Hastings Traditional Jack in the Green

About

Hastings’ much-loved Traditional Jack in the Green festival heralds the arrival of summer with four vibrant days of celebration over the May Day weekend. Revived in the 1980s, the festival has become synonymous with Hastings and is now one of the town’s largest, most colourful and best-loved events.

Now the largest event of its kind in the UK, Hastings Traditional Jack in the Green is an annual folk custom revived in 1983 by Mad Jack’s Morris, now known as Hastings RX Morris. Since then, it has grown into a nationally renowned celebration of traditional culture and community spirit.

Taking place across the May Day bank holiday weekend, the festival features spectacular traditional dancing from groups across the country, outstanding live performances from leading folk artists and lively ceilidhs and music sessions that invite everyone to join in.

At the heart of the celebrations is Jack - a Jack-in-the-Green: a figure completely cloaked in foliage and crowned with flowers. Jack bursts onto the streets of Hastings, leading a joyful procession through the town. After a day of revelry, Jack is ceremonially stripped of leaves to release the spirit of summer. Catching a leaf is said to bring a year of good luck.

Bank Holiday Monday is the highlight, when a wave of green sweeps through the town. A grand procession winds through the Old Town and up to the West Hill, where Jack is finally ‘slain’, symbolically releasing the spirit of summer once more.

The full programme is available at hastingstraditionaljackinthegreen.co.uk.

 

Hastings Jack in the Green is extremely popular, so visitors are advised to plan travel in advance. Please check for any rail disruptions. The Grand Procession coincides with the Hastings May Day motorbike run, which can lead to congestion on local roads, including the A21, and limited parking across the town.

Better still, turn your visit into a long weekend and book a stay in 1066 Country.