Celebrations in 2008 were graced by the presence of a cross channel contingent in the form of the splendid Chevaliers d'Ermont.
The Ninth Festival - IS ON!
THE DATE: Friday July 4th - Sunday July 6th. 2008
The Programme.... The Participants.... Taking Part.... Food and Accommodation..... Getting Around
The First Festival..... The Second Festival..... The Third Festival.....
For centuries hobby horses, Jack in the Greens, straw men and other similar characters brought life and colour to civic processions in towns and cities across the country. Many of them can be seen in carvings in local churches.
Four hundred years ago the Puritans not only destroyed Banbury’s famous crosses but rid the streets of these practices along with Morris Dancing and other ungodly festivities such as Christmas and football!
At the beginning of the new millennium it was decided that the time had come to reinstate these traditions; bring fun and splendour back into the life of the town.
The Outside Capering Crew cut a dash © Rosy Burke
In 2008 Banbury is celebrating the 400th anniversary of the award of its town charter - an important landmark in the development of local democracy. Read all about by clicking on the logo.
Friday:
Schools Festival
We will be continuing with a range of free workshops during the morning will culminate in a performance in Banbury Town Centre in the early afternoon.
Hook Norton Brewery Visit
This year we are offering visiting animals and teams the opportunity to visit Hook Norton Brewery. Using traditional methods, Hook Norton is still a family business producing award winning ale which can be sampled on site. they hsve relsesed a special beer to clelberate the 400 year old charter.
The exact timing of this will depend on numbers interested, but is likely to be in the afternoon. So if you plan to travel to Banbury on Friday morning, and would be interested in this option please let me know.
And in the evening.....
Visiting teams and beasts can register their presence at St. Mary's School, Banbury from 4.30 p.m. until 7pm, and thereafter at the Reindeer.We will issue information packs for each group and show you to your camping pitch. There are a number of places very close by to eat before adjourning to the Reindeer for a good pint of "Hooky" a chat and a music session.
Saturday:
For those arriving on Saturday someone will be available to welcome you at the school with refreshments and information pack from 9.30 am.
From 10.30 a.m. onwards: Morris, mumming and general horsing about in Banbury. There will be some "organised" tours, but groups are free to go off and make mayhem within a general and very flexible framework if they prefer.
12.30 - 2.00 Rolling lunch break in the Old Reindeer Inn in Parsons Street.
Lunchtime music session in the Globe Room, courtesy of Derek and Mary from Ride a Cock Horse Folk Club.
2.00 - 2.50 Further performances round town meeting at the White Lion for....
3.00 procession down High Street, massed stand, tea with the mayor, then a bit of a breather for those who need it, and for those with energy to burn a chance to look round the town and shops.It may be possible to arrange a guided history tour if anyone is interested- please let me know
From 7.00 in the evening we will gather in the Town Hall for the Feast of the Beasts. Festival participants will be able to enjoy a meal and drinks, followed by a ceilidh and a chance to entertain, and be entertained by the weird antics of their fellow creatures.
Sunday:
*11.00 onwards performances in High Street and outside the Town Hall as crowds gather for ....
*12.45 Mayor's procession, Town Hall - Banbury Cross - People's Park for....
*1.00 Town Mayor's Sunday (organised by Banbury Town Council): parade of beasts, dancing, beer tent, comic cock horse races for adults and children (feel free to enter a team), sideshows, fairground rides, teas, children's fancy dress on cock horses.*Sunday timings subject to confirmation in consultation with the new Mayor.
(If your link is not here please let us have it and we will happily include it!)
As this is essentially a free festival we do not book guests as such although we may in certain circumstances offer financial support. We are not always sure, until the weekend itself exactly who is going to turn out,. If you've been before we would love to see you again, if you are Hobby Horse Festival virgins we will be equally pleased to see you (we'll be gentle with you).
The important thing is: let us know your plans!
