Event 31
Sarah Clegg feat. John Kirkpatrick and Blackthorn Ritualistic Folk
The Dead of Winter: The Demons, Witches and Ghosts of Christmas
Venue: St Mary’s Church
Beware an encounter with the Turon and Mari Lwyd beasts as you enter St Mary’s Churchyard for a night of tales of folklore and mysterious creatures. Keep your wits about you as you hear stories of English mummers plays and Austrian Krampus runs, to modern pagan rituals at Stonehenge and the night in Finland when a young girl is crowned with candles as St Lucy – a martyred Christian girl who also appears as a witch leading a procession of the dead.
Folk musician John Kirkpatrick will sing to the spirits in the churchyard as you arrive and lead you into the candlelit church where author Sarah Clegg awaits to take you on a journey through midwinter to explore the lesser-known Christmas traditions.
Ghastly and ghostly, Clegg looks at the origins of midwinter mythologies, and with accompaniment from Kirkpatrick and Blackthorn Ritualistic Folk brings to life an unsettling tale or two. After all, a little darkness never hurt anyone, did it?
