This weekend is a bank holiday in the UK and Monday we celebrate May Day! Old Hastings has become famous for its annual “Jack -in-the-Green” parade! The name ‘Jack-in-the-Green’ came from the garlands of flowers and leaves people would make for May Day celebrations.
In a bid to outdo each other and have the biggest and best, it got to the point where people would end up wearing garlands so large that they covered their entire body, and so ‘Jack-in-the-Green’ was born.
The Jack, a 15ft green conical tower covered in leaves with a green man head on top, is paraded through the streets of Hastings Old Town for three hours, accompanied by a whole host of interesting characters including all manner of Bogies, Belly Dancers, Fairies, Sweeps, and Morris Dancers.
Once the procession ends at the top of the hill, the Jack is ‘slain’ and the Summer is welcomed in. This revived May Day tradition with ancient pagan roots sees hundreds of colourful participants come together to welcome in the changing of the season while celebrating fertility and the flourishing of nature.
The Hastings Jack in the Green festival was revived by the local Mad Jacks Morris Dancers in the early 80’s and is now one of the largest annual gatherings of Morris dancers in the country. The Photographer Morgan Silk photographed over a hundred colourful characters in attendance in a pop-up outdoor studio on the West Hill where the procession ends. The photos are an amazing series.