Wickham Morris and Dragon
Pecsaeton
Harthill Tuppers
Abbots Bromley
Alderly Mummers
Rabble Folk Theatre
Yateley Morris
Ashleys Rise
Llantrisant Mari LwydWhitstable Hoodeners
Hoodeners various
Sarum Morris with Hob Nob from SarumBlack Skunk Border Morris and Alligator
Minehead Sailor's Hobby Horse
The Fine Lady and Blanche
Cobb's Horse from Adderbury
Taureau de Perols and Greatworth
Nell the Elephant with Bloxham Morris
Eric the Wyre Forest Stag,
Trigger and Trotter of TriggDennis the Horse (Ashley's Rise)
Bristol Morris Horse
Smiffy (Richard Lewis)
Headlong (Tim Healey)
with other assorted fine animals:Sandy Glover, town crier, was acting as master of ceremonies around the town on Saturday, and introducing participants at our massed stand in the afternoon.
Sandy maintains a parallel site with news and links at Hobbyhorsefest.has.it
All beasts and attendants are welcome - please let us know if you are coming so that we can tell the rest of the world!
£££££££££ HELP £££££££££
The street collection on the festival weekend is our main source of income so we need to think big! If you have someone in your team who is good at working the crowd to bring in the money please let us know! Names and addresses in advance would be best so that credentials can be prepared before the weekend.
The festival operates in partnership with Banbury Town Council as Sunday's procession is in support of the new town mayor, find out more at Banbury.gov.uk
A rare siting of Cobb's Horse ( it's that red thing )... Sidmouth 1976
Banbury Hobby Horse Festival extends an open invitation to all hobby horses and related animals, plus companions, to have a great time at each year's gathering.
The festival provides a rare opportunity to perform alongside groups of dancers with a traditions stretching back centuries - and their hobby horses, of course.
We have around 40 animals each year. The atmosphere is extremely convivial, and the pace fairly relaxed. As well as general horsing about and processing spectacularly through the pleasant market town of Banbury, we have music and song sessions, talks and great food. There are also community events.
Doc Rowe, folklorist and sword-swallower extraordinaire, has joined us and given talks in the past. Stephen Rowley, professional beast-maker and taborer, has also given workshops on "working" an animal. There's always time for sharing ideas and knowledge over a pint of Hook Norton.
We cannot cope with large numbers of morris teams, but are generally keen to welcome teams with animals depending on the responses we have already received. Please let us know if you would like to come as a team
Fools, musicians, green men or a groom or two are very welcome to accompany their animal, especially one with restricted vision.
For all this, we make no charge!
All enquiries should be Emailed to Adrian
Eat drink and be merry.
The Olde Reindeer Inn continues as our base through Saturday with lunch from 12.30 onwards, there may have to be a little staggering depending on numbers followed by further sessions on into the evening.
Tea will be taken at the Town Hall (at 4.00 pm precisely, get those little fingers working now) as guests of the Town Mayor and in the evening we shall be returning to the town hall to feast.
The Feast of the Beasts
7.00 for 7.30pm
On arrival at the Town Hall guests will be greeted with drinks and nibbles, followed by a meal with wine, beer, cider or soft drinks, and coffee.(Details available soon.Feel free to bring copious supplies of your favourite tipple if you want to drink more!
After the meal you will be invited to perform. Robert Chisman ( of Trigger and Illustrious Order of Fools and Beasts fame) has kindly agreed to help keep disorder.
We need numbers, including any vegetarian requirements, and money (amount to be confirmed) up front for this so please send cheques, made payable to Banbury Hobby Horse Festival, to:
Fine Lady's Fool,
3, Chapel Row, Cropredy, Banbury OX17 1 NS
Sunday is catch as catch can day as far as eating is concerned, but there is plenty to catch! . Food stands are in attendance in the People’s Park on Sunday, and you can also get a traditional afternoon tea with scones and lashings of cream!
...and somewhere to lay your weary head.
Camping both indoors and out is being provided by those wonderful people at St. Mary's School with classrooms to kip in, a large playground and car park for motor homes and a grassy field for those who want to sleep in the bosom of Mother Earth.... or something like that! Here's a picture of the school to help you recognise it:
Please let us know how many spaces you need for indoor, outdoor hard standing and outdoor grass tents only. Information can be sent to the address above, or
e-mailed to:
or
Alternatively the Banbury Tourist Information Office will be delighted to help with anything short of letting you sleep on their floor.
