Devoted to the Study of Folklore and Tradition

The Folklore Society (FLS) is a learned society, based in London, devoted to the study of all aspects of folklore and tradition, including: ballads, folktales, fairy tales, myths, legends, traditional song and dance, folk plays, games, seasonal events, calendar customs, childlore and children's folklore, folk arts and crafts, popular belief, folk religion, material culture, vernacular language, sayings, proverbs and nursery rhymes, folk medicine, plantlore and weather lore.

Next Folklore Society Event

CANCELLED The Sky in Legend and Tradition

5 to 6 September 2020 - N.B. This event has been rescheduled to 2021
Medieval Hall, Salisbury

*CANCELLED* The Sky in Legend and Tradition, 5th–6th September 2020 at the Medieval Hall in Salisbury Calling occupants of interplanetary craft! The flying pigs are knocking on Heaven’s door while thunderbirds circle the Merry Dancers and a woman standing on the moon bends over Endymion. Dragons release thunderbolts as parachuting nuns descend on Area 51....

More events coming up

Other Folklore Events and Calls for Papers

Please submit this online form if you would like us to publicise your event on our website.

CFP: Behind the Mask: Vernacular Culture in the Time of COVID

Start date: 2nd Aug 2020
End date: 1st Oct 2020
Department of Folklore & Ethnomusicology, Indiana University

Behind the Mask: Vernacular Culture in the Time of COVID Call for Papers: Abstract Proposals due October 1, 2020 Volume editors: Ben Bridges (Indiana University), Ross Brillhart (Indiana University), Diane E. Goldstein (Indiana University) Submissions are invited for an edited volume exploring different aspects of the uses and abuses of the “vernacular” in the COVID-19 ...

Folklore Fellows` Summer School 2020 “The Violence of Traditions and the Traditions of Violence”, Call for Applications

Start date: 17th Aug 2020
End date: 23rd Aug 2020
University of Eastern Finland (UEF), Joensuu

The 10th Folklore Fellows` Summer School is hosted by the School of Humanities at the University of Eastern Finland (UEF) in Joensuu, 17-23 August 2020. Folklore Fellows` Summer School 2020 "The Violence of Traditions and the Traditions of Violence" will provide the participants with an inspirational forum for learning and critical discussion on the violence of traditions and the...

Summer School 2020 “The Violence of Traditions and the Traditions of Violence”

Start date: 17th Aug 2020
End date: 23rd Aug 2020
University of Eastern Finland (UEF), Joensuu

Call for applications (extended until October 31, 2019) The 10th Folklore Fellows` Summer School is hosted by the School of Humanities at the University of Eastern Finland (UEF) in Joensuu, 17-23 August 2020. Folklore Fellows` Summer School 2020 "The Violence of Traditions and the Traditions of Violence" will provide the participants with an inspirational forum for learning a...

5th Biennial Association of Critical Heritage Studies (ACHS) Conference

Start date: 26th Aug 2020
End date: 30th Aug 2020
University College London (UCL)

Call for Participation 5th Biennial Association of Critical Heritage Studies (ACHS) Conference ACHS 2020 “Futures” University College London, UK, 26-30 August 2020 Organised by the AHRC Heritage Priority Area in association with the UCL Institute of Archaeology The Fifth Biennial Conference of the Association of Critical Heritage Studies (ACHS) will be held at Universit...

COMELA 2020 – The Conference on Mediterranean and European Linguistic Anthropology

Start date: 2nd Sep 2020
End date: 5th Sep 2020
The American College of Greece

Call for Abstracts - The COMELA 2020, The Conference on Mediterranean and European Linguistic Anthropology 2020 Following the growth of The Global Network for Linguistic Anthropology, we announce The COMELA 2020, The Conference on Mediterranean and European Linguistic Anthropology 2020. Purpose and Structure - Over 500 scholars globally will gather to present papers and engage...

Archives, Access, Ethics and Fraud

Start date: 21st Oct 2020
End date: 23rd Oct 2020
Meertens Institute, Amsterdam

A SIEF Archives Working Group Conference 'Archives, Access, Ethics and Fraud' will take place in Amsterdam, October 21 – 23, 2020. The Call for Papers can be found here: http://www.theomeder.nl/SIEF2020/CfP.pdf. The deadline for abstracts is April 1st, 2020....

