Eastbourne Lammas Festival

Where: Eastbourne, Sussex at Hampden Park (Formerly Eastbourne, Sussex starting at the Pier)
When: Weekend in early August (Formerly Saturday near August 1st so often late July)
Time: To be confirmed (Formerly 12 noon parade, 5.30 Lammas Ritual)

 

Lammas is an ancient celebration connected with the harvest and it falls on August 1st. Eastbourne Lammas festival is a modern celebration on a weekend near to Lammas, which pre-Covid started with a parade along the seafront which included dancers, morris men, drummers and musicians. The Lammas ritual ended the afternoon symbolising the life of John Barleycorn (the corn spirit and inspiration for the ancient folksong of the same name) and was performed by Hunters Moon Morris. There were also ceilidh events in the evening and further music & dance events during the Sunday. The revived custom is due to take place in 2026, with full details yet to be announced. Look out for the traditional Lammas Loaf!

Helpful Hints

A new Lammas Festival is being planned for 2026 and should be on 1st and 2nd August in Hampden Park, organised by Anderida Border Morris. Currently lapsed for several years, it’ll be a welcome return to the calendar- note the that the details below may need to be amended when more information becomes available for the revived festival.

Click here for the new Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/groups/2441823759565547

Members of the public were encouraged to join in the parade and to wear fancy dress or flowers if they wished- and I’d expect this to be true also for the new event…

Photos thanks to Ed Owen!

View this location on the map.