Thank you to everyone who came to dance, play, or just to watch and enjoy, the 2017 Evesham Morris Weekend, especially to the sides that continued to dance despite temperatures in the 30s !! I know we like good weather for festivals but it really was a bit OTT !!

As always the weekend was full of smiling faces and we hope you enjoyed your time here, especially if some of the Saturday tours took you to places you have never seen before. One aim of the event is to introduce people to the Vale of Evesham, the Cotswolds, and surrounding areas, which we believe are jewels in England’s crown!

An event of such size and complexity will never be without hiccups – we had a pub on one tour that wasn’t open, and so everyone dived into the nearest Co-Op for beer! A coach broke down!! The first time it’s ever happened to us, but the coach company had a replacement bus within 20 minutes so I don’t think we could have asked for more! A landlord in Evesham got into a “disagreement” with a Morris man and banned ALL dancers from his two town pubs!!! We think he must have soon realised how much this would affect his ale sales as we saw dancers being served soon afterwards!

This year’s Evesham Stick was presented to Domesday Morris. Not only for the quality of their dancing (there was such a high standard of dancing this year there couldn’t not have been one winner if that was the only criteria) but that as a family-orientated side they are inclusive of the children, of all ages – they don’t just drag them along but involve them fully with kit and the music and dancing. They are also a side that have impressed us with their inclusion of the public and our decision was reinforced when, after being presented with the Evesham Stick they didn’t perform their show dance, but instead had a mass dance for public and other Morris alike.

Well done Domesday !!