Wakes and Well Dressing

Tideswell's annual Wakes and Well Dressing week takes place in the last week of June and is a week of fun and fascination.

The week starts with the erection of the wells in the morning of the first Saturday. This is the best time to see the wells as the wraps are taken of a week of hard work by scores of hard-working individuals and organisations. If you can't make the first Saturday don't worry, they're up for the entire week.

Then it's the crowning of the Wakes Queen in the church in the afternoon and at 10 o'clock in the evening, the village band, the queen and her entourage and assembled villages parade through the streets performing the famous "Hankie Dance" - don't forget to bring yours (you'll need two each), the steps are easy and you'll never forget the tune!

There is lots to do for there rest of the week. Pick yourself up a programme from the local shops and enjoy yourself. Which is just what the village does on the second Saturday - Carnival Day. Traffic is brought to a stand-still from 2 pm onwards as decorated floats, fancy-dressed bikes, prams and individuals accompanied by a variety of bands parade through the streets. You'll need lots of small change as the collecting boxes aren't there for decoration. Carnival Saturday ends with the Hankie Dance again, which this time finishes up at the fair - one last time to have a go on the waltzer and nibble some candie floss. A great day and one for all the family.

So why Wakes and Well Dressing? The Wakes refers to the annual holiday that local workers were traditionally given. Before the days of cheap flights and even train trips to the seaside, villagers made their own entertainment at home. The Well Dressing element a little harder to date. It's said to have started as a pagan festival to thank the wells in the village for flowing throughout the year and providing the village with fresh and clean water. A few scattered wild flower petals on the water was probably the origin but it was the Victorians who turned the celebration into the festival of floral art we see today.

Other Peak District villages have well drerssing weeks, so if you miss Tideswell's fear not. Tissington starts the year off on Ascension day and Eyam finishes at the start of September. In between times there is usually one to see most weeks.