Catfoot Theatre Company 

“A wonderfully eccentric, English celebration of the return of the sun.” Paul Wiltshire, Folk Historian.

“What a lovely event. It was great to see the friendly Lambley community. Looking forward to next year’s events” Audience member from Cowslip Sunday 2011.

The cowslip flower has long been associated with Lambley, often growing in profusion around the village.

In the past visitors use to flock to the village to collect cowslips for posies and wine-making.

In Victorian times rowdy crowds would flock to the village, with the police often having to intervene to sort things out.

A local paper reported that for Cowslip Sunday in 1866:

“ …visitors on Sunday were quite in equal numbers to former years, though, if we must judge from the manners and customs of a great part of them, and their acts and language, we should conclude that the class has not improved since their last annual visit”

Cowslip Sunday was a joyous community event that was both a celebration of springtime and of Lambley itself.

On Sunday 2 May 2010 Lambley Arts Festival successfully revived Cowslip Sunday as a major event, with various events including a cowslip procession through the village, an open-air community performance of LAMBLEY JACK’S COWSLIP TALES and to round things off, a Cowslip Ceilidh in the evening.

The day was a huge success and so Cowslip Sunday 2011 had to be bigger and better. For 2011 we introduced the Cowslip Arts and Crafts Fair, at which various professional artists from all over the East Midlands sold and demonstrated their crafts. Work included ceramics, silk painting, textiles, jewellry, floral art and glass.

There was also another open-air community play specially written for the day, LAMBLEY JACK AND THE GIANT OF PLOUGHMAN WOOD.

A great time was had by all, in which the whole village, from the ladies of the W.I. who provided refreshments, to all the volunteers who made the bunting that decorated the village, seemed to come together to celebrate.

Cowslip Sunday 2012 will be taking place on Sunday 6 May, including the new play LAMBLEY JACK AND THE GOLDEN STOCKINGS.

Please keep checking back here for further details.