Mayday
From the Hastings News of 05/05/1848
Mayday - May 1 - was celebrated around the town, with the “shovel and broom gentry” in their “annual bal masque”. A wide range of characters, including Jack in the Green and the “characters of the soot bag”, were “tripping ...
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Fairs
12/06/1848
This was Whit Monday, the liveliest day in the town’s annual calendar. Large numbers of people came in from the surrounding countryside, and all kinds of fun, games and events took place. The three benefit societies hold processions and rural ...
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The annual Rock Fair took place in a field in St Michaels, White Rock, 26/7 July.
Jack-in-the-Green
From the Hastings News of 03/05/1861
May Day on 1 May was celebrated by the appearance of some ‘Jacks-in-the-Green' accompanied by amateur sweeps.
Rock Fair
From the Hastings News of 26/07/1861
'Rock Fair is Dead': A comment on the Hastings 'Rock Fair' which used to be held on the Priory Grounds and was now discontinued, although many new people still tried to celebrate the occasion.
Whitsun Carnival
From the Hastings News of 20/05/1864
Hastings carnival procession took place on Whitsuntide.
Rock Fair Banned
From the Hastings News of 21/07/1865
The annual Rock Fair, usually held on 28/9 July, had been banned. Held usually at the Priory Field, it was reported to have become the attraction for revolting excesses.
Guy Fawkes
From the Hastings News of 10/11/1865
Guy Fawkes day was celebrated on 5 November by about 50 St Leonards Bonfire Boys, marching round Bopeep, Maze Hill etc, in dresses including naval, military, masquerade, livery and non-descript. The guy was dressed up as a Fenian, with shellelah ...
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At 5pm Hastings Bonfire Boys got into marching order headed by a drum and fife band. The guy was of an anti-slavery character.
The annual Whitsun Town Fair may be snuffed out by the erection of the new Fishmarket. There were only two or three small stalls on the ground at the fair on Tuesday 7 June.
The annual Town Fair was held, but it was very restricted, since the ground was occupied by the new Fishmarket and boats hauled onto the roadway out of reach of the gale. The home herring fishery had been good so ...
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Whitsun Fair
From the Hastings News of 02/06/1871
The Whit Tuesday Town Fair on 30 May had nearly disappeared. This year there were only six small stalls, for gingerbread and nuts.
Fairs Abolished
From the Hastings News of 12/01/1872
The Council voted to abolish fairs held 23-24 November and Whit Tuesday - an "abominable nuisance" - to prevent the assemblage of a class of people who were no credit to the town or to anybody else.
A parade was organised on Wednesday 20 January by the Friendly Societies to aid the unemployed and relieve the acute distress prevailing in the town. There was a torchlight procession, marshalled in Wellington Square, with bands and banners, and many ...
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The annual meeting of the Hastings Bonfire Society was held at its headquarters, the Clarence Hotel, Middle Street, on the 11th. Bohemia Bonfire Society held a meeting at the Dripping Spring pub, Tower Road, on the 18th, where the officers ...
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There were big celebrations of the 300th anniversary of Guy Fawkes on 5 November, despite the heavy rain. The Mail ran a big story, with lots of detail (page 2).
The Guy Fawkes celebrations were “much inferior" to those of previous years. There was only one procession, although it was a popular one, followed by a fire on the beach at White Rock.