Performing arts

Promenade concert in the Royal Albert Hall

Large outdoor music festivals in the summer and autumn are popular, such as Glastonbury, V Festival, Reading and Leeds Festivals. The most prominent opera house in England is the Royal Opera House at Covent Gardens.^[99] The Proms, a season of orchestral classical music concerts held at the Royal Albert Hall, is a major cultural event held annually.^[99] The Royal Ballet is one of the world's foremost classical ballet companies, its reputation built on two prominent figures of 20th century dance, prima ballerina Margot Fonteyn and choreographer Frederick Ashton. The Edinburgh Festival Fringe is the world’s largest arts festival.^[100] Established in 1947, it takes place in Scotland's capital during three weeks every August alongside several other arts and cultural festivals. The Fringe mostly attracts events from the performing arts, particularly theatre and comedy, although dance and music also figure significantly.^[100]

Astley's Amphitheatre, London c.1808

The circus is a traditional form of entertainment in the UK. Chipperfield's Circus dates back more than 300 years in Britain, making it one of the oldest family circus dynasties.^[94] Philip Astley is regarded as the father of the modern circus. Following his invention of the circus ring in 1768,^[101] Astley's Amphitheatre opened in London in 1773. As an equestrian master Astley had a genius for trick horse-riding, and when he added tumblers, tightrope-walkers, jugglers, performing dogs, and a clown to fill time between his own demonstrations — the modern circus was born.^[102][103] Having began his theatrical career with Hughes Royal Circus in London in the 1780s, Englishman John Bill Ricketts brought the modern circus to the US in 1792, and he gave America's first complete circus performance in Philadelphia on April 3, 1793.^[102] Joseph Grimaldi is the most celebrated of English clowns, and is widely considered the father of modern clowning.^[104][105]

[Edit] Folklore

Main articles: English folklore, Scottish folklore, Irish folklore, and Welsh folklore

Robin Hood illustrated in 1912 wearing Lincoln green.

Much of the folklore of the United Kingdom pre-dates the UK. Though some of the characters and stories are present across Britain, most belong to specific countries or regions. Common folkloric beings include pixies, giants, elfs, bogeymen, trolls, goblins and dwarves. While many legends and folk-customs are thought to be ancient, for instance the tales featuring Offa of Angeln and Weyland Smith,^[106] others date from after the Norman invasion; Robin Hood and his Merry Men of Sherwood and their battles with the Sheriff of Nottingham being, perhaps, the best known.^[107]

During the High Middle Ages tales originated from Brythonic traditions, notably the Arthurian myth.^{[108][109][110]} Deriving from Welsh source; King Arthur, Excalibur and Merlin, while the Jersey poet Wace introduced the Knights of the Round Table. These stories are most centrally brought together within Geoffrey of Monmouth's Historia Regum Britanniae. Another early figure from British tradition, King Cole, may have been based on a real figure from Sub-Roman Britain. Many of the tales and pseudo-histories make up part of the wider Matter of Britain, a collection of shared British folklore.

Merlin advising King Arthur in Tennysons' Idylls of the King, 1868

The Loch Ness Monster is a cryptid that is reputed to inhabit Loch Ness in the Scottish Highlands. The legendary monster has been affectionately referred to by the nickname Nessie since the 1950s.^[111] The Leprechaun figures large in Irish folklore. A mischievous fairy type creature in emerald green clothing who when not playing tricks spend all their time busily making shoes, the Leprechaun is said to have a pot of gold hidden at the end of the rainbow, and if ever captured by a human it has the magical power to grant three wishes in exchange for release.^[112] In mythology, English fairytales such as Jack and the Beanstalk helped form the modern perception of giants as stupid and violent, while the legendary dwarf Tom Thumb is a traditional hero in English folklore. Some folk figures are based on semi or actual historical people whose story has been passed down centuries; Lady Godiva for instance was said to have ridden naked on horseback through Coventry, the heroic English figure Hereward the Wake resisted the Norman invasion, Herne the Hunter is an equestrian ghost associated with Windsor Forest and Great Park, and Mother Shipton is the archetypal witch.^[113] The chivalrous bandit, such as Dick Turpin, is a recurring character, while the colourful English pirates Blackbeard and Calico Jack are renowned.^[67] The Gremlin is part of RAF folklore dating from the 1920s, with gremlin being RAF slang for a mishievous creature that sabotages aircraft, meddling in the planes equipment.^[114] Legendary figures from nineteenth century London whose tales have been romanticised include Sweeney Todd, the murderous barber of Fleet Street, and serial killer Jack the Ripper. On 5 November, people in England make bonfires, set off fireworks and eat toffee apples in commemoration of the foiling of the Gunpowder Plot centred around Guy Fawkes, which became an annual event after The Thanksgiving Act of 1606 was passed.^[115] Halloween is a traditional and much celebrated holiday in Ireland and Scotland on the night of October 31.^[116] The name Halloween is first attested in the 16th century as a Scottish shortening of the fuller All-Hallows-Even,^[117] and according to some historians has its roots in the gaelic festival Samhain, where the Gaels believed the border between this world and the otherworld became thin, and the dead would revisit the mortal world.^[118] In 1780, Dumfries poet John Mayne makes note of pranks at Halloween; "What fearfu' pranks ensue!", as well as the supernatural associated with the night, "Bogies" (ghosts).^[119] The bard of Scotland Robert Burns' 1785 poem Halloween is recited by Scots at Halloween, and Burns was influenced by Mayne's composition.^[119][120] In Scotland and Ireland, traditional Halloween customs include; Guising — children disguised in costume going from door to door requesting food or coins — which became practice by the late 19th century,^[121][122] turnips hollowed-out and carved with faces to make lanterns,^[123] holding parties where games such as apple bobbing are played.^[124] Other practices in Ireland include lighting bonfires, and having firework displays.^[125][126] Further contemporary imagery of Halloween is derived from Gothic and Horror literature (notably Shelley's Frankenstein and Stoker's Dracula), and classic horror films (such as Hammer Horrors). Mass transatlantic Irish and Scottish migration in the 19th century popularized Halloween in North America.^[127]