Culture And Memory

Hastings Traditional Jack In The Green

Hastings Traditional Jack in the Green (HTJITG) revived in 1983 reimagining a 17th-century custom. Our work is community-led, with each generation developing the tradition in new directions. One of the UK's most loved May Day celebrations, we gather over 20,000 people from diverse communities annually and bring folk traditions and heritage arts to 2,000+ participants. With 6 inclusion partners, e.g. Eggtooth, Baird Academy, we’ll deliver 18+ workshops with neurodivergent young people, Ukrainian refugees, Black/Brown and LGBTQ+ communities, exploring our shared heritage. We’ll develop the tradition of processional giants, passing on giant-making skills to the next generation. We are introducing 400 young people to Morris dancing and testing enthusiasm for a Junior Morris side. This project is capturing, recording and preserving our history before those responsible for re-establishing Hastings’s annual greening retire; and the rich histories in their heads are lost.