| Where: | Musselburgh, Lothian - Festival Rideout starts at Pinkie House & returns to the Old Town Hall on the High Street; Harbour Ceremony at Fisherrow Harbour; Riding of Marches Procession starting at Linkfield Road |
| When: | Late July for a week |
| Time: | Festival rideout 8am with return approx 12.30pm; Harbour Ceremony variable depending on tides; Riding of Marches Procession from 10am |
Every July the “Honest Toun” of Musselburgh celebrates its heritage and traditions with a Festival and every 21 years a full Riding of the Marches takes place; the Festival was launched in part to fill the long gap between the Ridings. The modern festival dates back to the 1930s but there’s written evidence of the Riding from 1682 and its origins may well lie even further back in time. The festival is a typical Borders civic week with ride-outs, sports and games, music including special songs for the Festival and lots of other entertainments for all ages. Common Ridings are a boundary marking custom on horseback and at Musselburgh the Principals are the Honest Lad and Lass, who lead the cavalcade around the boundaries. The ridings are mainly held at locations across the Scottish Borders, perhaps because this area suffered from centuries of raiding and reiving between local families and the English, and the locals needed to protect their lands from encroachment. The full Riding of the Marches includes a Proclamation at the Mercat Cross and a cavalcade around the boundaries accompanied by much pageantry and piping with turf cutting at set locations en route, halberdiers, a champion and squires.The town’s fishing heritage is commemorated by the Harbour Ceremony in which the Principals take to the sea in a fishing boat accompanied by appropriately maritime music; on their return they dance reels and eat mussels, from which the town’s name is derived.
Helpful Hints
The Festival usually takes place over a week in late July. In 2024 the festival ran from Saturday 20th July to Sunday 28th with Rideout on 27th- 2025 dates are yet to be confirmed.
The next full Riding of the Marches will be in 2037. The photographs are from the Civic Procession in 2016, which was a mile long and took about three-quarters of an hour to pass by.
Click here for the Festival facebook page : https://www.facebook.com/Musselburgh-Festival-133944419959403/timeline/
Click here for the website: https://musselburghfestival.org
Hi
My name is Michele and we are a UK supplier of wristbands and lanyards which I believe you do use for the Musselburgh Festival and I was wondering if you would give me the opportunity to quote for your 2017 requirements.
I can be contacted via email (address below) or telephone 01482 804514
Thank you
Michele Bell
on behalf of
JC Leisure Connexions
Hi Michele,
Your message has come through to calendarcustoms rather than the Musselburgh Festival’ own site – follow this link and you’ll get to the right place: http://www.honesttoun.co.uk/index.html
Best wishes,
Averil
Can I just turn up on sat 28th July for Common Ride?
Where & what time does it start please?
Hi Lesley,
Thanks for your message. I’ve just checked on the festival’s own web-page and the ride leaves Pinkie Pillars at 9 but riders need to be mounted ready by 8.15 on 28th. However I’m not sure if you need to register in advance (here at calendarcustoms we don’t have any connection with the running of the festival) so I’d recommend visiting this page: https://musselburghfestival.org/contact/ and the organisers will be able to advise. Or you could follow the Facebook link at https://www.facebook.com/Musselburgh-Festival-133944419959403/timeline/ to contact them.
Hope you have a goof time!
Averil
I want be in riding marches