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MAY DAY CELEBRATIONS ON THE ISLE OF WIGHT

Come and spend the May Day bank holiday (1-3 May) on the Isle of Wight where an event new to the Island will bring a whole new dimension to the age old tradition of May Day dancing.

The May Day Jouvay, a vibrant new Solent-wide celebration which fuses together dance styles as different as Calypso, Folk and Morris with Samba, takes its place among a variety of other established events and attractions – including a holiday Real Ale Festival – that highlight the cultural diversity that makes the Isle of Wight such a unique destination.

On Saturday 1 May, five simultaneous dawn events will take place in Southampton, Portsmouth, Havant, Southsea and at Fort Victoria Country Park, near Yarmouth on the Isle of Wight, creating a vast outdoor theatre to herald the beginning of a major two-year celebratory arts project for the Cultural Olympiad.   

The Isle of Wight event begins at 5.30am with flares being sent high into the morning sky to celebrate the start of the day.  A selection of spectacular carnival costumes will perform in theatrical style to the accompaniment of Samba music and then to traditional English folk.  Five of the local Morris Dance sides will perform and there will be a rendition of Island folk songs.  

At 9.30am, a colourful spring-themed parade will see over 200 local children dancing their way from the fort and across the road bridge to Yarmouth town centre where Isle of Wight Morris dancers and the Isle of Wight Cloggies will welcome their arrival with a performance in the town square.  Visitors can also take part in an open-air barn dance until 12.30pm.

Chris Slann, Isle of Wight Council Carnival Centre Development Manager said: “For time immemorial, people of different cultures have celebrated the coming of spring and the break of a new day in relevant and meaningful ways. In England, Morris sides, May Queens and Maypole dancers greet the first spring dawn. In Caribbean carnival tradition, the Jouvay parade (from the French jour overt - day opens) is performed at dawn and is derived from the African culture of former slaves.

“If the thought of getting up at dawn doesn’t appeal, then meet us later in the Square at Yarmouth for what promises to be an awe-inspiring spectacle.” 

Meanwhile, there’s more entertainment for visitors at the Real Ale Festival, where railway enthusiasts and beer lovers alike will be able to sample some of the Island’s top brewery blends, fine ales, English country wines and ciders in the unusual setting of the Isle of Wight Steam Railway at Havenstreet, near Ryde.  Entry to this event is free, note normal charges for steam train rides apply (www.iwsteamrailway.co.uk).

Other attractions include a daily falconry display, a museum of Island railway history, a children’s play area and a woodland walk. The Real Ale Festival at the Isle of Wight Steam Railway runs from 11am to 10pm on Saturday and Sunday (1/2 May) and 11am to 5pm on Bank Holiday Monday (3 May).  

For details on how to get to the Isle of Wight, where to stay and what to see and do,  visit www.islandbreaks.co.uk or telephone 01983 813813.