Wicker Man to Burn at Festival

January 22, 2008

Author: Staff Writer

Source: Dorset Daily Echo

http://www.thisisdorset.net/display.var.1982865.0.wicker_man_to_burn_at_festival.php

DRUIDS and witches in Dorset are to hold a large pagan gathering near Weymouth to celebrate the festival of Beltane.

The three-day gathering for several hundred people, at a location near Portesham, will take place from May 2 to May 4 - and the highlight will be a fire ritual, including the burning of a wicker man.

Unlike the sacrificial pyre in the cult film The Wicker Man, Dorset's version will contain wishes and spells which visitors to the gathering will be able to attach before the ritual.

The event is being organised by the Weymouth-based Dolmen Grove and will include music, maypole dancing, outdoor activities, meditation and mystic sessions, the famous Pickled Witch market, circus skills, archery, re-enactments and a bardic competition.