Museum to host Elizabethan re-enactors for May Day festival

An Elizabethan re-enacting group is set to transport visitors to a museum back in time with a 16th century May Day festival.

The Suffolk Free Company, known for their interpretation of Tudor life, will lead the event at Chiltern Open Air Museum, in Buckinghamshire, on May 5 and 6, from 10am to 5pm.

The group is not only comprised of actors, but also craftspeople, musicians, historians, and military technicians.

The event will take place on May 5 and 6 (Image: Chiltern Open Air Museum)

They portray various people from Tudor society including soldiers, noblemen and women, peasants, and beggars.

Captain of the Militia, Tim Eagling, said: "In the Suffolk Free Company we are on a constant search for historical reality.

"We are fascinated by the lives of ordinary people from the 16th century, and we love sharing their stories with the wonderful people we meet at Chiltern Open Air Museum."

The event will be held at Chiltern Open Air Museum (Image: Chiltern Open Air Museum)

During the May Day celebration at the museum, the village green will be brimming with Tudor characters dancing, singing and giving craft and cooking demonstrations.

Visitors will also get the chance to join in with sword fighting and gunpowder explosions.

General manager of the museum, Helen Light, said: "At Chiltern Open Air Museum we always aim to bring history to life.

Suffolk Free Company will provide re-enactments of 16th century life (Image: Chiltern Open Air Museum)

"This weekend the past literally lives and breathes with the extraordinary Suffolk Free Company.

"The sights, sounds and smells are so vivid it’s really the next best thing to time travel.”