Listen to Joe's report and see a spectacular straw bear gallery by clicking on the links at the top right of the page.  | | Photograph copyright Terry Harris |
The Whittlesea Straw Bear Festival happens every January - and this year celebrated its 26th anniversary... but the history of the Straw Bear goes back much further than that. No one is quite sure when the tradition began, but Whittlesey folk seem to have been parading their Straw Bear around the town on the Tuesday following Plough Monday since the nineteenth century.  | | Photograph copyright Terry Harris |
Joe Pignatiello went in search of the bear and asked some of the local residents what they think of this strange tradition... Graham's lived in Whittlesey all his life - he says the Straw Bear Festival is about going back to the times when they drove out the evil spirits to make sure of a good harvest in the coming year.  | | Photograph copyright Terry Harris |
After locals sent Joe on a bit of a wild goose chase, he stumbled upon the bear... The bear outfit is made completely of straw, all sewn onto a costume and a metal frame over the head. A 'minder' leads the bear through the town on a leash and then after a 'finale' in the market square it gets burnt in a special ceremony! Whittlesey resident Edward explains that all the dancers from the different pubs gather at 3pm in the square where you can see all the traditional dances. He says some think that the festival might come from pagan times when they would parade a criminal around the town and then burn him, but he thinks it's more of a traditional event when the farm workers went back after the Christmas and New Year holidays. Listen to Joe's report and see a spectacular straw bear gallery by clicking on the links at the top right of the page. | 
