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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.

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 ...

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...

Roy Palmer Lecture 2020
  • Date: 29th Nov 2020
  • online

Because of the Covid-19 situation it has been necessary to postpone the talk we had planned, ‘Brother Workmen: Solidarity in Trade Folklore’ by Jeremy Harte, until 2021. We are delighted, however, to be able to announce that the well-known American performer, Jeff Warner, has agreed to give the 2020 Roy Palmer Lecture from his home in the USA as an online event. ​ His tal...

Folklore Society News

Virtual Special Issue: Dragons

Our latest Folklore Virtual Special Issue is on Dragons With an introduction by Dr Juliette Wood and a selection of articles from Folklore on this theme. From Fafnir to Smaug, to the pearl-chasing Chinese long and the dragons that stalk the world of Internet games, these mythical creatures, whether traditional or literary, carry great symbolic value. The mound-dwelling,...

More from Whitby Folk Week at Home

John Hall’s Horngarth film, about the Whitby Penny Hedge, was due to be screened at Whitby Folk Week this year. The film can be downloaded from here: https://vimeo.com/439517043

Doc Rowe’s Locked-Down Freed-Up – [email protected] 2020

Doc Rowe has published this lovely video on YouTube for Whitby Folk Week 2020 under lockdown. Enjoy! Doc Rowe’s Locked-Down Freed-Up – [email protected] 2020

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...

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...

Folklore query? Ask the Folklorists

If you have a folklore enquiry, email us at thefolkloresociety @gmail.com and we will try our best to answer it or to refer you to someone else who can. Follow us on Twitter @FolkloreSociety and on our Folklore Society Facebook page