October Plenty

Another Borough Ritual event:

OCTOBER PLENTY

Sunday 23rd October at 12.00pm

An Autumn Harvest Celebration beginning on the Bankside by Shakespeare's Globe, mixing ancient seasonal customs and theatre with contemporary festivity, joining with the Historic Borough Market, Southwark.

A huge CORN QUEENE effigy heavy with 'Plenty' - wheat, barley and other grains, and apples, root vegetables and foliage will appear in a procession around the front of the Globe, Bankside, with the Company of actors, music, the time-honoured HOBBY HORSE, strung with cakes and loaves and the BERRY MAN - our autumn incarnation of the original Green Man - decked with wild fruits and foliage leads the company.

THE PROCESSION to the MarketWe process through the streets to the famous BOROUGH MARKET. There in the Green market, savour the delights on offer:, soul cakes, conker fights, cider from the New Forest, apple bobbing, a great beer selection and the wonderful market stalls and more DANCING.

THE PLAY The Company performs FASTNACHTSSPIELE or NONSENSENIGHTPLAYS. Vibrant old tales of pastoral life, these ebullient 16th Century verse plays by Hans Sachs are rarely performed. Witness them today in new translation for the occasion, spiced with present day festive spirit and song.

Apples cascade out into the crowd as the CORN QUEENE is opened up at the end of the play and this is followed by the celebrated EXECUTION OF JOHN BARLEYCORN.

THE STORY ORCHARDA glade of young English apple trees creates a space for children to gather. There they can re-clothe the trees with green wishes (paper apples) and listen to stories about apples, markets and harvest time.

There is tasting of old apple types from London by Brogdale Horticultural Trust and a colourful display created by ROOTS and SHOOTS, the Lambeth community gardens environment project who created the Corn Queene.

OCTOBER PLENTY is a collective celebration of the seasons, weather and food, in a public place, with access to everyone. For that reason too, the event is FREE. We are pleased to be supported by the Pool of London Partnership (PLP) Small Grants Fund in association with PricewaterhouseCoopers Contact Us! the lions part0208 452 3866 / 07736 1502 25 / info@thelionspart.co.uk