The May Day Bank Holiday saw Hastings at its best, with the usual mix of Morris Dancers and bikers. And the holiday weekend was even more packed than usual, with a modern poetry festival in Hastings Castle on the Saturday evening, and fireworks too!
The ever-popular Jack in the Green event attracted hundreds of participants and thousands of spectators, with Morris Dancers appearing throughout the town over the weekend. The grand finale to the weekend took place on Monday afternoon, at Hastings Castle. A temporary bridge had been constructed to allow dancers to enter the castle from the Ladies Parlour, through the original main gate - the first time this route has been used for several hundred years! After the visiting Morris Dancers - from all over England - had performed, the Jack was ceremonially slain (only to rise again, to avoid upsetting too many of the more sensitive in the audience).
And, of course, the bikers were out in force on Bank Holiday Monday with upwards of twenty thousand estimated to have been in town (and along the seafront, in the car parks, and in fact almost everywhere you looked!).
Saturday evening saw 'Storming the Ramparts', the climax to the 'Don't Feed the Poets' festival. This took place at Hastings Castle, the first evening event held there for many years. It featured Simon Cooper, Murray Lachlan Young, and John Cooper Clarke, and attracted an audience of several hundred. The evening finished with a fireworks display, courtesy of Hastings Borough Council, put on by Renegade Pyrotechnics, Hastings' own fireworks experts. This was the first time the town had had fireworks for the May Day Bank Holiday, and means that we now mark all the big events in the town (Jack In The Green, Carnival, and, of course, the Bonfire Weekend) with a bang - or, rather, lots of very loud bangs!
Sunday saw the Crowning of the May Queen, again in Hastings Castle, Nicola Martin was crowned queen amidst the traditional may pole dancing performed by pupils of Irene Spillett. A visiting group from Dieppe, over for the Jack in the Green festival, also took part, performing traditional Norman dance.
Councillor Peter Chowney, Cabinet Member responsible for Marketing, said:
"What a weekend! It's times like this that Hastings really comes into its own.
"I thoroughly enjoyed the whole weekend, it was just brilliant to see so many happy faces, so many people enjoying themselves.
"And I'm pleased that we were able to have one of our excellent fireworks displays on the Saturday, the first time we've had fireworks for Jack in the Green. The town is really getting a name for its pyrotechnics, and they certainly finished the evening with a bang!
"I know that a lot of people go to a lot of trouble to arrange the Jack in the Green festival, and we're very grateful indeed for all that they do. I can't think of anywhere else in the country that has a weekend like this, and it all works so well :- thanks to all of those who give up so much of their time to organise it."
The next big event in the Hastings diary is of course Old Town Carnival week, which this year runs from Saturday 2nd August until Sunday 10th August.
The full programme will be published in mid-July, and will include all the usual favourites (coffee mornings, cream teas, three-legged race/quiz [aka pub crawl!], open studios, art exhibitions, High Street party, pram race, etc., etc.). The climax of the week for many is the Carnival itself, which takes place on the evening of Friday 8th August. The week is always great fun, and, like the Jack In The Green weekend, gives residents and visitors a chance to let their hair down and enjoy something different. And, again, a lot of people give up a lot of time to make the week a success, so please do join in, enjoy - and raise some money for charity.
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This page last updated: 03/07/2003