.spiritofthemarsh.com/

Saturday 30 April; Society of Psychical Research (SPR) study day: The History and Philosophy of Psychical Research. Venue: Society for Psychical Research HQ, 1 Vernon Mews, London W14 0RL. Time: 10am to 5.15pm. Tickets: £42/£38. Details: http://www.spr.ac.uk/civicrm/event/info?reset=1&id=80

Now – Monday 2 May; Rochester Sweeps Festival 2016. The Rochester Sweeps Festival celebrates the traditional May Day chimney sweep holiday with a three-day festival in the streets of Rochester, Medway, Kent. Includes Jack-in-the-green, Morris dancers and live music. Starts 10.45am on Saturday. Free event. Details here: http://www.medway.gov.uk/leisurecultureandsport/events/sweepsfestival2016.aspx

Saturday 30 April; Society of Ley Hunters Moot and AGM with talks by Marion Briggs, Adrian Hyde, Rob Stephenson and Simon Pelling. Venue: Dissenters’ Chapel, Kensal Green, London,
NW10 5JX. Time: 11.30am start. Tickets £10. Advance booking necessary. Details and tickets: http://www.leyhunters.co.uk/page179.html

Saturday 30 April; Love and Lust in Greek Myth. Venue: Room 13, British Museum, Great Russell Street, London WC1B 3DG. Time: 1.15pm. Free event. For more details visit: https://www.britishmuseum.org/

Saturday 30 April; Free and Open Gorsedd of Caer Abiri Beltain Celebraton. Druidic ceremony to celebrate Beltaine at Avebury stone circle in Wiltshire. Meet at the Red Lion pub from Noon for ceremony around 1.30pm. The ritual should end at 3pm, then back to the pub. Offerings of bread, mead and song or poetry welcome. Overnight camping is allowed in the overflow car park.

Saturday 30 April; Beltain Wickerman Festival 2016 at Butser Ancient Farm. Afternoon/evening of entertainment and refreshments culminating with the burning of the giant wickerman at dusk. Venue: Butser Ancient Farm, Chalton Lane, Chalton, Waterlooville, Hants, PO8 0BG. Time: 4.30pm-10pm. Tickets: £15 per adult and £10 per child http://www.butserancientfarm.co.uk/

Saturday 30 April; Beltane Fire Festival in Edinburgh, Scotland. Venue: Calton Hill, Edinburgh, Scotland (entrance by Waterloo place). Gates open at 8pm. Performance starts at sunset. Event ends at 1.30am. Tickets £10. Details and bookings: https://beltane.org/beltane-fire-festival-2016/

Sunday 1 – Sunday 8 May; Online Beltane Festival with the Pagan Federation England and Wales. Online talks, discussions, videos, pictures and blog posts all week. Details here: https://www.facebook.com/events/1834295640131014/

Sunday 1 May; Glastonbury Beltane Celebration and Road Run, including Wheel of the Year Festival – Flowering Meditation at Chalice Well World Peace Garden, in Glastonbury. The gardens open at 6am and the town is full of events taking place all day long. You can find out more here: http://www.chalicewell.org.uk/ and here: http://www.centralsomersetgazette.co.uk/Day-Beltane-celebrations-Glastonbury-bigger/story-29131538-detail/story.html

Sunday 1 May; Meditation at Russell Brands Trew Era Cafe, 30 Whitmore Road, London N1 5QA. Starts 10.15am. Free event. Details: http://www.meetup.com/londonspiritualcommunity

Sunday 1 May; Fowlers Troop and the Deptford Jack in the Green will be in Deptford and Greenwich to celebrate May Day. The procession starts at the Dog and Bell, 116 Prince Street, London, SE8 3JD at 11.30am. Free event, join in when and where you like. If you want to help dress Jack, you can do so at the Dog and Bell on Saturday 30 April. For full details, visit: http://www.deptford-jack.org.uk/mayday2016.htm

Sunday 1 May; Society of Ley Hunters Field Trip. Walk starting at St Pauls Cathedral. Time: 11.15am start, meet in the cafe in St Paul’s crypt. Tickets £2. Advance booking necessary. Details and tickets: http://www.leyhunters.co.uk/page179.html

Sunday 1 May; May on the Docks – family event of traditional May Day activities including Green Man mask making. Location: Museum of London Docklands, West India Quay, Canary Wharf, London E14 4AL. Starts at noon. Free. http://www.museumoflondon.org.uk/docklands/

Sunday 1 May; Pagan Federation 45th Anniversary Celebration at the same venue as the Folklore, Magic and Mysteries: Modern Witchcraft and Folk Culture in Britain exhibition, Preston Manor, Preston Drove, Brighton BN1 6SD. Starts at noon. Tickets £13.85 for PF members and £17.02 for non-members. Details and tickets: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/pagan-federation-45th-anniversary-celebration-tickets-24492716374

Sunday 1 May; Silver Chalice will be holding a Beltane ritual 12 noon in the Sun circle Avebury henge, in Wiltshire. All are welcome.

Sunday 1 May; Woodland Beltane Ceremony and Maypole Dancing 2016 run by Mani Navasothy and London Woodland Witches EcoMagicians and Outdoor Pagans. Location: Queen’s Woods, Near Highgate Station. Meet at the Woodman pub at 1.30pm to walk to the woods. Details: http://www.meetup.com/London-Woodland-Witches-Outdoor-Pagans/

Sunday 1 May; Anderida Gorsedd Beltane open ritual at the Long Man of Wilmington, Sussex. Meet near the car park between 1.30pm and 2pm for a walk up to the chalk hill figure at 2pm. Afterwards back to the Giants Rest pub in Wilmington for a social drink together.

Sunday 1 May; Woodland Beltane Ceremony and Maypole Dancing 2016 in Queen’s Wood, Highgate. Meet at the Woodmans’ pub garden at 1.30pm. At 2pm everyone will walk to the woods for setup and ceremony. Details: http://www.meetup.com/London-Woodland-Witches-Outdoor-Pagans/

Sunday 1 May, Celebration for Beltane at the Rollright Stones hosted by Cotswold Pagan Society and The Cotswold Order of Druids. Venue: The Rollright Stone Circle, near Chipping Norton, on the Oxfordshire/Warwickshire border. Time: 3pm. For details and to reserve a place, visit: https://www.facebook.com/events/1735945056652251/

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