Whittlesea Straw Bear Festival - all you need to know

The annual Whittlesea Straw Bear Festival begins as ever on Friday, January 10, with a Ceilidh and open mic night, an evening led by White Bryony with a mix of ceilidh dances and some floor spots. Master of ceremonies for the evening will be Ollie Simons.

The venue will be the Whittlesey Indoor Bowls Complex. Tickets cost £12.

Saturday (11th) starts at 10.30am with the noisy and colourful procession dominating the day, starting from Manor leisure centre.

The Straw Bear will dance through the town accompanied by musicians, plough boys with the plough and followed by many dance teams to fill the streets with colour whatever the weather. An afternoon procession will leave the Market Place at 1pm, culminating at 3pm with the finale back in the Market Place.

There will be storytellers in local venues for those who need a break from following the bear.

Entertainment throughout the day will be:

PETERBOROUGH MORRIS

This local and long-established team performs Cotswold dances, including several from nearby Northamptonshire. In their white shirts, black breeches, white socks, blue and yellow baldrics and flowery straw hats they defy the January chill. At warmer times of year they appear at local pubs, festivals and events and are much in demand. Peterborough Morris have danced at every Straw Bear Festival since 1981. BLACK SWAN BORDER MORRIS A mixed gender side that dances its own interpretation of the border tradition in an energetic style. It will be dancing at Straw Bear for the first time! CHILTERN HUNDREDS Chiltern Hundreds, formed in 1992, are a team who enjoy performing the fascinating and energetic dances from the industrial North West of England. You are likely to hear the sound of powerful melodeons, drums and clogs before you see their dancers in their kit of green shirts, black trousers or skirts, and striking black and gold sashes. The musicians are dressed smartly in all black with military style jackets. PECSAETAN MORRIS Pecsaetan Morris (pronounced “Peck-suh-tan”) are a women’s Cotswold side, formed in Sheffield in 2001, priding themselves on precise lines, high energy and fabulous music, GOG MAGOG MOLLY Formed in 1996 Gog Magog Molly draw from the traditional dances of the Cambridgeshire fens as well as a range of other inspirations including a lamppost, a one-way system, a doctoral thesis and local punting hazards. BLACK ANNIS In winter Black Annis dance Fenland Molly dances in glamourous, sparkly gold and silver kit. Look out for a well-dressed Morris dog Nancy. LETCHWORTH Founded in 1922 and one of the six founder members of The Morris Ring, Letchworth Morris are a mixed side dancing in the Cotswold Tradition. MANOR MILL Dancing mainly North West Clog Morris they wear a red and black dress, black tights and black clogs. NEW ROAD MOLLY This is the 32nd they have danced at the Straw Bear Festival. The children are KS1/2 at New Road Primary School in Whittlesey and they practice their repertoire of Molly dances weekly, at an after school club. They wear tatter jackets that have been handed down through the years. SUTTON MASQUE An explosive and vibrant side recognisable by their green man inspired kit. QUAGGY MORRIS Performing Cotswold Morris – think high octane stick and hanky dancing. TOWER RAVENS London's premier rapper sword dance team. Named after the feathered guardians of the Tower of London, and accompanied by a brazen Beefeater. BOURNE BORDERERS Based in the traditional Border Morris style, augmented with a smattering of new and more modern dances and tunes. PIG DYKE MOLLY Entertaining you with verve, energy, and speed - all in glorious black and white! WHITE ROSE MORRIS A Cotswold side, formed in Leeds in the autumn of 1953, their kit is white shirts and trousers, with green baldrics and straw hats. DANEGELD MORRIS Adopting the Sutton Hoo ship burial mask as its and take its name from an early protection racket! ALDERMAN JACOBS The school dance team consists of children from years 4, 5 and 6 who have been attending a weekly after school club. This year, they will be wearing new jackets made by teaching assistants. ELY & LITTLEPORT RIOT Dancing their own version of Border Morris, a style of dancing from the counties that border Wales. MEPAL MOLLY Look out for the brooms, dancers wearing hats, tatters on jackets and "lallygags" tied below the knee. CLAUSENTUM A mixed Cotswold morris side based in Southern England. They practice in Jericho, Oxford, but perform at Day of Dances and festivals around the country. GOATHLAND PLOUGH STOTS One of the oldest dance teams in the British Isles still dancing their own dance as it was performed in the 1700’s. The colours of the tunics (pink and blue) reflects the colours of the political parties of the time (1680-1760). RUTLAND MORRIS Primarily a Cotswold Morris side, dancing in villages and towns across Rutland and beyond from May Day to September. They wear dark trousers, rag coats and flat caps. PARK LANE MOLLY

Park Lane Molly consists of Year 5 students from the Park Lane school and have been taking part in the Straw Bear parade for over 15 years . The pupils are taught the basic molly step as part of their PE lessons. They then use these moves to devise their own dances which they perform to others in the year group. The children then decide which groups should have the honour of representing our school at the festival – and it is these children you will see on the day. BELLES OF LONDON CITY Vibrant, energetic, challenging and delightfully eccentric, dressed in trademark red and white stays. TYLER'S MEN From the sleepy village of Deptford, nestling on the verdant banks of the swelling Thames, he great Dick Van Dyke provides the continuing inspiration for the style of this unique border team. THE KING'S MORRIS Performing Cotswold Morris dances from many traditions across middle England. The dancers outfits consist of white shirts and trousers, and light grey top hats. Their baldrics, bellpads and hat ribbons are in the King’s Lynn town colours of blue and yellow. OLD GLORY The Molly dancers of Old Glory are all men, whilst the musicians are all women. The musicians play a variety of instruments, which may include at least one four-stop melodeon in the "Suffolk key" of C, recorders, drums, “tea-chest” bass and percussion. RED LEICESTER Performing traditional Border Morris with faces painted red, wearing tatter-coats and top hats decorated with feathers. Red in keeping with the famous Red Leicester cheese and because Leicestershire is a sheep country and red raddle was put on the Ram's belly so you can see where he had been! CROSSKEY CLOG Dancing 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, these being part of Peterborough City’s Coat of Arms and symbolises St.Peter’s role as the keeper of the keys to heaven. Dances are of a traditional nature rooted mainly from the North West when cotton mills were in abundance.

​The Straw Bear burning takes place on the Sunday (12th) lunchtime.

This is a public event will take place at the Decoy Lakes on Drybread Road from 11am.

More at www.strawbear.org.uk