Can calendar customs engender stewardship of our natural environment? An investigation into real-world and fictional calendar customs in the UK and their potential for environmental engagement

Many UK communities perform a custom in the same place at the same time every year, and a number of these, such as the Marsden Imbolc Fire Festival in West Yorkshire, The Saddleworth Rushcart in Greater Manchester, and the well-dressing tradition, have a direct connection to the natural world, through the theme that underpins them, the natural resources used and the ways in which they can contribute to a sense of ‘place attachment’. As awareness grows in advocating for local, as opposed to global, climate change messaging to increase engagement and action among citizens, could calendar customs offer a previously unexplored opportunity for community engagement in the face of climate crisis? This paper uses qualitative research with the organisers of three calendar customs alongside representations of calendar customs in fiction to interrogate the impact calendar customs could make in their respective communities.