There are tons of traditions and folklore referring to the month of May. The pagans celebrated May Day as the start of a new season and the fertility it brings to the land. Many rural regions in the UK kept these traditions on and still gather on the first weekend of May to welcome nature’s gifts. Typically, there is a Maypole and Morris dancing. Sometimes, mystical folk figures like the green man make an appearance.
We were lucky to join in on last year’s May Day festivities in Somerset and got swallowed by the pagan traditions in Kingsbury. No matter how surreal this experience seemed at time, it was the icing on our photoshoot cake. More so, because we were not even expecting it to happen. But we’ll get to this later.
When visiting Kingsbury in late April, we immediately noticed the bunting-decorated streets as a preparation for the enormous folk fest that takes place in the surrounding fields every year. The May Day celebrations were the talk of the town – even more so when the festival committee had to cancel their lovingly organised party just two days before the event. The field where the thousands of visitors should have been parking their cars had flooded. A logistical nightmare that could not be fixed.
After the locals got over the initial sadness they decided to host a mini version of their May Day party. Part of this intimate crowd were Adrian and Helen, a lovely couple we met during a stroll through the village briefly before festivities took off. Members of Kingsbury’s historical committee, The Kingsbury Time Travellers, the pair was very knowledgeable about the local past. An absolute highlight was when they invited us into their house – the Chimney Cottage – where they have lived for 15 years. Full of books and quirky memorabilia we could not stop looking around, finding new objects to lay our eyes upon.
Adrian took us to a spare room where he collected things that he found during local digs and that were of historical value to the area. A milk jug. Pumice stones. A leather hose. A boar’s head. He pledged: ‘Every object has a story.’
Time for the May Day madness. In a cul-de-sac around the corner from Adrian’s and Helen’s home people met up with what they had prepared for the big day: Poles with handcrafted insects or wreaths made from willow. Morris dancers were shaking their bell-adorned legs to an unfamiliar beat and kids were pointing at a man dressed head-to-toe in green. We got handed some willow head pieces and joined the parade.
Even though – or perhaps because – this was a shrunken version of Kingsbury’s famous May Day festivities – we’ve had the best time and almost felt like a part of the village. And maybe, one day, we’ll make it back to Somerset on a weekend in early May.
