The first ‘Lammas Fayre’ as it was called took place in 2001 as a way of ‘making a statement’ about Pagans in the community. In the publicity we presented it (slightly tongue in cheek!) as being a celebration of the fiftieth anniversary of the repeal of the witchcraft act. It took place against the Borough Council’s expressed wishes but we gained much public support and it is now a regular tradition, supported by the Council.

Our Aim

The aim is to showcase local talent in the arena of traditional music and dance, to raise money for the R.N.L.I., and above all, to have fun!

Origin of 'Lammas'

The word 'Lammas' comes from the old English language, meaning 'loaf mass'. It is a harvest festival, a celebration of the Earth's bounty which traditionally was held at the time of the cutting of the first corn crop. In Ireland it is known as Lughnassah, the name being derived from the old Celtic sun-God Lugh. It is one of the four ancient Pagan Celtic Fire fire festivals which were adopted by the early Catholic church, and have now been re-appropriated by the modern Pagan movement.

The First Lammas 'Fayre'

The Lammas Fayre took the form of a folk music and dance festival, principally because there were several performers within that genre involved withthe original Eastbourne Pagan Circle including some members of Old Star Morris who were subsequently to form Hunters Moon Morris. These performers and a few other dedicated activists in the Pagan Circle formed the nucleus of the team which organised the event, putting their necks on the block, as it were, if anything were to go wrong. Despite being threatened with arrest by the Council if the event went ahead, the Lammas Fayre did happen and gained a considerable amount of excellent publicity, while raising a substantial sum of money for the R.N.L.I. at the same time.

The first Lammas Fayre also received the enthusiastic support of many sympathetic people outside of the Pagan Circle such as storyteller Derek Legg, award winning guitarist Terry Lees, Town Crier Anthony Chamberlain-Brothers, Puppeteer Mel Myland, and sound engineer Dougie Mayhew, along with various members of the Lamb Folk club, many of whom have performed at subsequent Lammas Festivals. The event ended in the early evening with a concert by professional singer Vicki Clayton, who gamely agreed to appear on stage despite the threat of arrest! This was followed by a party in the Dewdrop Inn in South Street for all those involved. The full story of all the shenanigans with the Council was printed in the Lammas 2002 issue of Pagan Dawn magazine.

Eastbourne Giants

We received tremendous support from Puppet Museum proprietor Mel Myland who, despite threats to his livelihood from the Council allowed us access to the ‘apron’ of land around the Wish Tower which formed part of the area leased by him from the Council. At Jerry Bird's suggestion (having been inspired by seeing the giants at the London Beltane ‘Pagan Pride Parades’) and with the full support of those attending EPC meetings at the time, Mel was commissioned to make the carnival giants Herne and Andred specifically for the seaside parade, which has been a popular and colourful part of every Lammas event since then. The male figure represents Herne, the antlered figure who is said in the legend to haunt Great Windsor Forest. He is related in folklore to the Celtic God Cernunnos. The female giant represents Andred, a Celtic lunar deity whose name was commemorated in the Romano-British name for the fortified settlement at Pevensey in Sussex: 'Anderida'. More about the giants >>

Sadly the Puppet Museum has now closed its doors for the last time - our thanks and very best wishes to Mel and all his puppets.

Grants and Funding

In 2002 the change of political control of the Council meant that we were able to work with the authorities for the next festival. This meant extra costs, principally the public liability insurance, as the Council insisted on a higher level of cover than that which we had procured for the first Lammas Fayre, and also a licence fee to hold the event. To help defray these costs and to purchase certain items such as the circular marquee and the stage awning for the festival we applied successfully for lottery money through the ‘Awards For All’ scheme. To enable this application to be considered the ‘Lammas Festival Committee’ was formed by those most closely involved with organising the festival, and the committee has continued to run the annual festival ever since, gaining experience and confidence along the way. The lottery award was made specifically to the ‘Eastbourne Lammas Festival Committee’, and the items purchased with the money remain legally the assets of the Committee. Incidentally the change of name of the event from ‘Fayre’ to ‘Festival’ came about as a result of a technicality in the funding application, namely that lottery awards cannot be given to fund regular events that have already been established.

Over the last few years the Lammas Festival Committee has forged good relationships with various Council members, officers and staff, especially in Theatres and Tourism, which has smoothed the way towards gradually developing the festival and making life easier for all involved. The good name and popularity of the festival also means that on a practical level, they are unable to object to us.

Religious Interests

The committee has always been composed largely, but not exclusively of people with pagan interests but its makeup is not exclusively Pagan, one of its most active members being the Festival storyteller, who is Christian.

Times move on and relationships and organisers come and go. Thus the Lammas Festival which was started by the original Eastbourne Pagan Circle is now constitutionally and practically a separate entity. This is only sensible, as the event is principally a folk festival, with the open ritual on the beach to celebrate Lammas being the only inherently Pagan part of the proceedings, and one of our aims is to run an event which people of all faiths or none can enjoy and be involved with if they wish. Also, being separate from the Pagan Circle has the advantage that the event is not classified as religious, which would have prevented us from applying for the lottery funding in the first place. Many of the volunteers who help out over the weekend are, or have been involved with the Pagan Circle and we would hope that that continues to be the case, and that the Giant team and the drummers continue to support the festival. Eastbourne Pagan Circle has now re-formed - see their website >>

Costs and Fundraising

The cost of staging the first ‘Lammas Fayre’ was borne entirely by the Eastbourne Pagan Circle’s existing funds, money having been raised by raffles, entrance money from various lectures and workshops, coffee mornings and stalls at other events (e.g. Herstmonceux Mediaeval Festival). All money generated by ‘Merry Meet’ was also donated to the festival funds (subscribers were, and still are, encouraged on their sub. renewals form to donate extra money for Lammas). The lottery funding obviously helped with Lammas 2002 but was a ‘one-off’ grant and will not be repeated, and despite the fact that there is a certain amount of revenue from ticket sales, stall-holders’ fees, T-shirt sales and commission on beer sales etc the festival runs at a loss financially, and is likely to continue to do so. We are one of the very few folk festivals in the country which receives no funding at all from the local authority or arts organisation. Thus it is up to the Lammas Festival’s supporters to raise the funding to ensure its continuing success.

The Eastbourne Lammas Festival is paid for by the year-round fund-raising efforts of ELF, Hunters Moon Morris, the sale of quarterly magazine "Merry Meet and sponsorship by Green Man Books.

We look forward to seeing you all at this year's Lammas Festival - come as you are, or wear your most outlandish costume and join the procession along the seafront; the more the merrier!