Easter dancing in Bacup Lancashire is the highlight in the Coconutters calendar. This and Britannia is the home town of this well known folk dancers who have appeared on TV, danced in festivals abroad and all over the UK. Together with their own silver band they start their Easter dance in nearby Britannia and dance their way down the main road into Bacup where they entertain the crowds who come from afar to see them perform their unusual dance routines in the Town center square. As the Irish would say they are a rare sight to be sure that they are.! Forget the flowery hats and waving batons and bells, The Coconutters are different ! To see is to believe! Hard to describe but basically they wear black tunics with small red and white kilts, they wear half coconut shells tied to thier knees, clogs and black their faces! They date back over 100 years,some say the black faces come from North African Moors who came North to work. Others say they originate from the Cornish tin miners (hence the black faces) who came to work in the mills when the tin trade died and brought with them their own dance routines. Whatever! They are well worth seeing and never disappoint. Come in the morning at Easter and enjoy this very old and traditional Lancashire festival.
