Maypole Dance at Ashill Primary School in Ilminster

Ashill pupils dance around the maypole 

Pupils of Ashill Community Primary School in Ilminster in Somerset dance around the maypole in Victorian costume. May Day festivities fall on the first of May or on Midsummer’s Day on 21 June.  Maypoles are erected on village greens and ribbons attached to the top for people to dance around weaving a pattern and decorating the pole. Maypole festivities celebrate the arrival of spring and the festival used to be dedicated to the pagan god Frey giving the name Friday. 

The tradition is adopted by Christians. A Green Man, now a common pub name, wears a suit of green and is covered in green branches and leaves and represents the wild wood and the fresh shoots of spring. A Queen of May is crowned with greenery gathered from the woods and fields. Maypole festivities died out in industrialised areas but survive in may rural communities to this day.