Hastings Jack in the Green 2026

Morris dancers, drummers and giant green figures fill Hastings Old Town for May Day weekend, ending with the slaying of the Jack on West Hill.

When

This event date has now passed.

Where

Procession through Hastings Old Town; main festivities on West Hill (Castle Hill Road, TN34 3RD), reachable by the West Hill Lift from George Street

Info

Visit hastingstraditionaljackinthegreen.co.uk for more details

A leafy giant called the Jack, a procession through the cobbled lanes of Hastings Old Town, and the symbolic releasing of the spirit of summer with the slaying of the Jack on Bank Holiday Monday — this is Hastings' biggest May Day tradition. Across four days you'll find Morris sides from across England, drummers, dancers, workshops and concerts. The Bank Holiday Monday procession is the unmissable centrepiece — a thousand-plus costumed participants, most painted green and dressed in foliage, follow the Jack and his Bogies up the hill.

Hastings is a twenty-minute drive along the coast from Rye. Stay riverside at The River Haven and make a long weekend of it — go in greens, come back clean.