The May Day Procession will be taking place in Milford & Makeney on Saturday 13th May 2023. The event has run annually for the past 40 years (apart from the two pandemic years) and is one of the highlights of the social calendar for the village. It starts at 11.30am at The Holly Bush, Makeney and finishes at 3pm at Milford School, when, as usual, the school fair will start.
For those wishing to dress up, this years theme is “Famous Artists” (!) There will be Maypole dancing, Morris dancing will be provided by T’owd Man Morris, and our own famous Milford ladies dance troupe, The Maids of The Mill, will be also be dancing. The fire eater from last year will also be back!
The itinerary is as follows (subject to the weather):
11.30 – Assemble at The Holly Bush Inn. Refreshments, including filled cobs, available. Well Dressing on display.
12.00 – T’owd Man Morris, Maids of the Mill, Maypole dancing, Fire Eater.
13.15 – Procession departs The Holly Bush. Holly Bush Road & Makeney Road closed for traffic while the procession goes through.
13.30 – Arrive at The Elephant & Peacock (Strutt Arms). Refreshments, including Indian snacks, available.
13.45 – T’owd Man Morris, Maids of the Mill, Maypole dancing, Fire Eater.
14.45 – Procession departs The Elephant & Peacock
15.00 – Procession arrives at Milford Primary School and May Fayre opens – see poster here. Refreshments, inc tea, coffee & cake, available (Milford Social Club opposite also open for beer etc.) Well dressing on display.
15.30 – T’owd Man Morris, Maids of the Mill, Maypole dancing in the playground.
This year, for the first time since 2019, there will also be a Ceilidh to top off the days entertainment, starting at 7.30pm at Nealies – see here for more detail.
Last years event was a huge success and was helped by lovely weather (see pictures below) – fingers crossed for the same this year!
For a more detailed write up of last years’ festivities and more photos, see the article here and for photos from May Day events going further back into the past see here.
