PEOPLE are putting on their glad rags and getting set to have fun this May Day weekend, as celebratory activities are due to take place in West Somerset towns and villages, from maypole dancing to bands and the Somerset Dragon.

Wiveliscombe is welcoming back the hugely popular Band of His Majesty’s Royal Marines Commando Training Centre for a third time, at St Andrews Church on Saturday May 2. Doors open at 6.45 pm for a 7.30 pm start, and tickets will be available on the door.

The top class military musicians and world famous Corps of Drums will play a wide variety of music, and funds raised support SSAFA, the armed forces charity, which helps veterans, serving personnel, and their families in the local area.

Watchet will see a Sunday Street Fair all day on the Esplanade, followed by a Bank Holiday celebration on Monday complete with Somerset Dragon, a visit from the Hobby Horse and storytelling, plus a series of free activities in the afternoon at the East Quay centre courtyard.

The Bank Holiday will start with the Somerset Dragon being displayed from 10 am to 2 pm on a huge lorry on the Esplanade, with an exhibition all about Somerset Day, with storytelling at noon. Meanwhile the Hobby Horse, a traditional ‘creature’ to bring good luck and welcome the spring, will parade around the town at 10.30 am and 11.30 am.

The afternoon May Day celebration organised by East Quay in Watchet, the Community of Beings Festival, is free for all activities.

“It’s a lovely way of bringing the whole community together to celebrate the beginning of summer,” said Georgie Grant, co-director of the Onion Collective based at East Quay.

“No booking is needed and people can just turn up and have a good time.

Events are from 1 pm to 3 pm, and include craft and family friendly activities of making swallows from willow; a demonstration and talk on spinning wool, a teller of local folk and fairy stories, mask making, and Maypole dancing. Organisers hope to have 20 or 30 people joining in, with a caller to tell them what to do.

“It’s not complicated, the steps are simple, but the outcome is impressive,” said Maypole dance organiser Isabelle Fraser. “But it can sometimes involve lots of children going the wrong way!”

There will be a May Day blessing to celebrate the changing seasons at 3 pm and from 3.15 pm there will be live music and country dancing with a caller, by local Watchet band Barnbuskers Ceilidh Band.

There will also be food and drink from the East Quay Kitchen and bar, throughout the day.

“It all takes lots of planning, but it’s good fun. There will be lots of different East Quay artists, and plenty for older people and children to enjoy,” said Georgie.

Milverton Fair, at the Milverton Recreation Ground, also takes place on Bank Holiday Monday, from 11 am to 4 pm. The event will feature Morris Men, a Punch a Judy, a Kids Disco and more.