Celtic Myths and Folkores in the Anglophone World

Start date: 6th Nov 2020
End date: 6th Nov 2020
Université Savoie Mont Blanc, Chambéry, France

Interdisciplinary workshop entitled "Celtic Myths and Folkores in the Anglophone World", organised by Noémie Beck (the University of Savoie Mont Blanc, Chambéry, France) and Frédéric Armao (the University of Toulon, France), Senior Lecturers in British and Irish History, specialised in Celtic myths and folklores. The workshop will take place on November 6, 2020 in the Universit...

Hidden Charms 3

Start date: 21st Nov 2020
End date: 21st Nov 2020
St Mary's Creative Space, Chester, CH1 2DW.

Hidden Charms 3 - Chester. We are very pleased to announce that Hidden Charms 3 will take place in Chester on Saturday 21st November 2020. The venue for HC3 will be St Mary's Creative Space which is a wonderful medieval church with theatre style seating and a stage area. Our theme is the magical protection of buildings and related topics and you can see the list of speakers an...

Folklore Society News

CANCELLED: Folklore, Learning and Literacies Conference 24-26 April 2020

The Folklore Society regrets to announce the cancellation of our Folklore, Learning and Literacies conference, 24-26 April 2020. This because the Covid-19 (Coronavirus) situation is only likely to get worse in the medium term, and there is considerable uncertainty about what its consequences will be. The Society’s trustees have decided that it is necessary, in...

Folklore Society Library: new accessions 2019

Click here for a list of our library accessions for 2019 most of these books will be added to our collections at University College London library and will be available for loan to FLS members and UCL students as soon as they have been added to UCL’s online library catalogue. A few of these books...

The Katharine Briggs Award 2019

We are delighted to announce that the winner of the Katharine Briggs Award 2019 is Guy Beiner for his book Forgetful Remembrance: Social Forgetting and Vernacular Historiography of a Rebellion in Ulster (published by Oxford University Press). Congratu;ations Guy Beiner and OUP

Katharine Briggs Award 2019–Short List

We are very pleased to announce the short list for this year’s Katharine Briggs Award. The short listed entries are (in alphabetical order): Guy Beiner, Forgetful Remembrance: Social Forgetting and Vernacular Historiography in Ulster (Oxford University Press) Ronald James, The Folklore of Cornwall: The Oral Tradition of a Celtic Nation (University of Exeter Press) Nigel...

Announcements

Calendar Customs in Fiction

Sophie Parkes-Nield, a PhD student at the Centre for Contemporary Legend, Sheffield Hallam University, is searching for calendar customs represented in fiction. If you’ve spotted a custom in a novel or short story, please email her at [email protected] or tweet her via https://twitter.com/sophparkes

Fund-Raising for The Folklore Society

Following our move to 50 Fitzroy Street, the Society’s annual costs for office accommodation have significantly increased, so we are inviting all members and friends of The Folklore Society to support us by making donations via our Charities Aid Foundation page at CAF Donate: https://cafdonate.cafonline.org/11322

The Folklore Society office has moved to 50 Fitzroy Street

Our new office address is: The Folklore Society, 50 Fitzroy Street, London W1T 5BT, tel. +44 (0)203 915 3034 Office hours: Tuesday to Friday from 13:30-5:30 pm (and at other times by appointment). Our staff are part-time, so please let us know in advance of your visit in case we’re working away from the office...

MA in Folklore Studies at University of Hertfordshire

Exciting news for anyone wanting to turn their interest in folklore into an academic qualification: the University of Hertfordshire are now offering a Folklore Studies MA, which will run both part-time and full-time. For further details on the programme of study and how to apply, please see: https://www.herts.ac.uk/courses/ma-folklore-studies

Concealed revealed

The Concealed Revealed, a strand of the Inner Lives: Emotion, Identity and the Supernatural, 1300-1900 Project, is hoping to produce an extensive catalogue of concealed objects and domestic apotropaic devices, from shoes and cats to timber marks, across Britain. Dr Ceri Houlbrook, of the University of Hertfordshire, is not only seeking information about these objects but is also aiming to...