It's called Flora Day and has been a tradition for centuries, well no one really knows but it is a very long time. The reason for Flora Day is to celebrate the coming of Spring and of new life.
To celebrate this there are five dances through the town. Starting with the 7 o'clock Morning Dance, followed by The Hal an Tow at 0830, the Childrens Dance at 1000, then the Midday Dance followed by the final dance of the day the 5 o'clock Evening Dance.
I was fortunate enough to be educated at a Primary School in Helston which means I am a part of a privileged few that have danced the Childrens Dance on a few occasions.
That was years ago, twenty to be exact! So when I had the idea to dance this year, I was a little dubious to say the least as to whether I would be accepted. You see you can't just rock up and dance on Flora Day, you have to write in to the appropriate person and they decide whether you are Helston enough to dance and as this is such a privilege out of education i.e, other than the Children's Dance, it is pretty hard to be accepted.
Thankfully myself, Stephanie Goldsworthy, Scott Whitfield and my Sister Elly were all excepted to dance the Morning and Evening dance. A real privilege and one we were all proud to be part of.
The one highlight that sticks out for me is as the evening dance was coming to it's end we turned onto the bottom of Wendron Street. You could see the open line for the band and the dancers and on either side there were thousands of people screaming, clapping, hanging off of lampposts, out of windows waving flags and just going absolutely nuts for us.
I was overwhelmed by the turn out and the atmosphere and just how amazing the town looked and as we danced our final steps into the Corn Exchange the band banged out they're last beats for this years celebrations and the crowd reached it's crescendo the noise became unbelievable and one I will never forget. Once inside the Corn Exchange the traditional Flora Day Thunder was rang out with all of us dancers stamping our feet and shouting as load as we could.
Being a lover of attention seeking i never wanted that last 30 minutes to end, it i was certainly something i will never forget and something i hope to do again, with the right permissions of course.
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| Coming up Wendron Street toward the Corn Exchange for the last leg of the evening dance |
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| Being a bit flamboyant isn't really allowed but i really couldn't help myself, the excitement got the better of me |
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| Dancing with Steph on the wet but still exciting morning dance |
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| Having a well earned pint with from left to right Scott, Steph, our dance leader, Fionn, myself, Elly and Sean |
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| Dancing in the morning dance at the top of Meneage Street, still a bit wet but still just as excited |
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| Throwing some moves with my lovely Sister, Elly in the evening dance |
This is the Morning Dance, it was raining but i don't think any of us cared!
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