A CELEBRATION of bright colours, energetic music and impressive dancing took hold of the city centre at this weekend’s Oxford Folk Festival.

Groups of dancers and Morris men wowed crowds as they entertained hundreds of shoppers.

One of the event’s co-ordinators Kate Rouse said: “Hundreds of people have been coming to the workshops and it is a lovely sight with the Morris dancers. This has been the biggest and best yet.

“It is a real pleasure to be part of because it is a big effort, but it is putting something into the heart of Oxford.”


To the beat of drums and hum of accordions, between 450 and 500 dancers with blackened faces from 52 Morris dancing sides put on a show for the fourth instalment of the annual festival.

On the lawn outside Oxford’s Pitt Rivers Museum, dancers from The Flagcrackers of Craven showed off their dancing performed in the border tradition.

The tribe is led by an elected squire, Nigel Foster, who said the tradition involved banging sticks, shouting and wearing jackets with coloured tatters.

They always blacken their faces as a nod to the border tradition, when dancers would use soot to disguise themselves when drinking in nearby towns and villages.

He said: “They would turn their clothes inside out and take soot from the fire to blacken their faces.

“If they were caught by the local land owner they could be thrown out of their tenancy.

“This dates back to the 1880s.”

The 49-year-old also had a message for anyone who caught the Morris dancing bug after watching their display at the weekend.

He said: “Despite what some people say, Morris dancing is booming at the moment.

“It is a great way to get fit, meet new people and have a laugh.”

The festival was also celebrating the 20th anniversary of Oxford’s Twinning with Russian city Perm.

Featured among the performers were Russian folk band Yarmaka.

In a wash of creative costumes the band impressed onlookers and pulled up shoppers to get involved.

Treasurer of Oxford Perm Association Sue Gregory said: “We were very lucky with the weather and had very good dancers. People were saying how lovely it was and how they encouraged others to dance with them.”

The festival spanned three days and also featured storytelling, percussion workshops, concerts and ceilidhs at museums across the city.

Yarmaka will continue celebrations through the week, visiting schools across the city before staging a performance at Oxford Town Hall in St Aldate’s at 7.30pm on Friday, April 24.