London Bankside October Plenty

Where: Formerly London - Starting at Bankside near the Globe Theatre and processing to Borough Market
When: Formerly a Sunday late in October
Time: Formerly Noon

 

October Plenty was a harvest festival celebration of the bounty of autumn and was a fusion of old customs with modern street theatre. It was held each October, starting outside the Globe Theatre on Bankside in London, and it took place whatever the weather, free of charge. Traditional figures were there such as the Corn Queene, Hobby Horse and Berry Man, the autumnal incarnation of the green man complete with an apple tree. The proceedings got underway with  a procession which wound its way to Borough Market followed by dancing, performances of plays and seasonal fare including cider. As the event was organised by professional actors the standard was very high! There were competitions for all ages, a story-telling orchard, singing and dancing and at the end the Corn Queene was dismantled and her many component parts were flung to the crowd (we took home a turnip!).

Helpful Hints

In 2023 the event took a break which sadly appears to be ongoing- there are no current plans for the future of the Festival but hopefully sometime hence a revival will occur. If you hear any news please let me know!

This was a very family friendly event organised by the same team as Twelfth Night Celebrations. In 2012 when we went, it coincided with Apple Day so many of the events followed the theme, such as apple bobbing, competitions for the longest apple peel and apple tasting. There were also displays of bees and conker competitions. Borough Market itself had a very diverse and tempting array of goods on offer.

Click here for the Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/TheLionsPart

Click here for the event website  : http://www.thelionspart.co.uk/octoberplenty/index.html





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