Whittlesea Straw Bear Festival - what to see, when and where

As well as events in schools, Friday see the annual Ceilidh and open mic night, being held at Whittlesey Indoor Bowls Complex in Station Road.​

The evening will be led by Frog on a Bike with a mix of ceilidh dances and some floor spots. Master of ceremonies for the evening will be Ollie Simons.

Saturday provides the highlight, the procession of Straw Bears followed by the plough, local schools and dance teams which take to the streets of the town,

The procession leaves the Manor Pavillion at 10:30 and makes its way up to Market Street, via Station Road where dance teams will continue to brighten up the streets as the Bear meanders about the town throughout the day.

Following the procession the dance teams spread out around the town at various venues to entertain with their different traditional morris styles, from 10.45am-3pm.

Along the way look out for: Peterborough Morris (in their white shirts, black breeches, white socks, blue and yellow baldrics and flowery straw hats) who have danced at every Straw Bear Festival since 1981;

Sutton Masque, a mixed border morris side from Sutton-in-the-Isle of Ely;

Old Glory, formed in 1994 to recreate the tradition of Molly dancing in East Suffolk;

Clausentum Morris, a Morris side formed in 2014 and based in Southern England, who perform at Day of Dances and festivals all over the country;

Chiltern Hundreds, who enjoy performing the fascinating and engrossing dances from the industrial North West of England;

New Road Molly, children in an after school club at New Road Primary;

Crosskey Clog, who dance in the North West tradition of morris, i.e. with traditional English clogs. Kit is distinctive red and navy plus a leather badge showing the crossed keys, part of Peterborough City’s Coat of Arms;

Park Lane Molly, Year 5 students from Park Lane Primary;

Pig Dyke Molly, who perform Fenland Molly dancing unique to the monochrome world surrounding the Pig Dyke;

Alderman Jacobs Plough Gang, Year 5 and 6 students from Alderman Jacobs Primary.

There will be story telling sessions at 12noon, 1pm and 2pm with storyteller Marion Leeper in Queen Street Methodist Church. These events are free and are operating on a first come first served basis.

Saturday’s finale at 3.30pm will see the Bears and dance teams finish off the Saturday proceedings with a final dance on the Market Place.

Sunday will see the ceremonial burning of the Straw Bears at 12noon, which this year is back open to the public and being held at the Decoy Lakes, in Drybread Road, Whittlesey, from 11am.

Look out also for 'The Life and Soul of the Straw Bear', a solo photographic exhibition by Andy Gutteridge at the Whittlesey Library and Community hub from January 12-17, made up of around 100 images focussing on the volunteers involved in organising the Whittlesea Straw Bear Festival every year.