Pagan Group to Defy Council Ban

The Eastbourne Pagan Circle is to go ahead with its charity-fundraising folk festival on August 4th despite attempts by the local council to effectively banish the event from the seafront by denying the group access to the Western Lawns.

Mel Myland, who runs the Puppet Museum in the Wish Tower is allowing the ‘Lammas Fayre’ event to take place in the gardens surrounding the Martello Tower on King Edward’s Parade. Organiser Jerry Bird said that when the Council were approached by Mel with a revised, smaller version of the event tourism Director Ron Cussons’ reply stated that the Council ‘would not look favourably on the proposal’, but fell short of banning the event completely. ‘In the light of this, and bearing in mind that they have been acting unlawfully in discriminating against us as a group, we have decided to take up Mel’s kind offer’, Mr Bird said. The group was offered Langney Sports Centre as a possible ‘last minute’ alternative venue, but as Mel Myland’s puppeteers are performing as part of the festival, and morris dancing had already been arranged to take place on the pier and along the seafront it was decided that the Wish Tower was the most practical option.

A motion set before the Council by the Liberal Democrats on July 25th in support of the event was defeated by the Tory majority. The council have been accused of acting against the Human Rights Act in their attempts to stop the event taking place. The Eastbourne Pagan Circle is affiliated to the Pagan Federation, the national organisation which has successfully campaigned to have Paganism recognised as a valid religion by the Home Office.

The Lammas Fayre will start at noon at the Wish Tower with a procession of giants and morris dancers to the pier and back, with music, dancing, storytelling and puppet performances at the tower from 2.30pm. Old Star Morris, Maria Cunningham, Terry Lees and Rattlebone are among the local performers, and internationally acclaimed folk singer Vikki Clayton will be the special guest star. The day will end around 8pm with a ritual dance involving members of the Pagan Circle enacting the death and re-birth of ‘John Barleycorn’, the figure in folklore who represents the spirit of the corn at harvest time.

The Lammas Fayre is sponsored by the Green Man Bookshop & Gallery and money collected on the day will be donated to the R.N.L.I.
More information and photographs of the performers can be found at:

 http://website.lineone.net/~greenmangallery/lammas.html

Contact:
Jerry Bird
Green Man Bookshop & Gallery
24 South Street
Eastbourne
BN21 4XB

Tel 01323 735364
Fax 01323 735320
Email  greenmangallery@lineone.net