OffBeat Folk Film Festival: 'Reet Northern May Day Party

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Sumer is icumen in! Join us to see in the summer and kick off the OffBeat Folk Film Festival at the Mildmay Club for a 'reet Northern May Day Party. We've got a gurning competition, morris strip tease, DJs, music, games, party food, kazoo band and, for the first time ever in London, carnival morris performed by the incredible Orcadia Morris! We will be celebrating the May in the only way we know how, we with singing, drinking and dressing up. So please come in your finest folk regalia. Garlands, masks, hobby horses and costumes are encouraged (there will be prizes awarded to the May King and Queen!) The main event takes place from 18:00 at The Mildmay Club but there will be a procession led by Nick Hart & Tome Moore to the club meeting outside Highbury & Islington Station at 17:00. The event has been curated by the wonderful artist, folklorist and winner of the 2025 Best in Folk OffBeat Folk Film Festival Award, Lucy Wright. Lucy works across visual art, performance, and critical writing to explore the spaces where folklore, feminism and cultural participation meet. Her projects often emerge from years of study into under-recognised and female-led traditions, especially those associated with her own working-class upbringing in the north—resulting in artworks that serve both as invitations and provocations.