Padstow prepares for annual 'Obby 'Oss invasion
By
cg_graham | Posted: May 01, 2016
Thousands of people are preparing to visit Padstow tomorrow ( Monday May 2) for the town's Obby Oss festival.
Yesterday, volunteers were encouraged to pick up litter and tidy the narrow streets to help welcome visitors – many of whom will have travelled the world for their annual pilgrimage. In previous years the event has brought more than 30,000 into the town.
Unlike some of the more recent festivals, which have been designed to be commercial as much as cultural attractions, the Obby Oss event is a centuries-old very local tradition whose origins are lost in the mists of time.
While some bed-and-breakfast businesses, and certainly the pubs, see a boost in trade, several other businesses take a very relaxed view of the event and some shops actually close. The day involves much music, dancing and drinking – but any wider economic benefit is coincidental. In previous years when May Day falls on a weekday, the local school has been closed and many local people regard the Obby Oss festival as an unofficial public holiday.
Some people from outside of Padstow have even claimed "religious exemption" as grounds for taking their children out of school so that they could attend.
The festival centres around the two "Osses" – representations of the "old" horse and the "new," now wearing red ribbons and blue ribbons, and their attempts to catch a maiden. There are associations with fertility and renewal, and the event is thought to have distant roots with the ancient Celtic festival of Beltane.
Local historian John Buckingham, President of the Padstow Old Cornwall Society, said the festival had undergone many changes over the centuries. In 1820 one author described "an annual jubilee" in which "the inhabitants dress up a man in a horse's skin, and lead him through the different streets."
Before the First World War there was only one hobby horse in Padstow, the old oss, but in 1919 the blue ribbon obby oss - also known as the "temperance oss" - was introduced. Its supporters tried to discourage the drunkenness associated with the custom. In 1837 some residents tried to outlaw the firing of pistols in the air on May Day.
"It has always been very spectacular," said Mr Buckingham, "but it's never really been about attracting tourists into town. It's organised by local people, for local people. It really is very unusual."
May Day in Padstow officially begins at midnight when a groups of "mayers" meet outside the Golden Lion Inn to serenade the owner with their Night Song. By dawn, people busy themselves decorating streets and shop windows.
Around mid morning on May Day each year the children will be getting ready for their special dance which takes place before the main 11am dance.
The "osses" then swirl and dance through the town, taunted by a "Teazer," who leads the dance with theatrical movements. The crowd follows the "oss," dressed all in white with their costumes decorated with ribbons and sprays of cowslips and bluebells.
Visitors should note that although Padstow's car parks in the old town centre are closed to traffic on the day, the town council, and Cornwall council car parks remain open.
Padstow Town Council said: "Parking is available in The Town Council's Lawns and Railway Car Parks. Access to the larger car park nearest the town [Railway Car Park] will be maintained via Station Road as normal.
"There has been confusion in past years but The Lawns and Railway Car Parks are open on May Day and every day. Any queries regarding Padstow Town Council car parks please visit our website at
http://www.padstow-tc.gov.uk/local-services/town-council-car-parks/"
There is a field at the top of the town near the Tesco supermarket where a park and ride service is available. You can also park in the village of Rock across the estuary and take the regular ferry across to Padstow.
http://www.cornishguardian.co.uk/Pa...Oss-invasion/story-29200303-detail/story.html
I still do it every time I go past, despite being an out and out atheist, and to the embarrassment of my teenage son, if he's with me! I don't want these precious, quirky traditions to die out just because no-one believes in them any more 
Just sayin'.
