Laa Boaldyn and the fight of Summer & Winter

Laa Boaldyn (1 May) has always been a time for celebration in the Isle of Man.

One of the key parts of this traditionally was an enactment of the end of Winter and the start of Summer, by a mock fight carried out by groups of people.

The earliest account of this comes from 1744 in George Waldron's History and Description of the Isle of Man which was one of the sources called upon to create the 'Oie Voaldyn' event which started in Peel in 2018. This short film overlays a version of Waldron's description of this battle between Sourey (Summer) & Geurey (Winter) over drone footage of the Oie Voaldyn Festival held on Peel shore.

The full transcription of Waldron's description of the Boaldyn period, along with all other significant sources, is freely available from the Culture Vannin website: Boaldyn

A Manx version of this, using Dr. John Clague's original Manx description is available here: