All you need to know about the Whittlesea Straw Bear Festival this weekend
The Whittlesea Straw Bear Festival returns to Whittlesey this weekend for the 41st time since its revival in 1980.
The festival has its roots much deeper in history than that, of course.
It used to be traditional to dress a man or boy in straw and parade him around the town on the Tuesday after Plough Monday – the first Monday after 12th night (January 6) – but the revival now takes place on a Saturday to allow more of the general public to witness the spectacle.
The festival gets under way today and tomorrow with presentations to children in all four primary/ junior schools in Whittlesey by Derek Pace and in Sir Harry Smith Community College by Hannah Brailsford.
The Friday is rounded off with a concert featuring Tom Sennett, Ady Bull, Causton and Walker and The Boxwood Chessment in the Ivy Leaf Club, on Gracious Street, Whittlesey .
The fun really begins on the Saturday with the parade (starting at Manor Leisure Centre) – and this year heralds the dancing out of no less than three straw bears on the streets supported by traditional dance teams throughout the town.
The ‘Grand Finale’ is on the Market Place at 3pm, where the bear(s) and guests will perform their final dances.
Poets United and Sanjay will present poetry and acoustic music in the Town Hall and stories will be told by Hanna Brailsford in Queen Street Methodist United Reformed Church in the afternoon. These events are free.
Saturday finishes with a barn dance in Sir Harry Smith Community College, from 8pm, with music from East Anglian bandThe News Of The Victory.
Proceedings come to a close on Sunday with the finale – the usual dance and music session at Sir Harry Smith Community College 12pm to 2pm, followed by the straw bear bonfire at 2.30pm,