May Morning

The choir traditionally also sings a madrigal, Now Is the Month of Maying, following prayers for the city led by the Dean of Divinity.

In 2017 the event took place during the Bank Holiday weekend, and a record 27,000 people gathered to hear Sol Samba.

[2] During the 2020 Coronavirus pandemic the event was cancelled, however the choir recorded a 'Virtual May Morning', originally broadcast live.

However the river is sometimes shallow, which has on occasion caused serious injury, notably in 1997 when one person was left paralyzed, and 2005 when ten were hospitalised.

[7] Another description is found in the film Shadowlands directed by Richard Attenborough, on an episode in the life of the English scholar, writer and fellow of Magdalen's C. S. Lewis, starring Anthony Hopkins as C. S. Lewis and Debra Winger as Joy Davidman, and including footage from the 1993 May Morning celebrations.