OTD: 8th May

The Furry Dance, which takes place in Helston, Cornwall, UK, is one of the oldest British customs still practiced today.

However the modern variant of the dance holds few similarities with the proposed original, having been revived long after the event had died out. The dance is very well attended every year and people travel from all over the world to see it: Helston Town Band play all the music for the dances.

The Dance takes place every year on the 8th May. It's name probably derives from the Cornish "fer", meaning fair or feast". It is a celebration of the passing of winter and the arrival of spring.

The schedule of the day is: morning dance at 7 am, the first performance of the Hal-an-Tow pageant at 8:30am with the last completed by 9:30am, children's dance traditionally at 10am, midday dance at noon, and evening dance at 5pm.

Of these, the midday dance is perhaps the best known: it was traditionally the dance of the gentry in the town, and today the men wear top hats and tails while the women dance in their finest frocks.

Traditionally, the dancers wear Lily of the Valley, which is Helston's symbolic flower. The gentlemen wear it on the left, with the flowers pointing upwards, and the ladies wear it upside down on the right. Lily of the Valley is worn on Flora Day by dancers, bandsmen, Flora Day stewards and by those who are "Helston-born".

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