The English Celebration

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May Day Morris Dance

Another unique English activity that is commonly seen during the May Day festival is Morris Dancing. During this celebration, the name of the game is “fun”. May Day is a day to throw all worldly cares aside, when men and women of all ages let their hair down and allow their inner-child to come out and play. Participants in the parade would be decked in old English traditional costumes and skip along the road carrying flags or beautiful floral garlands.

The May Day celebration would centre on the Morris Dance which is a form of English folk dance. On that festive day, Morris dancers would gather together with their sticks, ribbons, hankies and baldrics for a whole day of dance and music. Men and women alike would wear bells on their ankles and wave handkerchiefs high above their heads as they playfully danced in circles around the maypole or weave in and around each other, amidst the rhythmic play of the drum, pipe and accordions. Some believe that they dance to wake up the sun and to keep it coming back up the whole year!

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