Folk dancers spread British and Irish traditions across York last weekend during the Inter Varsity Folk Dance Festival 2026 (IVFDF).

The event started in 1951, and it is the country’s longest continually running folk festival.

It is hosted by a different University each year. After their last visit in 2024, the University of York invited the IVFDF back.

Although it is hosted by University societies, a spokesperson for IVFDF says “you don’t have to be a student to go, just vaguely young or energetic.”

On their website, it is described as “a full weekend of dancing, music and fun.”

The festival included a weekend of traditional European dances at Campus West in the University, such as the “ceilidhs, contras, Bal, Scottish Country dance and Playford.”

They also hosted workshops on Zesty Playford, rapper sword, and clog.

In the centre of York, 32 Morris dance groups paraded the streets, organised by York-based Ramshackle Morris.

The group said: “We had a much shorter time to organise it than usual,”

But, their “hard work paid off,” and it was “an excellent weekend filled with community, music and dance.”

A student from York St John University in Ramshackle Morris said: “hosting IVFDF was the best experience of my life.”

Morris dancing is a traditional English dance that originated in the 15th century.

It is kept alive by local groups, such as the Ebor Morris and Acorn Morris, and the many others that visited on Saturday.

Teams of dancers were set up from Fossgate to North Street Gardens.

A travelling performance from Coventry, the Earlsdon Morris, marched down Low Petergate.

They posted on Facebook saying that they “had a great day on Saturday” and that “the pubs were pretty good also!”