Telephone 01295 259855
Fax 01295 270556
Here are a couple of maps to help you get, and then hopefully keep, your bearings:
Banbury Centre, dance spots and routes for processions
Participants the festivities in 2001
The festival started with an extraordinary collection of beasts coming together on the streets of Banbury for the first time. Included in the throng were Banbury's very own Fine Lady, Sam, the hundred year old horse belonging to the Illmington Morris men and Hobnob the famous Salisbury civic dragon. We also commemorated the destruction of Banbury's medieval crosses with a specially commissioned piece of street theatre
.
The Ilmington horse Sam ridden by Pete Shadbolt in 2000 © Rosey Burke
Saturday saw revels in and around the town centre with an opportunity for groups to put on displays at a number of attractive locations and meet the town mayor. On Sunday everyone joined in with the grand civic procession, lead by the town's mace-bearer, from the town hall to the Peoples Park which became the scene for further spectacle including mass hobby horse racing.
The Second Festival June 30th - July 1st 2001
The procession to the park passes Banbury Cross © Rosy Burke
Sticking pretty closely to the previous year's format we saw many groups returning and some important new arrivals on the scene, perhaps the most spectacular being the Minehead Hobby Horse. The festival took on an international dimension for the first time thanks to the efforts of a group of children from Montpelier in the south of France who. with a little local help, created Le Taureau de Perols. The town was treated to a fine display of hoodening by an antique horse from Kent and the Derby Tupp burst on the scene. There was also a performance of a specially written piece in the tradition of the 'Robin Hood' play to comment on the destruction of Banbury's Maypoles, by local puritan MP Sir Anthony Cope, in the sixteenth century. The floral horses made a welcome return to the Cross, a testimony to the close working relationship between the festival and the 'Banbury in Bloom' committee.
Banbury's floral horses being readied for their outing..© Rosy Burke
The Minehead Horse in Banbury High Street © Rosy Burke
The Third Festival June 29th - June 30th. 2002
The Abbots Bromley Horn Dancers and Leominster Morris prepare for a hard day doing whatever it is they are going to do.
This year was characterised by some inventive and entertaining dancing which provided an admirable setting for a whole host of animals to perform to. There were many memorable moments, particularly the impromptu tour of the Castle Quay Shopping Centre by Abbots Bromley with a Channel 4 camera crew in hot pursuit.
Hooden Horses from Kent, the black one on the right is from Hoath and dates from 1906 © Rosy Burke
The first gathering point was the small plaza between the Castle Quay Shopping Centre and the canal. Here every team, group and individual had an opening spot before dividing into smaller groups to prowl round the town
Sandy Glover has an excellent collection of snaps at
A new initiative for this year was the addition of a 'mini-festival for schools on the Friday, with groups of children from Banbury and further afield performing around the bandstand at the bottom of the High Street. As well as a variety of beasts we also saw maypole, morris and country dancing from the children. A high light was a performance of a play based on the 'Mum and Tuk' mummers plays from the West Indies put on by a school from Gloucester.
Saturday evening saw a further recognition of the Town Horse's growing civic role when the group were invited to greet guests at a gala dinner being laid on to celebrate Mr. Tony Baldry's 20 years as Banbury's member of parliament.
The Fine lady and Attendant pose for photos with Tony Baldry M.P., Lord Saye and Sele and Banbury's Town Mayor, Rosemaries Higham © Rosy Burke
The Town Mayor's procession and the celebrations in the park were undoubtably the best yet.the new Mayor, Rosemarie Higham had become a very enthusiastic supporter of the event. We were joined by an extraordinarily animated group of Chinese lion dancers from Oxford who added a touch of Eastern spice to the proceedings and our good friends "The Boxhedge Clippers" played their own unique brand of 'skuffle' in the park. The 'Beast of your Own" competition attracted many entrants with prizes being donated by two local businesses: Fashion Fabrics and Hoods the Ironmongers. the event was judged by Tony Baldry M.P and Mary Wass won the best hobby horse category with her princess on a unicorn and Rosie Pipe was the best character in fancy dress astride a cock horse.
