The County Wexford May Bush Festival 2024

The County Wexford May Bush Festival is delighted to present its biggest programme yet!


Events include schools workshops, book launches, cookery demonstrations, walks and talks, May Bush decoration events and The May Bush Concert in Ballindaggin on Saturday May 4th. This ground-up community festival is organised by artist/folklorist Michael Fortune and  artist/traditional singer Aileen Lambert (from folklore.ie) and builds on decades of work documenting, sharing and promoting the May Bush Tradition in County Wexford.


There are events to suit all ages and you are also invited to put up and decorate your own May Bush and share pics with the festival and if you’re a school you can enter the School’s Competition! Events are across the county including Ballindaggin, Adamstown, Grantstown, Wexford Town, Gorey and New Ross and of course your own garden or school where you can have your own May Bush!


Overview of Events

April 17th – 30th – Working with students from Ballindaggin National School
Wednesday April 24th – Talk on May Folklore in New Ross Women’s Shed
Friday 26th April – May May Bush Decoration Workshop in Ballindaggin Hall
Tuesday April 30th (May Eve) – Procession and Decorating the Village May Bush, Traditional Music in Ballindaggin
Tuesday April 30th (May Eve) – Family Bonfire in Curragraigue, Ballindaggin
Wednesday May 1st – May Bush and Traan Water event in Grantstown Day Care Centre, Wellingtonbridge
Wednesday May 1st – Decorate the County Hall May Bush in Wexford Town
Friday May 3rd – Hear the Cuckoo Sing. Walk and talk in Ballycrystal.
Friday May 3rd – Deadline for submissions for The Schools May Bush competition
Saturday May 4th – Nettle Soup Workshop in Ballindaggin Hall
Saturday May 4th – The May Bush Concert and Book Launch in Ballindaggin Hall
Thursday May 9th – ‘The May Bush in County Wexford’ Book launch in Gorey Library
Thursday May May Folklore Talk and Concert

Programme
The complete programme for The County Wexford May Bush Festival is available to view on www.folklore.ie along with with educational links and interviews that Michael and Aileen have undertaken for RTÉ, local radio and newpapers over the past decade on the May Bush tradition.

https://folklore.ie/#about-the-may-bush-festival
https://folklore.ie/#may-bush-festival-programme-2024

You can also follow the festival on www.facebook.com/TheWexfordMayBushFestival or www.facebook.com/folklore.ie where you can see hundreds of photos taken in homes and communities all over Wexford since 2017.
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Brief Background
The tradition around the May Bush went into a steep decline around the county in the 1960s/1970s and in 2017 Aileen Lambert and Michael Fortune started a ground-up festival called ‘The Wexford May Bush Festival’. Using social media, local papers, radio and word of mouth we have successfully re-established the tradition back into the fabric of County Wexford and now have hundreds of homes, schools, groups and organisations putting up a May Bush in every corner of Wexford from Gorey to Campile and Rosslare to Kiltealy. This years festival is supported by a “Small Festival Grant” from the Arts Department of Wexford County Council.