Traditionally held on May 8th, Helston Flora Day is a relic of the ancient pagan festival of Beltane associated with the beginning of summer<= /title>  <style>  </style>  </head> <body lang=3DEN-US style=3D'tab-interval:36.0pt'> <div class=3DSection1> Traditionally held on May 8th, Helston Flora Day is a relic o= f the ancient pagan festival of Beltane associated with the beginning of summer. The town's streets are decorated with greenery and the = people of Helst= on turn out to take part in one of a number of dances that ta= ke place throughout the day led by the Helston Tow= n Band playing the infamous Floral Song. The first dance takes place at 7am follow= ed by the Hal-an-tow at 8.30am - a noisy re-enactment of a deadly battle fough= t in the skies above the town between the Devil himself and the Archangel Michae= l - during which townsfolk clad in green and dressed as 'sticks' rush through the streets banging tambourines = and blowing shrill whistles. The Childrens Dance at= 10am is the most delightful; Young girls, garlanded and dressed in white are escorted by the boys wearing lily of the valley pinned to their shirts. The main dance or Furry Dance takes place at noon with couples dressed in their finery and accompanied by the town band. The last dance - the evening dance takes place at 5pm.<o:p></o:p> <o:p>= </o:p> <o:p> </o:p> </div> </body> </html>

MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Location: file:///C:/AA241C99/helstonfloraday.htm Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable Content-Type: text/html; charset="us-ascii" Traditionally held on May 8th, Helston Flora Day is a relic of the ancient pagan festival of Beltane associated with the beginning of summer<= /title>  <style>  </style>  </head> <body lang=3DEN-US style=3D'tab-interval:36.0pt'> <div class=3DSection1> Traditionally held on May 8th, Helston Flora Day is a relic o= f the ancient pagan festival of Beltane associated with the beginning of summer. The town's streets are decorated with greenery and the = people of Helst= on turn out to take part in one of a number of dances that ta= ke place throughout the day led by the Helston Tow= n Band playing the infamous Floral Song. The first dance takes place at 7am follow= ed by the Hal-an-tow at 8.30am - a noisy re-enactment of a deadly battle fough= t in the skies above the town between the Devil himself and the Archangel Michae= l - during which townsfolk clad in green and dressed as 'sticks' rush through the streets banging tambourines = and blowing shrill whistles. The Childrens Dance at= 10am is the most delightful; Young girls, garlanded and dressed in white are escorted by the boys wearing lily of the valley pinned to their shirts. The main dance or Furry Dance takes place at noon with couples dressed in their finery and accompanied by the town band. The last dance - the evening dance takes place at 5pm.<o:p></o:p> <o:p>= </o:p> <o:p> </o:p> </div> </body> </html>