The Fine Lady leads the Town Mayor's Procession up to the steps of St. Mary's Church © Rosy Burke
2005 saw the arrival of a permanent monument to Banbury's Fine Lady in the form of a magnificent 13 foot high statue. Designed by Andrew Edwards, Carl Payne and Julian Jeffery of Artcycle Ltd. at a cost of £170,000 the sculpture draws on Celtic imagery to suggest a mythological context for the piece. Unveiled on Wednesday April 27th. by the Princess Royal with your very own 'Fine Lady' also in attendance (yes we did meet and chatted about the difficulties of keeping grey horses clean.) the statue will figure in celebrations in years to come.
The Sixth Festival July 1st. - July 3rd. 2005
It was with some trepidation that we approached the 2005 festival, personal circumstances had meant that we had become a little out of touch as preparations went ahead but on the day all the right people turned up and the impact on the town was bigger and better than ever. Sadly missed were the Abbots Bromley Horn Dancers who had been planning to attend but had been prevented by an unexpected accident, however, we were ably supported by some individual members who came along. We're looking forward to seeing them again soon.
The Harthill Tuppers pose for the camera © Rosy Burke Design
Rabble Folk Theatre announce their presence © Rosy Burke Design
This year the decision had been taken to focus activities in Banbury itself with camping, indoors and out, at St. Mary's School - what a marvelous person their head teacher is, and drinking and eating centred on the Old Reindeer Inn. After the traditional Saturday morning gathering at the school with dough nuts and coffee provided it was off into town. A special feature of this year was the number of other local events which have coalesced around the festival, there were the 'elephants for peace' workshops (see News item)
Elephants for Peace! © Rosy Burke Design
a nursery rhyme marathon and fete at St. Mary's Church and of course we were able to pay our respects at the Fine Lady Statue for the first time. By coincidence the festival also coincided with the construction of a human chain down the High Street as part of the 'Make Poverty History' campaign, it was all happening in Banbury. The new town mayor, Councilor John Brooks was particularly supportive and welcoming even to the point of joining in an impromptu version of Shepherds Hey choreographed by the irrepressible Simon Pipe. As our fame travels we attract other interested parties notably Eton College who having made four superb glass fibre tourney horses for a theatrical event donated them to the festival where they made a splendid addition to the scene.
The Eton Horses, jolly good horsing weather. © Rosy Burke Design
This year we reinstated the Friday school's festival with free workshops in the morning culminating in a procession into town and various performances.
On Saturday the sun shone and the beasts cavorted
the Minehead Sailor's Horse made a powerful impression wherever it went
and Adderbury's Cobb's Horse made a welcome reappearance, along with Wickham Morris.
No photographs are available of the Feast of the Beasts on Saturday night, which is probably just as well. Suffice it to say a good time was had by all.....
The grand civic procession on Sunday saw a colourful and multicultural display
and more horsing around
Thanks to Rosy Burke for all her hard work (and photos) for the Festival yet again!
The focus was on a more community based event with guests from our twin town in France - Les Chevaliers d'Ermont and lots of involvement by local school children. Friday saw another school's festival with morning workshops and performances around mid-day.
On Friday children from St. Mary's School take a breather.
The Saturday gathering with town crier, Bloxham Morris and our old friend Trig.
The Saturday evening saw fine food and a ceilidh especially in honour of our French guests.
On Town Mayor's Sunday once again the Fine Lady leads the way.
...and the town joins in.
...and they keep on coming - it was a great procession.
Les Chevaliers d'Ermont strut their stuff in typically Gallic fashion!
As ever thanks to Derek and Mary Droscher and their team from 'Ride A Cock horse Folk Club' for stewarding the event and collecting, we look forward to helping out with their Banbury Folk Festival in October of each year, click on their logo for more
We are also collecting together video clips of the various events and performers associated with the Hobby Horse festival. these are currently very large files and take a lot of downloading. To run the them you need to have a copy of
QuicktimeTM which can be downloaded here
Adderbury at Kirtlington Lamb Ale 2002
5.4 MB
8.5 MB
Other articles of related interest:
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