Procession
The dance displays start on Friday at 8.30pm with a torchlight procession through the town, from the King’s Arms and along the High Street to the Market Square, accompanied by the Town Crier.
Guest Sides
Our guest sides have been invited to join us in celebrating the tradition of Morris Dancing that is deeply rooted with Bromyard Folk Festival; some for the first time this year. Look out for them in town this year, and hopefully in years to come!
Bedcote
Bedcote Morris are a mixed sex Cotswold Morris side from Stourbridge in the West Midlands. Founded in 1991, Bedcote dance many traditions including Adderbury, Oddington, Lichfield, Bledington, Fieldtown, Abingdon, and Upton-Upon-Severn.The main aim of the side is to have fun and provide colourful entertainment, whilst at the same time, preserving some of our rapidly diminishing English folk traditions.
Belles of London City
Vibrant, energetic, challenging and delightfully eccentric, the Belles of London City break all of your stereotypes about Morris dancing. Dressed in trademark red and white stays, the Belles of London City have captured the attention of the national press and delighted audiences around the country since 2009
Chelmsford Ladies
Having started in 1979, Chelmsford Ladies Clog Morris from the North West of England have changed kit a few times, but you’ll recognise them by their green dresses and rainbow socks. Back at home in Essex, Chelmsford Morris also has a men’s side, founded in 1972, who dance Cotswold Morris. The side’s ethos is ‘quality and fun – in equal measures’.
Chipping Camden
With an unbroken history of Costwold dancing since the 1700’s, Chipping Campden Morris Dancers dance a unique tradition that can be found nowhere else. The side boasts dancers from multiple generations of families who form part of the living tradition which continues to thrive in the 21st Century.
Five Rivers
Formed in 2008, Five Rivers Morris is a Cotswold Morris team based in Sheffield. They dance the traditions from a number of Cotswold villages, including Fieldtown, Sherbourne, Bampton, Oddington and Adderbury, but are also still writing a series of Sheffield dances named, aptly, after the city’s five rivers.
Handsworth Traditional Sword Dancers
The Handsworth Traditional Sword Dancers have been performing Yorkshire longsword in their distinctive, Dragoon-style uniform, for over 150 years. Described in 1913 by Cecil Sharp as “one of the best and most inspiriting of the dances that still survive in Yorkshire”, the team are proud custodians of the Handsworth Sword Dance which they now perform alongside other fast, furious and innovative longsword dances.
Mary Rose & Royal George
Mary Rose and Royal George are a Portsmouth based dancing team, who aim to bring a lively new approach to the entertaining morris style of dancing. Their unique style takes its inspiration from a number of morris traditions including, Border, Cotswold, Molly and Rapper. These influences added with their own unique flair make them a true pleasure to watch. Established in 2015 they are building a fantastic reputation for themselves as a team of unique dancers who are fun and enjoyable to watch and socialise with.
Northgate Rapper
Northgate Rapper, those oh-so boisterous boys from Bath will bestow beautiful blade-based boogie combining fast and frenetic footwork with superbly stylish sword-handling all accompanied by the sweet sweet sounds of their marvellous and multiple musicians.
Saddleworth
Now in their 50th year, the Saddleworth Morris Men return to Bromyard in their copious bells, distinctive waistcoats, and bowler hats adorned with fresh flowers. Dancing the North West style of the Saddleworth villages, they will be joining us following their famous Rushcart in late August.
The Witchmen
The Witchmen – still giving it large with their unique and energetic dancing at festivals up and down the country. Driving, drum led music combines with the magical colours of black and amber for a primal, rhythmic performance. Last seen at Bromyard Festival in 2018 and looking forward to a great time in 2024.
Regular Sides
Our (more) regular sides include teams that have been performing at the festival for many years, and newer local teams who celebrate the border tradition borne from Herefordshire and neighbouring Gloucestershire, Shropshire and Worcestershire. Look out for some of them at this year’s festival!
Earlsdon
One of the finest exponents of North West clog Morris in the country. Founded in 1971 in Coventry, they have delighted audiences across Europe with their colourful kit, energetic dances and fantastic band. They perform a selection of traditional and self-written dances, and with a youthful and large number of dancers they will be hard to miss at this year’s festival.
Faithful City
Faithful City Morris Men hail from the Worcester area, based at The Talbot at Knightwick, and are named after a Worcester City motto: Civitas fidelis in bello et pacem (a City faithful [to the Crown] in both war and peace). The Side has celebrated 50 years of dancing, mainly traditional Cotswold & Welsh Border Dances. See them dancing in black top hats with green & blue chequered ribbon, white shirts and blue tabards with three Worcester black pears (front) and pear tree, Malvern Hills & River Severn (back).
Jockey
Jockey Morris was formed in 1949 and have performed ever since in Birmingham, country wide and in Europe. They mainly perform Cotswold dances in their traditional kit of straw hats, white shirt and trousers, blue baldrics with a rosette based on the Sutton rose and red, green, yellow and blue flashes on the end of the baldrics.
Ledbury
Ledbury Morris are a relatively new, mixed side formed in 2018 based near the market town of Ledbury in Herefordshire, a few miles south of Bromyard.
Their look is influenced by local tradition and inspired by the vibrant hedgerows, and they perform a mix of both traditional Border and Not for Joe dances.
Leominster
Leominster Border Morris started in 1983. They have a range of traditional Border dances and reinterpretations of dances from other traditions that we perform in a Border style, together the odd smattering of Cotswold dances just to prove they can! There is a historical record of Leominster men wearing ‘cheap print jackets, jingling bells and clashing sticks together’. Today, they wear boots, black jeans or trousers, braces, arm ribbons, a formal jacket made from colourful curtain material and a top hat. In the winter, the hat is decorated with feathers and foliage, a black shirt is worn under the jacket and faces are disguised with green face-paint. In summer, a white shirt is worn and the hat is decorated with fresh flowers.
Lord Conyers
Lord Conyers Morris are a traditional Morris Dancing side from Sheffield, South Yorkshire, founded in 1974. They dance a wide variety of Cotswold dances from different traditions, plus Border dances from the Pershore tradition. They can be found in the summer months dancing at various pubs plus other events in South Yorkshire and the surrounding areas. They are also to be seen at festivals both throughout the country and abroad.
Shakespeare
Shakespeare Morris consists of a men’s and a women’s dance side, sometimes dancing separately, sometimes together. They dance Cotswold in the Bidford on Avon tradition. Shakespeare Morris have the privilege of wearing the family Coat of Arms of the house of John Shakespeare, William Shakespeare’s father, by kind permission of the Shakespeare Trust. The gold & black shield familiar to visitors to Stratford shows a ‘shake spear’ or in historic terms, a left leaning spear.
Silurian
Founded by folk legend Dave Jones, Silurian began dancing in 1969 in Ledbury and have kept faithful to the Border dances Dave and others collected from documents & old people in the Welsh border counties. Over the years Silurian has performed all over the country and tours abroad, gaining friends, admirers and lifetime bans across the continent. Their motto for the recent half century anniversary was, ’50 years and still going wrong!’.
White Hart
Formed in the 1970’s and based in Alcester, White Hart perform a number of Cotswold Traditions and their own distinctive Headless Cross style of dance.
Soft Option
This long established Worcestershire side performs fast and furious dances in the spectacular Appalachian precision stepping style. The percussive rhythm of their feet is complemented by the bluegrass/old time sound of violin, mandolin, guitar, banjo and double bass as performed by their band ‘No Option’.