May Morning, The Whirly band, Clarendon Building, Oxford, Oxfordshire, England, UK, GB.
Garlanded, green-clad figures playing ancient dance tunes on skirling bagpipes, fiddles, the Whirly Band has become as distinctive a feature of May Morning Oxford as the Morris and the choir on Magdalen Tower. Yet it is a fairly recent phenomenon dating only from 2004. The musicians include some of the most talented folk and early music players in Oxford. They perform just one gig a year - and that is on the steps of the Clarendon Building in Broad Street on May Morning. Their oldest tunes - Sumer is Icumen In and Miri It Is - date back to the 13th century when Oxford's first May Day revels were reported. If anything evokes the feral spirit of the early celebrations - green nature engulfing the city with jubilant music and dance - it is surely the Whirly Band in full flow.
Size: 4563px × 3209px
Location: Clarendon Building, Oxford, Oxfordshire, mEngland, UK.
Photo credit: © Dylan Garcia / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
Keywords: britain, building, clarendon, day, england, gb, great, kingdom, live, mayday, morning, music, oxford, oxfordshire, spring, springtime, uk, united
