The Obby Oss Show at Padstow

Traditional Mayday rite of spring is celebrated by frisky Padstow Obby Osses.

The Obby Oss celebration is a traditional Mayday dance of two Hobby Horses, the earliest reference to which has been found in Padstow in 1803. Two dancers wearing masks and decorative ribbons parade from opposite ends of the town dressed as the Old Red Obby Oss and the Blue Ribbon Obby Oss. They attempt to entrap young maidens under the black disc-shaped cape and are accompanied by the Mayers dressed in white but with either red or blue ribbons denoting allegiance.

All are led by a Master of Ceremonies and sing traditional songs with a band. The Teasers armed with sticks attempt to control the friskiness of each Oss. The two Osses face off at the Maypole and return to stables with the crowd lamenting their deaths with a folk song, originally as they rode off into the sea. The horse in Celtic rituals and worship of the deity Epona are seen as symbols of fertility and the chasing of maidens by the Obby Oss may be linked to an ancient fertility rite and the pagan Beltane Festival which marks the end of winter and the beginning of spring and a time of renewal. Minehead has a similar celebration with three Obby Osses. Padstow's festival begins on May Eve at the Golden Lion Inn.