Gallery: Dancing in the streets with a Straw Bear for Whittlesey’s annual festival

Thousands packed the streets of one Fenland town this weekend for one of the area’s biggest events that attracts visitors from across the country.

Organisers of Whittlesey Straw Bear Festival were delighted with the success of this year’s event, which was made all the better for the bright winter sunshine.

Saturday was the biggest day of the three-day festival and saw Morris and Molly dance teams arrive from all over the country to dance in the streets and celebrate the tradition, which dates back to the mid-1800s – although its true origins are a bit obscure and could go further back.

Among those performing were schoolchildren from two of the town’s schools New Park Lane and Alderman Jacobs.

The Straw Bear was led on a procession through the town followed by the hundreds of dancers and watched by crowds packing the streets and soaking up the fun atmosphere.

The Straw Bear Festival is a different take on the annual Plough Monday tradition and so the parade also included the ‘Plough Boys’ carrying a decorated plough as part of the procession.

As has become common practice there were actually two Straw Bears – the adult version and the junior version and both entertained with their antics as they pranced and danced their way around Whittlesey.

The festival kicked off in style on Friday night with a ceilidh and finished yesterday with the burning of the Straw Bear at Decoy Lakes, again watched by crowds of people.

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