And by processing…I mean marching/walking/dancing along in a long line of people…not the other kind with information!

Saturday’s activity was the spectacular Eastbourne Bonfire Society Procession. Mythago were invited as one of the many groups who took part in this procession! There were drummers galore (who’d have thought there would be so many drummers in the Eastbourne area! There were Morris dancers, as well as us there was Steampunk Morris and Hunters Moon  Morris. and of course there were many, many bonfire societies!

The procession started off outside the crown and anchor bub in eastbourne…Like a good girl I had followed instructions and parked at the fisherman’s green carpark…not being that local I had no idea that this was at least 0.8 miles (according to google) away from the start…and over 2 miles from the end…but, at least I arrived at the start nicely warmed up and ready to dance. As more and more people collected, Mythago, Steampunk Morris and two sets of drummers entertained the crowds with dances and drumming. We danced: Maiden Castle, Triskelle, Foulmouthed cat.

Then it was time for the off…there was a lot of general milling about and forming up and then a lot of processing. Now understand this, for Mythago morris processing is not simply walking along…we do walk while hitting our sticks in time to the music, then…at intervals determined by the squire and the density of the crowd, we launch in to a couple of figures (either stepping and a step clash cross, or a reel, or a capstan) then carry on sticking. It is not as easy a thing to keep up as you might think. The First half of the procession went all the way to the fisherman’s green and back again to the pub during which we danced and walked and banged stick and generally went running off into the crowd to scare children!

Back at the pub we had a break…during which (instead of resting like normal people) Steampunk Morris, Hunters Moon and Mythago once again entertained the crowd with awesome dancing. We did Star of the County Down and witch hunt. Then time had come for the final part of the procession, along the seafront to the bonfire site. This section was highly populated with appreciative crowds, which (of course) caused us to play up and put in more and more dance sections and generally get noisier and more energetic 😀

the end of the procession was of course a bonfire…what else would one expect from a bonfire society! and an exceedingly spectacular firework display! It was fun but long…and marred slightly by the fact that somewhere in the last 10 mins of the parade I developed a giant blister…or possibly noticed that I had a giant blister on my heel!

According to the (much more reliable than Map my Run) app Runkeeper, we danced / walked 3.5 miles (or 5.76km) which in new rock boots, and a mask is no mean feat!

I can quite safely say that in a fiery way, day 106 complete 🙂

all photos are courtesy of https://www.facebook.com/GrahamHuntleyPhotography with thanks 🙂