Does anywhere still actually do Maypole dancing? I suspect probably not. Which would be rather sad.
I’m pretty sure hardly anywhere in England does. Which is rather sad.
(Somewhere in a cupboard full of family photos I have a photo of children dancing round a village maypole in the 1950s.)
I don’t think any villages officially do it anymore, although you sometimes get crossover with Morris dancing sides. I’ve done it, but that’s because I’m a filthy tree-hugger.
For an accurate use of village culture in England please watch The Dr Who episode, ‘The Daemons’
It’s certainly still a thing in Endon (North Staffordshire) during the annual Well Dressing festival. I just checked to make sure, as I realised that it’s an awfully long time since I last went to the Well Dressing.
I remember seeing maypole dancing in the 80s, 90s, and 00s. Never saw anywhere competing to make extra tall maypoles though.
I’m on a Doctor Who rewatch and just saw The Daemons for the first time, and I can confirm that it is 100% accurate.
My kids’ school (in New England) does an annual maypole dance. This was their first year there, and the 12yo bowed out of embarrassment (he didn’t like being paired up to dance with a girl), but the 8yo really enjoyed it.
Took a shuttle part way up the mountain in the background of my previous photos then hiked to the top. Lake from the previous photos with the lodges in which we stayed in the first picture.
I remember doing maypole dancing when I was at junior school - a small village in Derbyshire. (that would be in the very early 80s)
A walk down by the river yesterday evening. The river is the Great Ouse (pronounced “ooze”) which is probably my favourite name for a river 
Look there Daddy, do you see? There’s a horse in striped pyjamas!
No, that’s not what it is at all. That’s an - oh, no, you’re right. It is a horse in striped pyjamas!
Just a zebra with style.
just a bit envious. have fun 
Worldcon:
My partner Emily will be there on Saturday doing a panel on immersive experiences (with Samantha Béart who voiced Karlach in BG3). Emily does a lot of immersive theatre like the one below:
And on Sunday doing their one-person show Quintessence, where an AI is tasked with reviving mankind after an apocalypse but only has the works of Shakespeare as a guide to the human soul. (It’s a bit Frankenstein / Shakespeare, the AI is as twisted as you’d imagine. Originally won a competition at the London Science Museum!)
