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Quirky Traditions ONLY
Oxfordshire is home to an array of quirky traditions that make the county unique.
Merton College Time Ceremony
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Great Tower at 6am with Hymnus Eucharisticus, attracting flocks of people to Magdalen Bridge before celebrations continue throughout the morning.
Adventurers
Once a year, on the night the clocks go back, students of Merton College partake in the tradition of the Merton College Time Ceremony. Created by undergraduates in 1971, the ceremony involves students dressing in full academic dress whilst walking backwards around the Fellows’ Quad with a glass of port in their hand, from 02:00BST for an hour until 02:00GMT, to allegedly maintain the space-time continuum.
Bun Throwing
CULTURE
Pooh Sticks
Want to catch the students in their gowns and finery? Read our tips on when best to visit the University of Oxford
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The 40th World Pooh Sticks Championships takes place at Sandford Lock on the Thames on 28 May 2023. Taking inspiration from the beloved children’s book, Winnie the Pooh, anybody can take part to become the Pooh Sticks world champion. You just need to pick your stick and drop it upstream on one side of a bridge and whoever’s stick appears on the other side of the bridge is the winner!
May Morning
1 2 May Day
Corpus Christi’s Tortoise Fair
One of Oxford’s well-loved traditions, held every year on the 1st of May, sees citywide celebrations for the coming of Spring, bringing the community together for what is known as May Morning Morris Men dance across the city, and the choristers of Magdalen College choir sing the day in from the
Bun Throwing in Abingdon is a famous tradition in Oxfordshire dating back 400 years. Local dignitaries throw currant buns from Abingdon County Hall Museum on days of celebration; attracting huge crowds all hoping to catch a bun!
The Corpus Christi Tortoise Fair
Corpus Christi’s Tortoise Fair is one of the lovelier eccentricities at Oxford and has at its heart the Tortoise Race, in which tortoises from various colleges race to get to the edge of a ring of lettuce. It’s thought to have been started in the 1920s. Corpus’ own tortoises are named Oldham and Foxe - whose care is presided over by a “Custos Testudinum” or “Tortoise Keeper”, elected at the start of each year.
