CLOGS are being polished, hats weaved and decorated, and the final rushes put in place for this year’s Saddleworth Rushcart Festival.
Saddleworth Morris Men will welcome around 20 sides from up and down the country, including Saddleworth Women’s Morris and Clog, for the popular two-day event on August 23 and 24.
Saddleworth Morris have spent the last few weeks gathering rushes from Pule Hill to build their iconic cart by hand.
Reaching around 13ft high, it will be decorated with heather, a rowan tree on top, and a banner on the front designed by this year’s jockey.
The jockey is chosen from Saddleworth Morris based on how long he has been dancing or playing with the side, and he sits atop the Rushcart as it is pulled through Saddleworth’s villages.
The weekend starts on Saturday with a performance of the Uppermill Rushcart Dance outside The Commercial in Uppermill, before the cart is pulled to Greenfield, Delph, Dobcross and back to Uppermill.
On Sunday, the cart is taken up to St Chad’s Church where there is a service before games and entertainment outside The Church Inn and The Cross Keys.
Banners from previous Rushcarts have been hung in St Chad’s Church and can be viewed on Sunday.
Throughout the weekend, badges will be on sale to help raise funds to secure the event for coming years.
This year’s badge design was created by Holy Trinity Primary School Dobcross pupil Max, who won Saddleworth Morris’s competition.
His design incorporates a beautiful image of a Rushcart with the rolling Saddleworth hills in the background.
From humble beginnings in 1975, Saddleworth Rushcart is now regularly attended by dancing teams and dancers from all over the world, and is one of the last rushcarts still going.
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