Explore the history and stories behind Britain’s ancient seasonal traditions and what they can still teach us today. Followed by Q&A.

Halloween, May Day and midsummer bonfires – we still celebrate them, but how many of us actually know where they came from?

Britain has a rich calendar of seasonal festivals, sacred sites and folk traditions stretching back thousands of years. Behind every solstice gathering, harvest celebration and midwinter ritual is a story – of gods and goddesses, of communities marking time, of people making sense of the natural world around them. These aren't relics of a forgotten past. They shaped the culture we live in today, and understanding them changes how you see the landscape, the calendar and the year itself.

In this talk, Seren Hawley-Plows takes us through the ancient seasonal calendar – from Samhain, the Celtic festival of the dead that became Halloween, to Beltane, the midsummer celebration of fire and fertility, and to the solstice gatherings that still draw crowds to Stonehenge every year. Drawing on a lifetime of firsthand knowledge of ancient practices, herbalism and folk tradition, Seren unpacks the history and human stories behind these traditions and explores how and why people are returning to them today.

Doors open at 7pm, talk starts at 7:30pm - come down early to grab a good seat!

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Speaker Bio:

Seren Hawley-Plows is a second generation new-age traveller who was raised as a hedgewitch, with a deep connection and love for the natural world. She was taught herbalism and ancient practices from an early age by her parents and their community, and spent much of her youth travelling around festivals, full moon gatherings, and attending ceremonies at sacred sites.

Her interest in nature and humans’ ancestral connection to the natural world developed as she grew older, and she began to retell tales, myths, forgotten knowledge and ancient practices as short informative videos on Instagram. She is now on a mission to reconnect people with the natural world, by demonstrating how using ancient practices and discovering forgotten knowledge can be beneficial on a journey to re-establishing our relationship to the land.

This talk is 16+

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