Custom · Great Malvern
Open on the map: directions, what's there today and read-aloud →
Fifty wells, one week, and every one in feathers.
See it clearly
Wells across the town and hillsides, free to visit during the festival; St Ann's Well is a steep walk above the town. Check dates before you go.
At dawn they walk up to the springs. By breakfast the wells are covered in birds.
Every May the springs and spouts of Malvern are dressed. The festival, run by the Malvern Spa Association, celebrates the town's spring water, the hills and the Victorian water cure. In 2026 it ran from 2 to 10 May on the theme of Birds: wells were decorated on Friday 1 May, judged the next day, and prizes given on Bank Holiday Monday on Belle Vue Island. The programme began with a dawn ceremony at the Dripping Well, meeting at St Ann's Well, and included blessings, music, maypole and morris dancing and talks. About fifty wells were dressed, with more than 800 people taking part.