Focusing on traditional May-time festivities that mark the coming of summer, The May Bush project celebrates local rituals and practices and underlines the importance these festivities have in creating a sense of place and pride of belonging to a community. Emphasising a Wexford perspective, the project encourages the engagement of more local people in these practices, nurturing the traditional while creating new versions of these customs for our changing future. The festivities themselves accentuate our relationship to nature and the natural environment, giving us a new way of connecting with the land and its needs. This project links our past to our present and our future, providing a narrative to the cultural moments that have influenced community festivals.

Artists Michael Fortune and Aileen Lambert will collate and publish research and content they have collected over the past twenty years. The book, visually led in its design, will examine vernacular studies of the May-Bush; look at the May King and Queen tradition; highlight May songs; and consider the role of fire and bonfire in the May/Bealtaine celebrations. It will include accounts and quotes from the hundreds of interviews the artists have conducted with Wexford people, channelling these voices and experiences into an attractive and easily accessible community resource.

Please note that the details of events listed above are provided by the relevant Local Authorities.