The ease with which we found parking close to the town center told us the main event was over. Down the main street all the shops were garlanded with leaves and flowers looking a bit tired now in the afternoon sun. But hundreds of people milled about, including some of the dancers and children in white, many wearing wreaths on their heads, and scores and scores of young people drinking outside the pubs.
From what we’ve since learned the “Furry Dance” has long been a popular event, but this year even more so, as it’s the first after 2 years of lockdown.
According to Wikipedia, “the earliest mention seems to be in a letter to the Gentleman’s Magazine for 1790 where the writer says ‘At Helstone, a genteel and populus borough town in Cornwall, it is customary to dedicate the 8th May to revelry (festive mirth, not loose jollity). It is called Furry Day.'” At some point, the event was renamed to the more genteel “Flora Day.”
Events start early, with cafes and pubs offering food from 6AM on.
And turning the corner at the Village Hall, the crowds suddenly thickened. For at least a quarter mile down the road, booths were selling cotton candy, games, and other fair delights and amusements. Not for us, alas, as the prospect of walking down into one of the densest crowds imaginable did not look like fun.
We debated briefly whether to wait an hour for the final dance, but the image of being jostled in the dense crowd we’d just avoided did not appeal, and we decided to call it a day. Returning to the carpark, we stopped at a Cornish bakery and bought two pasties, which we ate in the car, sharing crumbs with a seagull who was drawn to the delicious fragrance of hot pie.
