Thousands of early risers celebrate May Morning

Thousands of people have gathered to celebrate May Morning in the heart of Oxford.

The unique tradition dates back more than 500 years and welcomes the coming of summer.

Crowds surrounded Magdalen College from 06:00 BST to hear the bells ring out and choristers singing.

Morris dancing, folk singing and unconventional costumes were part of the traditional entertainment for the celebrations.

Magdalen College Choir treated early risers to a rendition of Hymnus Eucharisticus before singing more hymns from the top of Magdalen Tower.

A road closure is in place from The Plain junction to the top of the High Street until about 09:00 BST, with signposts for diversions and alternative cycling routes.

A crowd management system will provide one-way channels on Magdalen Bridge to enable the crowd to flow during and immediately after the event.

Choristers Raymon and Ethan, both 10, said they woke up at 03:00 ahead of their performance on the tower.

Raymon admitted it was "scary" being up high.

"It was a great first time experience, it was as if we were controlling the crowd out there," Ethan said.

He added: "I'm going to remember this, it was my first and it won't be my last."

Paula Redway, culture and community development manager at Oxford City Council, was at the event.

She said planning the celebrations took about six months and required a lot of collaboration with local emergency services and businesses.

"It's been glorious weather, we've had a fantastic crowd, we've had more people this year than last year - 16,500 people," she said.

"We're thrilled with the atmosphere, with the ambiance and with the compliance of the crowd, with the quality of the singers and it's just a lovely sunny day in Oxford."

She added that the council was "incredibly proud" of the "special Oxford tradition".

One of the regular attendees, known as Groovy Sue, said: "There are people cycling down the street with traffic cones on their heads - only on May morning.

"It is a quintessential, British, crazy thing."

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