The Cerne Giant Festival returns from 18th April to 9th May, bringing three weeks of walks, talks and workshops centred on the Cerne Valley’s landscape, history and culture.
Built around the festival’s theme, ‘Celebrating humanity in the landscape’, this year’s programme places a particular focus on Cerne Abbas’ Anglo-Saxon roots. Ongoing archaeological work at the Abbey site is beginning to uncover earlier layers of its history, with recent finds offering new insight into the area’s early settlement and religious life.
The festival itself takes its inspiration from the Cerne Giant and the long-standing May Day traditions on Giant Hill, where Morris dancers and villagers gather at dawn each year. That connection between place, history and community runs throughout the programme.
Events range widely, from guided walks and heritage talks to hands-on workshops and performances. Highlights include nature photography sessions for families, river-dipping and fly-casting workshops, and a farm walk exploring conservation and land management. Literary and cultural events include poetry and storytelling from the Bards of Dorset, alongside talks on subjects such as Shakespeare’s relationship with the natural world and Dorset’s historic holy wells. Anglo-Saxon themes feature strongly, with a riddle-based quiz inspired by early monastic life, and Kith and Kin, a performance exploring the life of a 9th-century Saxon woman.
The programme is designed to appeal to a broad audience, with a number of family-friendly events alongside more specialist talks and discussions.
Tickets are available via cernegiantfestival.org and Cerne Abbas Village Stores.
