Another fabulous sunny day for our eight annual event and, once again, it was our biggest yet and very popular. We had close on 1,000 performers and nearly 60 traders covering 33 venues. To cope with demand we became a two day event for the first time and it seemed to work with some very entertaining dancing on Sunday at the Tithe Barn. A selection of comments are at the foot of this page.
We expanded the space for town centre venues by about 30% by closing Church Street giving us an almost vehicle free and much safer site, and a broadly circular set of 33 venues that eased pedestrian flows over the Town Bridge. At the Tithe Barn we spread into the Countryside Park and Workshops with a full programme of activities from 12pm to 6pm and a bar / stage that stayed open until 8.30pm. We had all our standard attractions and lots of new activities this year, a full on food court, Stanzas @ The Stumble Stage, Casa Bella Stage and a second big artisan market. We had a much bigger Children’s Fun Zone and funfair with lots of activities they could try and special performances for them to watch and join in. As always our giant Jack in the Green and his wonderful partner Jill in the Green were a huge draw as they wandered the festival sites bringing fun and weirdness with them.
The town’s shop windows were beautifully dressed in green. The best small window was The Dog House, runner up Alfred’s. The best big window was Mercy in Action, runner up Roundabout The House.
Our launch party concert in the Music Centre by the John Martyn Project was judged “The best concert I’ve ever seen” by one member of the audience. The mass dances on Saturday afternoon were spectacular. The closing parade was through packed crowds and Stripping Jack was as wildly popular as ever.
Crowds at our normal venues were slightly less packed in than normal so spreading into new venues worked but all our new spaces were also crowded so, based on previous years, we must have had over 10K visitors this year. Jack and Jill have returned to their slumbers in the Tithe Barn, Jack’s frame is now supporting runner beans in a local garden and the organisers, Jan and Alfie Windsor, plan to sleep for a month.
Please email us you photos and videos.
- Wiltshire Times photos.
- Colin Raynor’s photos. These may be reused but not for commercial gain. Colin’s copyright must be acknowledged – © Colin Raynor 2025.
- Spotted in Bradford On Avon Facebook group have a lot of photos but you have to search dates on, or soon after, 10th May 2025.
- Jack & Jill photos.
- Video summary of the day.
- Hawthorn & Hare dancing White Ladies.
- Beltane dancing Haytor.
- Dance on Sunday morning by Beltane.
- Sunday morning Border and Cotswold mixed dance.
- Sunday morning Beltane dance Huntress.
- Border dancers.
- Wild Moon dance Nancy’s Tempest.
- Dance Medley
- OBJ dance Wildrings.
- Dancing, Closing Parade & Sunday.
Visitors’ Comments
A fantastically successful and enjoyable day.
A lovely festival.
It was an amazing experience, the people are wonderful, and the atmosphere is delightful.
What a gorgeous day and a lovely festival.
Your volunteers were so polite and very helpful. It was our first visit to Bradford on Avon, a stunning town. We hope to return for the Green man festival next year, it was such a friendly event.
A fantastic, triumphant, success.
It really was a wonderful day; such a good thing for our town and putting nature, handmade crafts, quality homemade food and local music front and centre. Some much fun, laughter and sunshine and accessible for everyone. Many, many, thanks.
Another wonderful Green Man Festival. The buzz from the town is amazing to experience and it is just fantastic to be part of such a joyful event
Dancers’ Comments
We all had a great time and we would love to return in 2026.
A wonderful atmosphere, great music and dance.
It was brilliant!
It was a fabulous day with a wonderful atmosphere in the town. The event was so well organised … we look forward to attending next year.
We had the BEST time. Although I’ve been dancing for over 13 years most of my side are completely new to Morris and they thought the whole event was fantastic. We can’t wait to come back next year!
(The dancing was) very well organised and friendly.
A wonderful time, a lovely weekend of dance and music.
A fantastic weekend. Such an enjoyable event. The pop-up campsite was excellent, perfectly positioned.
Brilliant day.
We had a fab day
I loved being a part of it … a very happy day.
What a great day!
We had a great time, the info you sent was just what we needed and we’d love to dance at BOA again so do please invite us again next year.
Traders’ Comments
Another excellent Green Man Festival!!!!!
My best day of trading ever!
Our stall did fantastically with lots of contact ongoing as a result.
Many thanks … for doing such a good job of organising the GMFl. As a stallholder, it went very smoothly with clear instructions in advance of the event and with easy access … for set up and clearing the stand . Such a huge turnout and so much going on.
We’ve done markets for many years and this was one of the most professional and best run!
I would like to thank you for this phenomenal event, we really enjoyed it. The vibe was amazing, people were so lovely and just the atmosphere was all together incredible. If you’re planning the event next year, we would love to be part of it.
A fantastic day!
Another amazing festival – again had my best one this year it’s such an enjoyable day.