Read all about this Hastings festival at
http://www.hastingsobserver.co.uk/news/local-news/video-jack-in-the-green-1-5055264
Today, as on every May Bank Holiday, Hastings is host to thousands of bikers and morris dancers from all over the country.
You won't find many faces without green paint on them today in Hastings.
Yesterday evening and today, the streets, beaches and hills of Hastings have been packed with English people having fun in their own inimitable way. It's innocent fun with lots of dancing and beer drinking and the crowning of the May Queen and a procession. The procession is over now, and soon they will slay the Jack in the Green on the West Hill. No-one knows what Jack represents. He could be part of an ancient tradition going back to pagan times.
One thing that foreign visitors find fascinating about the way English people have fun on days like today is that they dress up to look as messy and ugly as possible. They daub their faces with green paint and wear strange combinations of things like old wellington boots with flouncy old skirts or kilts. Some of them look like trees, others like witches. All most odd. But it brings in thousands of tourists.
