Dancing in the street - Morris men, women and more (part 1)

A few months ago a "Festival of Folk" came to town in St Albans. Featuring traditional folk dancers from the UK and further afield it provided a colourful and energetic spectacle which I set out to try and capture on camera. Late morning on the hottest and sunniest day of the year doesn't provide the best lighting in the world, but I'm happy to take what I'm given.


First up we have what many people regard as the archetypal Morris dancers, namely men in white shirts with handkerchiefs and bells. These perform dances in the Cotswold style, and being a cotswold born boy myself it brought back memories of watching similar Morris sides perform on May Day in the village of Bampton.

Letchworth Morris Men

Letchworth Morris clown or fool

Letchworth Morris Man dancing in Cotswold style 

St Albans Morris Men

Letchworth Morris Men taking a breather

I'll make another two (or maybe three) more posts on this event covering some of the other dance groups that were present. We'll see that it's not all hankies and bells and in fact it's not even all Morris. Stay tuned...

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