Pictures: Pilton Green Man rides again as crowds flock to popular festival

Mid-July can only mean one thing in Barnstaple – it’s time for Pilton Green Man Day!

Revellers and residents flocked to the centre of Pilton parish on Saturday (July 19) to enjoy a day of processions, pageantry, live music, stalls and plenty of family fun with a traditional ‘village fete’ atmosphere.

Above: Pilton Street as ever was filled with people and is always the heart of Pilton Green Man Day. Credit: Simon Ellery 

The festival follows the tradition of a Royal charter granted to Pilton for a market and fair in 1344, with the irrepressible Green Man at the heart of the festivities.

As ever, it began with a parade from Barnstaple Square and through the High Street to Pilton Street, featuring colourful costumed characters, the Green Man himself and the prior of Pilton as well as the iconic green and red masks representing the two ‘factions’.

Above: Barnstaple Mayor Janet Coates and consort Gwen Thomas with the Green Man posse. Credit: Simon Ellery

An ancient pagan symbol of fertility and nature, the Green Man has always had a home in Pilton, as shown by the green man carving which can be seen in the parish church.

The ritual pageantry and dance enacted during Green Man Day is said to present the initial rivalry between the Green Man and the Prior of Pilton, before the two are reconciled and the ancient ways become part of the church.

This is played out in the Pageant, performed twice during the festival at the Rotary Gardens.

Above: The Pageant is a mainstay of Pilton Green Man Day and a stylised imagining of what happened when the Prior met the Green Man as pagan and church intermingle. Credit: Simon Ellery 

Pilton Street is the centre of the festival, with two live music stages either end of the street featuring a wide range of popular local bands, plus a further music stage in the gardens.

Above: Pilton Green Man Day had three stages offering live music throughout the day. Credit: Simon Ellery

The gardens also hosted plenty of children’s entertainment, from well-known local performers Dave Hendy, Captain Coconut and Uncle Taco’s Flea Circus. Meanwhile Queenie and the Jester offered plenty of opportunities to try the hand at circus skills such as plate spinning and balancing acts.

Above: Credit: Simon Ellery

Visitors were also able to enjoy a wide range of food and drink, from the Pilton hostelries and street food vendors, as well as browse plenty of stalls from local organisations.

**** See more pictures in the gallery above, courtesy of Simon Ellery ****