Some more #Strawbear #Whittlesey yesterday...
I’ve found Sundays can be stranger days than usual in Social Media. So photos of @pigdykemolly.bsky.social dancing at Whittlesey #strawbear festival yesterday. #mollydancing #traditional #folklore
Two people, dressed head to toe in straw, lead a procession along the road. A brightly adorned crowd follows them, carrying folk instruments and a banner.
A closer view of the straw-costumed bear, dancing vigorously among the crowd.
Onlookers gathered outside a traditional British pub, waiting for the bears and their retinue of followers to make an appearance.
The banner carried at the front of the procession is titled "Whittlesey Straw Bear". It features a cartoon image of the dancing bear and reads "Cambridgeshire, England" at the bottom.
The #Whittlesey #StrawBear is a quaint yet somewhat #pagan custom in a small town near where I live, in which a man and a boy dress up in straw costumes and parade through the streets, accompanied by various #Morris and #Molly dancers, and a few thousand […]
[Original post on mastodon.social]
Bear necessities... #Strawbear #Whittlesey today
Whittlesey Straw Bear 2026
#StrawBear
No sign of the Bear, but the Cock is it out…
#StrawBear
To kick off Strawbear, a few of us visited some local brownie packs to give them a hand with their folklore interest badge!
#whittlesey #strawbear #mollydancing #pigdykemolly #folklorebadge
Here is our schedule for Strawbear 2026! We’re looking forward to seeing you all there 👀🖤🤍
#mollydancing #strawbear #whittlesey #folk #morrisdance
I love this time of year! Wassailing, Plough Monday and the Straw Bear all fantastic traditions from the old agricultural calendar. #PloughMonday #StrawBear
Outdoor scene of morris dancers dressed in colourful ribbons and feathered hats.
📸 From the Whittlesea Straw Bear festival a couple of weekends ago. See the full set here ricbixter.co.uk/whittlesea-s...
#photo #photography #folk #folklore #strawbear
The Straw Bear
Rooster
Zebra
Tree costume
A few photos from the delightfully eccentric Straw Bear festival at Whittlesey, near Peterborough, UK, last weekend. #FolkCustoms #Pagan #MorrisDancing #StrawBear
A hand holding up a broom with the letter K carved into it. No one knows the significance of this strange sigil. Perhaps it prevents the Great Old Ones whisking the dancer off to Kadath in the Cold Waste if they drop a broom? There is a Cotswold Morris side in the background. They wear red shirts, black and white baldricks and black trousers and are called Clausentum Morris. They weren't bad, actually. But they weren't keen to be seen associating with the likes of Mepal Molly. Can't say I blame them, to be honest.
Some more #MollyMalarkey from @pixelsonapage.bsky.social at #Whittlesey #StrawBear.
#MepalMolly @clausentummorris.bsky.social in the background
Some Molly dancers holding brooms. They are wearing tweed jackets with tatters on, hats and lallygags (string tied round the trousers).
A touch of #MollyMalarkey from yesterday's #StrawBear in #Whittlesey
Winter sun and #Strawbear out in #Whittlesey today
If you can make it to Fenland today, the Whittlesey Straw Bear Festival should not be missed!
#StrawBear #Molly #Morris #folklore
Flyer for Whittlesea Straw Bear Festival 2025
Flyer for Whittlesea Straw Bear Festival 2025
Date for your diaries. I’m not sure I’ll be going but would love to, apparently this year there will be a mini beer festival at St Mary’s Church in Whittlesea as well as the fabulous pubs (c/o Rhythm and Booze magazine).
#StrawBear #Whittlesea
I also make #Folklore inspired art, often #linocut these days.
Here's a slightly #FolkHorror harvest blessing corn dolly, the #Whittlesey #StrawBear, and something inspired by the legend of St Edmund and the wolf of #BuryStEdmunds
#ArtistsOnBluesky
Gog Magog at Whittlesea #strawbear
Beezlebub with his club.
The doctor tries to revive Sir George with the help of an obby Oss.
The Obby 'Oss. Whittlesey, Mummers play.
The Bold Sir George.
The chaos of the Mummers play, enacted in the road outside the pub.
#Whittlesey #Strawbear
Whittlesea #strawbear festival
Found the bear #strawbear