On Saturday the 10th May 2025 the highlight of the Milford & Makeney calendar, the May Day procession & celebrations took place. We continued our incredibly good luck with the weather every year since 2022, and yet again were treated to glorious weather. This certainly brought out the crowds – with record numbers of 200 people.
The crowds gathered at The Holly Bush, many dressing for the occasion to this years theme of “Fairy Stories”. The fun began at 12.30, with Milford’s own dancing troupe The Maids Of The Mill taking the Fairy Stories theme up to a higher level with a brilliant set of costumes – Princess Fiona, Red Riding Hood and Rapunzel to name but a few.
They were followed by Black Pig Morris, returning from last year, with their usual energetic dance, then local children dancing round the May Pole. The May Pole was decorated with flowers from local gardens as usual, but looked especially beautiful this year. Musical accompaniment for all these acts was, as ever, provided by Alan Squires on melodeon.
This was followed by a new addition to the usual line up – Belper Boom – a rousing drumming band who were very well received.
Finally Greg The Fire Eater returned, gleefully taking up the Fairy Story mantle, performing as a fire breathing dragon, much to the delight of the younger members of the audience.
The procession, led as ever by Jake Everett carrying the May Pole, followed by all the performers and then the spectators, then moved to The Elephant and Peacock. As in previous recent years Makeney Road was closed to traffic during the procession (thanks to Mark Hudson, the May Day marshals and Derbyshire police) making the procession much safer. In addition, Belper Boom enthusiastically played all the way adding to the fun and atmosphere.
At the Elephant and Peacock the same order of performance took place (Maids, Morris, Maypole, Boom, Fire) before the procession finally moved onto Milford School, arriving at 3pm. Once again Belper Boom provided excellent accompaniment to the procession. Thanks to both The Holly Bush and The Elephant & Peacock for providing excellent food for all the visitors.
Finally at the school the performers were all let straight into the playground via the side gate to do a final reprise of their performances, and the school fete began.
Another lovely day in fantastic weather, with the whole village coming together.
The event is run by volunteers on a not-for-profit basis, and they would like to thank the spectators for contributing so generously to the collection buckets on the day – this will allow us to put the event on again next year.
For articles and pictures of previous Milford & Makeney May Day celebrations, see here for 2024, see here for 2023, here for 2022, and for photos from May Day events going further back into the past see here.
