Chichester Day of Dance returns on Saturday with colourful performances and traditional music

Many Morris dancing sides from across the South East will descend on the city centre for a vibrant day of traditional folk dancing, live music and community spirit.

With performances scheduled throughout the day and a parade to round things off, it’s one of the more joyful and quirky fixtures in the city’s calendar.

Former organiser Alan Carn explained the day’s structure: “We’re Fishbourne Mill Morris, and we’ve invited Morris groups from all over the South East to join us.

"We all meet in Priory Park at 10am, and from 11am each group will perform a display dance before heading off to different spots around the city—mainly North Street, East Street and across the centre—dancing through until around 3pm.”

The event ends with a full parade back through the city, Alan added: “Once we’ve wrapped up the town dancing, we regroup and parade up North Street, usually led by the Town Crier, before finishing the day with a massed dance in Priory Park.

"It’s a brilliant spectacle—colourful, lively, and definitely very photographable!”

Now in its second year under the Fishbourne team after inheriting the tradition from the former Martlets Morris group, the event is growing.

“We had a brilliant response last year and a great turnout—so we’re building on that with even more groups this time, probably around 12 or 13 teams. Every team brings its own musicians—banjos, accordions, fiddles, sometimes drums—so the whole town fills with sound as well as movement.”

And, in true Morris fashion, no day would be complete without a visit to a few local pubs.

“There’s something about Morris dancing and pubs—they just go hand in hand,” Alan added.

Even if the forecast looks a little uncertain, the dancers and musicians are undeterred. “We’ll tough it out,” Alan said. “It’s a day full of tradition, fun and community—rain or shine.”