Britain’s fascinating folk traditions and where to find them
Learn about Britain’s most fascinating folk traditions, where to find them and their nearest Best Western Hotels.
Published: Monday, 6 October 2025
Learn about Britain’s most fascinating folk traditions, where to find them and their nearest Best Western Hotels.
Published: Monday, 6 October 2025
Britain is home to many fascinating folk traditions, some of which are too old to even have an origin story. Find your new favourite with the help of our list below.
If there’s one way to get to know the people of Edinburgh better, it’s to watch them jump over flickering flames. It’s the done thing when you welcome summer at the Beltane Fire Festival.
The popular celebration in Gaelic, Celtic and Pagan communities is one of the ‘quarter day’ festivals, which celebrate the transitions between the seasons.
Celebrated on April 30 or May 1, it involves the ritual lighting of fires, dancing round flames and in some cases even jumping over them as part of a cleansing ritual. We’d suggest staying well behind the safety rope though.
Keep an eye out for the May Queen and the Green Man, two figures central to the legend of the celebration. The procession is driven by an ever-present drumbeat, urging both you and the performers towards a crescendo at the top of Calton Hill with views of the medieval city below.
Ten Hill Place Hotel, WorldHotels Distinctive, is just a 7-minute walk from Calton Hill and the perfect place to stay for easy access to Beltane.
Have you ever wanted to see a man dressed as a bear waddling between pubs? If that sounds like your type of thing we recommend a trip to Peterborough in January.
Whittlesey, just outside the city, plays host to the Straw Bear Festival after ‘Plough Monday’ – the first Monday after Twelfth Night.
Traditionally, a local ploughmen would be chosen as the ‘bear’, dressed in straw and made to dance for the locals who would then give him food. No one knows where the tradition originated from, but it was clearly an important one as farmers would set aside some of their best straw ‘for the bear’.
You’ll do well to catch a photo of the straw strewn ‘bear’ as since its revival in 1980, the festival has become a procession of over 250 dancers, musicians, and other entertainers. The ‘bear’ is herded through the streets, stopping at multiple pubs for refreshment before the ‘Bear Burning’ on the Sunday, which makes way for the new bear the following year.
Check in with us at The Bull Hotel, Sure Hotel Collection by Best Western if you want to see it for yourself.
Fancy another ‘quarter day’ festival? There’s no better way to get into the pagan spirit than a visit to Wiltshire during the summer solstice.
Nowhere marks the day quite like Stonehenge. Built to align with the sun on both the summer and winter solstices, the mysteriously stacked stones are an important cultural landmark when it comes to spiritual celebrations.
Otherwise known as Midsummer or Litha, the summer solstice is filled with magic and mysticism. According to folklore, the solstices and equinox days are the Fair Folk’s or fairies, chosen time to move from their world into ours. It’s giving A Midsummer Night’s Dream.
Every year thousands of people travel to watch the sun set over the site, to welcome the beginning of the winter months and you can join them too.
Book a stay with us at The Merchant's House, BW Signature Collection by Best Western to take part in the solstice celebration yourself.
Ever wanted to join a town-wide scrum? If that’s not for you, you can always just watch it at Haxey, Lincolnshire.
One of England’s oldest traditions, the Haxey Hood game takes place in Haxey, North Lincolnshire. The game is played on 6th January every year – if 6th is a Sunday, the game is played on Saturday instead.
The aim of the game is to push a leather tube (the ‘hood’) from a field to one of four pubs in the town. There are no teams in this game, all of the participants simply try to push the tube towards their favourite of the pubs in a ‘sway’ – like a very large rugby scrum.
Legend has it that in the 13th century, Lady de Mowbray was riding between Haxey and Westwoodside one Christmas morning when a gust of wind blew her hood off. Seeing this, 13 farm labourers gave chase. It’s said the Lady was so amused by the labourers falling over themselves that she decreed the event should be commemorated every year with a game.
Once the game is over, the hood resides in the winning pub until the next year, and the participants are given free drinks. While it’s normally only locals who play, anyone is allowed to participate. So, pack your gumshield if you feel like joining in.
To get in on the action, book a stay with us at the Best Western Premier Mount Pleasant Hotel.
