January in Particular
January in Particular
New Year's Day, 1 January
Mummers - A Mumming play is a ritual drama, probably of Saxon origin, where, in its simplest form, three characters act out the drama. Two heroes - usually including St George (as Prince or King George) - enact a battle in which one is killed, then a doctor resurrects the fallen hero. The actors should be disguised and submerged in their characters for the magic of light overcoming darkness to be effective. Other characters may have come back from the Crusades, such as the Slasher and the Turkish Knight.
Symondsbury Mummers Play perform outside the Ilchester Arms, Symondsbury, Dorset.
Kirkburton Rapier Dancers, at Huddersfield, W.Yorks on New Years Day. See this web-site for more information.
Early January
Blessing of the Sea, Margate, Kent - the Greek Orthodox Church organise this ceremony in early January which is attended by mayors from across the Kent coast, the Bishop of the Greek Orthodox Church and other diginitaries. After a morning service the party parade with music down to Margate sands where the blessing takes place and a cross is thrown into the sea. Lunches and speeches follow in the Winter Gardens. The date changes from year to year - contact the Greek Orthodox Church for details +44(0)1843 294477
World Fen Skating Championships, Cambridgeshire. "Fenland skating is one of the last great hidden subcultures in our land, and it goes back well beyond the Middle Ages. It is hidden because the conditions for its open expression only occur from time to time, but across the fens pairs of cobwebbed skates still hang in sheds and attics waiting for the next big freeze..." Roger Deakin, 2001. Contact Guy Warrington at the Norris Museum, The Broadway, St Ives, Cambs PE27 5BX +44(0)1480 497314.
Twelfth Night, 6th January - Old Christmas Day
Baddeley Cake, Drury Lane Theatre, London - on Twelfth Night the cast of the current play eat cake and drink wine in memory of an actor from the 18th Century who bequeathed money to the theatre's hardship fund.
The Lions Part 2.00, 4 January 2009 Borough Market, Bankside outside Globe Theatre, London - a celebration of the new year mixing ancient seasonal customs with contemporary festivity. Seasonal plays are performed outside the Globe, followed by a procession through the streets to Borough Market for mulled ale, fine food, storytelling and dancing. Contact +44(0) 208 9280404, e-mail info [at] thelionspart. co. uk or look at The Lions Part web-site. There is also wassailing at Borough Market on Old Twelfth Night (17th January).Haxey Hood Game, Isle of Axholme, Lincs 12 noon (Twelfth Day) - in the 13th century a gust of wind whipped off the hood of the Lady de Mowbray. Farmworkers chased and retrieved the hood, so delighting her that she ordered the pursuit be repeated. Now regulars of the village's pubs join the "sway" to take the hood back to their local. Contact Mr Coggon +44(0)208 928 0404 or look at this web-site.
Blessing the Plough on Old Christmas Day (Twelfth Night). This church tradition can be found across the country, notably at Chichester and Exeter on the first sunday after 6th January. There is a service at Curry Mallet parish church, where local tradesmen and farm workers bring their tools and farmers bring seed corn for the blessing followed by the plough.
Plough Monday, first Monday after Twelfth Night
Before the time when winter wheat was sown in the autumn, ploughing used to begin again after the Christmas Break. In medieval times it was still a time for festivities, ploughs were blessed, and in the corn growing areas of Eastern England, Plough Plays, a version of the Mumming Play. Money raised was put towards a plough light, a lamp in the church that was never allowed to go out. Plough Plays are still performed throughout Lincolnshire; Molly Dancing occurs in East Anglia (Molly is an Essex word for Morris Dancing - see this web-site for more information). There is also a web-site for perhaps the largest Plough Monday celebrations in Norfolk, at Feltwell and Northwold. You can find their site HERE.
Mid January
Whittlesea Straw Bear Festival, Contact the Straw Bear Society, Society Secretary, 5 Hammerley Drive, Whittlesea PE7 1NE +44(0)1733 208245, or look at their web-site.
Wassailing, traditionally on Old Twelfth Night, 17th January (though many events now happen on the nearest weekend, please check before travelling), a custom in cider making districts to exhort the apple trees to fruit well the following season. Cider is poured onto the roots and shots fired through the branches to ward off evil spirits. Warm cider is drunk and toast soaked in cider is placed in the branches 'for the robin'. Wassailing songs are sung. Wassail is from the Anglo-Saxon waes haeil, to be in good health. You can read more about Wassailing here. It takes place across the country, see Wassail for 2009 and explore the following:
Bodmin, Cornwall - wassailers, in gentleman's hand-me-downs such as top hats and frockcoats carry their greeting of "Wassail" around the houses of Bodmin in this unbroken tradition. They sing the Bodmin Wassail, the Old Song, carols and Cornish songs and are rewarded with hospitality and with money collected for charity. Contact Peter Marlow (+44(0)1208 76373).
Read about River Customs in January
Late January
Rhubarb Festival, Wakefield, Yorkshire at the end of January or the beginning of February. Cookery demonstrations, themed meals, tours of the forcing sheds. Wakefield soil is ideal for rhubarb growing but forced rhubarb is also grown locally. The plants are kept in sheds to stop them photosynthesising so that the sugar goes to the stems from the roots. The hushed, candlelit forcing sheds are open to the public and even apart from the festival, they have become a major tourist attraction. The sheds can be visited by groups between January and March by appointment. Contact Wakefield TIC (+44(0)1924 305841) or look at the festival web-site.
Chinese New Year happens around the first new moon between Jan 20-Feb 19:
2009 - January 26th
Large Chinese New Year celebrations take place in London and Manchester - READ MORE
Al Hijra, Islamic New Year. 18 December 2009 (1431AH), 29 December 2008 (1430AH) and 10 January in 2008 (1 Muharram, 1429 AH), 20 January in 2007 (1428AH), 31 January in 2006 (1427AH). The Muslim calendar, based on the moon, alternates between months of 29 and 30 days. This results in the 354 day year shifting constantly on in a 30 year cycle. Its starting point remembered the flight from Mecca of Mohammed (622 CE). The Islamic New Year's Day is celebrated by telling stories of the prophet's life and giving extra time during the night for prayer. This day celebrates the anniversary of Mohammed and his followers' migration from Mecca where he was opposed. People from a different city heard Mohammed preach at a fair and returned to their city, now called al-Medina, with the new faith to heal local civil strife. Mohammed went there a year later and became their guide and leader until his death ten years later.
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Common Ground can accept no responsibility for the accuracy of the information given in this calendar. Events may be altered or cancelled without our knowledge - Always check first with organisers before travelling.
