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Straw Bear 2023 started with a downpour in which the entire procession got soaking wet. Including a friend's melodeon (melodeons have paper bellows, so this is not good.) The Riot fielded six dancers, four of whom danced in the procession and the other two (one of whom was me) carried all the bags, coats etc.
I tried to play the whistle with the musicians at the same time, but what with the heavy packs and the water going down my fipple it was too hard and I had to leave it up to the rest of the musicians. At least our melodeon player was buried under a waterproof poncho, which was fastened around the instrument's straps so it wouldn't billow in the wind, and his instrument remained dry.
First session in the morning was at the Ivyleaf, fortunately indoors because the downpour continued, and I must say I enjoyed being out of the cold, somewhere where we could sit down between dances.
By the second session the rain had cleared up so we were thrown out on the streets to dance around the town.
I'm with Ely & Littleport Riot and DH is with Mepal Molly, but fortunately the two sides are so intertwined that they decided to send us round together. (We share musicians and at least one dancer.) It's nice.
11 year old Ivor was dancing with Mepal Molly this year, which is hilarious as the rest of them are silver haired and bearded and look like decrepid ancient farm labourers (which is what the original Mepal Molly were.) Ivor seemed to have a great time at least.
Third session in the afternoon was in a street that acted like a wind tunnel, and as we were all still damp from the morning it started to get very cold. Then there was a final dance in the market square, by which time the cold had sunk deep in the marrow of my bones and I knew I would never get warm again without soaking in a scorching bath.
Fortunately by that time we were ready to go home. So I've had the bath and am now warm again, with an ibuprofen for my aching feet. Altogether a very satisfactory day, even though it was much smaller this year, post covid.
There were only two bears this year, a big and a baby bear, but whoever was inside the big bear was giving it his all, because I've never seen such vigorous dancing from a straw bear. He was an unusually shaggy bear with the heads of the wheat left on. They're going to burn him in private tomorrow, instead of the usual public immolation, which doesn't worry me because I think the whole burning thing is creepy and I never turn up for it anyway.
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Date: 2023-01-15 03:42 am (UTC)From:no subject
Date: 2023-01-15 08:48 pm (UTC)From:It was really nice to get back to the festival which had been paused since 2019 because of Covid, so it was worth getting wet for :)
no subject
Date: 2023-01-16 02:47 am (UTC)From:no subject
Date: 2023-01-16 11:49 am (UTC)From:Yes, we used to get our sense of what time of year it was by which morris festivals were happening, so it's nice to know when it's January again ;)
no subject
Date: 2023-01-17 04:47 am (UTC)From: