| Where: | Hastings, Sussex starting at the Fishermans Museum, All Saints Street and ending at West Hill near the Castle |
| When: | May Day Bank Holiday Monday |
| Time: | From 10 am |
Hastings hosts this festival each May Day Bank Holiday weekend (that’s the one early in the month). The main man is of course Jack himself, who is basically a man covered by a giant May Garland, and he leads a procession through town accompanied by morris men, Bogies and a May Queen to name but a few; once the procession arrives near the Castle at around 3.30, Jack is slain and the Spirit of Spring released. The original ancient festival lapsed during the late Nineteenth Century, but it was revived during the 1980s and is now a very well established part of the calendar. The Procession is the highlight of the festival but music and dance events take place over the whole weekend. Also take time to visit the free Jack in the Green exhibition at History House on Courthouse Street – merchandise relating to the festival is on sale here. In some years the City of London Jack in the Green joins in the festivities.
Helpful Hints
In 2025 it should be on Monday 5th May (check links below for details).
There are related activities over the whole weekend – for full details and also for a complete breakdown of exactly what happens on the day, visit the website link below.
Allow lots of time to get parked -Hastings was virtually at a standstill when we arrived. The castle is steep and not particularly easy to walk around so take extra care especially with small children. After Jack is slain, visitors can take home pieces of his greenery for luck – there’s plenty to go ’round so no need to storm the stage!
To find out more read “The Hastings Jack in the Green” by Keith Leech (one of Jack’s Bogies).
Click here for the event website: https://hastingstraditionaljackinthegreen.co.uk/
and Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/HastingsTraditonalJackintheGreen/
Having lost St Mary’s, will you still be holding ceilidhs over this weekend.
Dear Pat & Colin,
Sorry – I think you must be mixing up this website with the organisers of the festival. Calendarcustoms doesn’t have any connection to the running of any of the featured events, just tries to help people get to the right place at the right time. If you go to the event website at http://www.hastingsjack.co.uk/ and follow to the contact section on the left side of the home page, I’m sure someone will be able to answer your query. Good luck!
Best Wishes,
Averil
The procession will not be going into the Castle this year. It will finish on west Hill, opposite the castle
http://www.hastingsjack.co.uk/prog.html
Hi Ron,
Many thanks for the update – I’ve amended the article accordingly!
Averil
Hi Averil,
What a fantastic site. Thank You. If you ever need any updates on hastings Jack just ask. The full programme for 2015 is now live on the website
Hi Keith,
Many thanks for getting in touch! I’ll have a proper look at your website again asap to make sure I’ve got the right info on for this year – I’m off to Leicester for a week on Sunday (for the Richard III reburial!) so it might take a short while for necessary revisions to appear on the site but it shouldn’t take long. I have a copy of your book so I shamelessly cribbed from that when I was writing the article 😉
Very best wishes,
Averil
Ooh lucky you would love to go to see that but as teacher am stuck here. No problems with cribbing my book it’s more important the info is out there.
In Hastings we now also have done an annual recreation of the stations of the cross acted on the streets every Good Friday for over 30 years. Does it count as a custom yet?
Now off to check what you have on Sussex Bonfire . See URL, that’s just Hastings there are lots and all worth doing. Battle is in fact the oldest not Lewes.
Thanks again Keith!
I think I might do a separate post to cover the Sussex Bonfire Season with appropriate links – just got a couple of them on so far with a brief mention of the Sussex fires on the general Bonfire Night page. I did a catch-all post for the Somerset Illuminated Carnivals season which saved lots of repetition, as they’re closely related events with a common heritage as well. I love a good bonfire….
30 years definitely counts as a custom (and as it’s my website I get to decide anyway – which is how some quite recent things have got on the site but I take the view that all customs were new once,just some of them last longer than others!). I might struggle to get it written up in time for this year what with the trip away and all that, but will definitely have it on asap…
Best wishes,
Averil
If you can tell me where to send the Good Friday blurb Ill get onto it.
Thanks Keith,
That’ll speed things up! The crucial points are time of day and location – even if I just get a quick note up on the site in time for this year, it can be expanded and have its map etc added later on. Just email please to averil@calendarcustoms.com
I’m really looking forward to all the Richard III stuff next week – been in the Society since I was a mere child of 17 and I have a ticket for the official Society service on the Monday at the Cathedral.I’ll be outside on the actual reburial day as you have to be one of the great and good to be invited to that one and sadly I don’t seem to qualify….but we can watch on big screens.
Averil