Will the sun shine for Hessle Feast

In the summer time when the weather is high.....If we are lucky in England and the weather is really 'high' a series of annual events locally and further afield offer fun days out.

July 9, 2017, Hessle Feast will play out and hopefully the sun will shine.

In July the sun may or may not shine but this is our report of a previous very sunny Hessle Feast;

"Saturday July 4 was 'Cottingham Day' and Sunday July 12 was 'Hessle feast". Both Cottingham and Hessle are villages on the outskirts of Kingston-Upon-Hull on the north bank of the River Humber.

Hull as it is often called locally is bordered by the River Humber to the south but hemmed in every other direction by a series of small villages.

Hessle Feast is an annual event and for 2015 the weather was very kind.

If you travel into Hessle by bus or car expect slight diversions on feast day.

Held on a Sunday bear in mind bus services will be limited.

Also as it was a Sunday many shops were closed but plenty had opened their doors for the event and there were stalls outside of some shops.

On sale were a range of goods from handbags, to clothes, to antiques, to cakes and more.

Having lived locally since when I entered this world in 1952 I have only visited the 'feast' a couple of times. I was therefore surprised to read it is not such a 'new' event; here is a little 'feast' history from its dedicated website;

Earliest found records of the Hessle Feast date from the 1800s. These have it as an annual event around Whitsuntide (May). A time of enjoyment, when the people of the Parish would gather to celebrate the coming year.

From articles in 1808 and 1836 it is clear that the Feast had become a major event bringing in people from neighboring towns and villages. With much excitement, racing, noise and jubilee. As ever the youth made it their own.

Resurrected around 16 years ago, after many years of absence, the Feast was move to Summer, and has again become an event of enjoyment and embraced by the whole community of Hessle.

Recent Memorable Feasts

• 2009 A World Record for ‘poppadom stacking’ was broken on the Weir by the Indian takeaway ‘Jolsha’, officiated by Alan Johnson MP.
• 2012 The Feast was held to co-inside with “Queen’s Jubilee” and “The Big Lunch.”
• 2013 Now under a new Chairman & Committee, wanting to put their mark on it, the Hessle Feast went even bigger.

2015 was a good year too though.

Rain dogged Hessle Feast 2014 but im 2015 the sun shone, the temperature rose and the crowds flocked in.

There were some great musicians dotted around Hessle's small centre and the entertainment was free.

A small park area was the scene for a small funfair of attractions and dog show.

Beginning around 12pm many of the stalls begin to pack up around 4pm.

We ate at the Villa Blanca, a first for us, and were impressed at the service, staff, quality of food and prices. As it was such a beautiful day the area outside of the Villa Plaza and the optician's next door held tables and chairs and it was a hive of activity.

Keith Newby a local musician provided the right style of good music with a mixture of classical guitar, pop and rock. I have added YouTube footage of Keith below. You can catch him playing locally in Hessle or Cottingham most weekends.