Obby Oss in Cornwall

Obby Oss (dialect for hobby horse) is a traditional community event that has been on Padstow's calendar for decades. It is one of the most unique May Day festivities in the country.

Two Osses, monstrous, masked effigies with huge, hooped skirts, are paraded through the streets to the accompaniment of song, accordions, and drums in a unique ritual generally believed to be some sort of ancient Celtic fertility rite - May Day itself has its origins in the Celtic festival of Beltane. It's better not to get too caught up with the meaning of it all and instead grab a pint and a pasty and let yourself be swept away by the joyful atmosphere. It's tough not to get caught up in the tangle of bunting-adorned streets teeming with revelers.