Straw Bear Festival returns in colourful fashion to streets of Whittlesea

The annual Whittlesea Straw Bear festival returned in colourful fashion on Saturday as people gathered to witness the famous parade on the streets of Cambridgeshire.

Dancers and musicians in the village of Whittlesea braved cold weather as the Straw Bear walked in the procession accompanied by attendant keepers.

Crowd gathered and lined the streets of Whittlesea as they tried to catch a glimpse of the Straw Bear while other festival-goers were spotted taking selfies with the star of the show.

The Straw Bear paraded the streets alongside members of the Bourne Borders dance troupe, a Morris dancing group who are known for wearing bright yellow and green attire, green face paint and colourful hats with various flowers.

Other Morris dancers wore multi-coloured jackets with hues of red, purple and blue and made up of various pieces of fabric.

Meanwhile, Pig Dyke Molly dancers donned striking face paint sporting dramatic black and white detail as they took to the streets and Old Glory Molly dancers wore grey face paint and crowns made from green leaves.

The tradition of parading the Straw Bear through the village appears to date back to the 1880s, but the exact date of its inception remains uncertain.

It was custom that on the Tuesday following Plough Monday (the first Monday after Twelfth Night), one of the members of the plough would dress in straw and was named the Straw Bear, according to organisers.

The festival was stopped by the local constabulary in 1909, which forbid Straw Bears as a form of cadging, but it was revived in 1980 by the Whittlesea Society.

The annual procession now contains more than 250 dancers and musicians, who take part in traditional performances while crowds gather to catch a glimpse of the famous Straw Bear.

The festival concludes on Sunday where an effigy of the Straw Bear will be burned, leaving the way open for a new bear to be created in the following year’s harvest.