This happens on or around the 8th of May every year. It includes four dances where local people dance on a set route through the town to the traditional Flora Dance tune. The dances begin at 7am, 9.50am (the children's dance), 12pm (midday dance) and 5pm (a repeat of the 7am). Helston Town Band march in front of the dancers playing the traditional Floral Dance tune (there is no written music for the tune, it is passed down through the generations of band members). Dancers are arranged in groups of four (usually two males and two females) and dance within that group.
This annual festival symbolises the coming of Spring and was originally a Pagan festival. It is not clear where the word 'furry' came from, but it is possibly derived from the Cornish word for fair or jubilee - 'fer', or from the word 'foray' meaning sudden outing. There is no record of when Flora Day was first held.
The morning (7am) and evening dances were traditonally for the servants. Dress for this dance is more casual than for the midday with the women wearing summery dresses and the men dressed in shirts, ties and trousers. All dancers wear lily-of-the-valley - the women wear theirs on the right hand side facing down, whereas the men where theirs on the left facing up.
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The next dance of the day is the children's dance which begins just before 10am. Children from the three primary schools in Helston (St. Michaels, Nansloe and Parc Eglos) join in, as well as the older children and teenagers from Helston Comprehensive School and Sixth Form Centre. The dance has the most dancers in it (usually around 1000 children join in now!), and is probably the most popular one with the watching crowds. It's lovely to see all the children enjoying it! The children dance all in white, with the boys wearing their school ties and the girls wearing a small head band of the traditional school flowers: cornflowers for St. Michaels School, poppies for Parc Eglos, daisies for Nansloe and forget-me-nots for Helston Community College. Many proud parents line the streets with the rest of the crowd trying to pick out their children as they trip by - this is very tricky when they are all dressed in white!
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The midday dance is considered the principal dance of the day. It is a much more formal dance than the morning and evening dances and it is considered a huge honour to be in the leading four. The dress code for this dance is very strict with the men dressed in top hat and tails and the women in frilly dresses and big hats. As well as the locals dancing, the town of Helston allows some dancers from RNAS Culdrose to join in the midday dance as a symbol of the integration between the town and the naval air station. All of the dances stop halfway round their route for a short break at the Lismore Gardens in the town, and it is traditional for the midday dancers to have a glass (or two!) of champagne at this stage!
The dancers dance around the town for between about one hour (for the children's dance) to about two hours (for the midday dance). Traditionally, the dancers weaved in and out of houses and shops on their route, and this still occurs, or though to a lesser extent now.
As well as the four dances, at around 8-8.30 am a procession known as the Hal-an-Tow begins. Many people walk through the streets, all dressed up in varying costumes and periodically stopping, telling the story of George and the Dragon and singing a song to welcome the Spring. It is a very colourful and noisy tradition and is a lot less formal than the dances.
The chorus of the song goes like this...
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With Hal-an-Tow,
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Flora Day is considered a general holiday in Helston, with all of the schools off and businesses treating it like a Bank Holiday. In days gone by, however, anyone found at work on this day was seized and taken to Lower Green, where he/ she was sentenced to jump into a wide part of the river Cober. The 'villain' could opt for a fine instead!
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