Dressing up at Christmas: jumpers, matching pyjamas, sequins. 34.2% of people living in England today like to dress up at Christmas. If you’re in Wigan today, you’re probably just getting ready to hit the town in fancy dress. Anyone else with a fancy dress tradition we need to know about?

Have you just waved off the last of your guests and settled down in front of the telly? Us, too! According to our Survey, 57.1% of people living in England visit or host friends and relatives at Christmas.

We’re listening..!

63.5% of people living in England today will be settling down to a Christmas meal tomorrow. So what will it be on your plate? Traditional turkey and all the trimmings? The vegan alternative? Or something different altogether?

Hands up: who’s already tucking in? Over 40% of people living in England report eating and drinking ‘to excess’ at Christmas. What we didn’t ask: what we’re eating or drinking to excess. Anyone care to furnish us with their answers? (Nutella over here!)

28.1% of people living in England today host or attend a Christmas party. Are you one of them?

A Ghost Story for Christmas 2025 happening right now on Stuart Maconie's BBC Radio 6 Freak Zone www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m...

Our Survey tells us that 38% of folks living in England today make festive foods at Christmas. Are you one of them? If so, what are you making? I’m (Sophie) terrible at icing cakes so I continue my mum’s tradition of the ‘rustic’ make-it-look-like-snow icing on the Christmas cake.

This was the stat that surprised us the most: 57% of people report that watching films and TV is as important a Christmas tradition as decorating the home and visiting friends and relatives

England is a nation of gift-givers at Christmas! It’s mammoth but it’s worth making your way through our new website post about what the Survey has revealed about Christmas traditions - there are some surprises… www.nationalfolkloresurvey.co.uk/news/its-chr...

I am encountering M. R. James's handwriting for the first time, and until now I didn't know the true meaning of horror 😱

We have a new PhD student, here at the Centre for Contemporary Legend, and he has kindly put together some Christmas viewing recommendations for us, alongside an overview of his research and folkloric interests. Read it here…

We’re excited to see that expressions of interest can be made by communities to the Living Heritage in the UK project, an inventory of customs and traditions. Read more here: livingheritage.unesco.org.uk

Did you catch our Ceri on BBC Breakfast this morning? If you want more, grab a copy of her Christmas novel, Winter’s Wishfall www.waterstones.com/book/winters...

Very excited to see a double page spread on our Survey results in the latest issue of Fortean Times, too. Perfect Christmas present for the weird and wonderful folks in your life!

Want to know how someone becomes a world expert in UFOlogy? Read on: this week we’re introducing @davidwclarke.bsky.social on our website… www.nationalfolkloresurvey.co.uk/news/introdu...

‘It’s a natural reaction to how people perceive things to be going, the multiple crises people seeing are unfolding around them.’ Our @davidwclarke.bsky.social speaks to @nowthenmag.bsky.social about the importance of folklore in times like these, plus the National Folklore Survey

From Freddy Krueger fan clubs to folklore… meet the inimitable Diane A. Rodgers on our website today: www.nationalfolkloresurvey.co.uk/news/introdu...

Love-locks, coin trees and an attraction to the Green Power Ranger - meet the one and only Dr Ceri Houlbrook: www.nationalfolkloresurvey.co.uk/news/introdu...

Is there a starman waiting in the sky? What do you think? 32.2% of our survey respondents said they believed that all UFO sightings can be explained: they are all natural, human-made, or hoax. Yet 24.5% said they believe at least some UFOs are of extraterrestrial origin.

Today on our website, meet Siân Evans @coppersmith.bsky.social, one of few coppersmiths in the country. In working with a heritage craft, Siân is encountering folklore every day. Read more here: www.nationalfolkloresurvey.co.uk/news/sin-eva...

It’s the ghostly part of the year… 16% of people in England today say that they have had an extraordinary experience of some kind, including witnessing the presence of a ghost. Fascinatingly, almost one in five of those people have not shared that experience with anyone, not even family or friends.

In a fight between Bonfire Night and Halloween, who would win? Well, according to our survey, 52% of people in England always or sometimes celebrate Bonfire Night, compared to 46% for Halloween. We were surprised. Are you? www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

Were you one of the 13%? Anecdotally - we have no evidence for this - visiting a farm to choose a pumpkin seems a relatively recent phenomenon and we’re interested to find out more! Have you ever done this? If so, when did you start? We’d love to see your pumpkin picking photographs!

Have you ever experienced that strange feeling that you’ve encountered this moment or event before?

Introducing… Chris Bader! Professor of Sociology at Chapman University in the US, Chris has been instrumental in designing our survey and analysing the results. He’s also about to publish ‘Paranormal Britain’, a closer look at British beliefs. Read more here:

We had a feeling the press would love the first findings from our survey - and we’ve been getting some wonderful coverage! Take a look at the press page on our website to see how it’s been reported so far.

We had to go small-scale so carved bell peppers instead (with little tea lights inside).

Did you know that just over a quarter of people in England carve pumpkins at Halloween? 🎃 (Source: our survey!) We want to see yours - send us photos!

The Black British Folk Takeover at @efdss.bsky.social was curated by @angelcakepie2.bsky.social. It sounded right up our street so we asked her to tell us a little more. You can read all about it here: www.nationalfolkloresurvey.co.uk/news/the-bla...

Fresh from the flurry of releasing our first set of results, today we interviewed Dominic Hardy for our podcast - about which you will hear more. Dominic has been in the UK to promote the book he wrote with his brother, Children of the Wicker Man, and it’s going to be an awesome episode…

Our first tranche of results are getting out there! We’ve just hosted our first press conference, at The Folklore Society and Royal Anthropological Institute in London, letting the world know about our Halloween and spooky-related findings

Sussex folklore has got a new (read: very old) home in the form of The Mint House. We learnt more from Jo Seaman, project manager for its development. Have a read over on our website…

Thanks to everyone who came along to our @otsfestival.bsky.social gig last night, where David Clarke found out a little more about Owen Davies and Ceri Houlbrook’s excellent new book, Folklore: a journey through the past and present. If you didn’t make it, you can get a copy in your local bookshop!

Phantometrics: science, criminology and the paranormal comes to @deadinkbookshop.bsky.social this autumn, courtesy of Dr Laura Bui, and we wanted to find out more…

We had a great time in Crediton last week, courtesy of our friends at the @folklorelibrary.bsky.social. Lots of fascinating discussion at our event about local Halloween traditions, too.

It’s black pea season - in certain parts of the country. How do you eat them?

The @nfsengland.bsky.social crew en route to Exeter to talk about our folklore survey project, by way of the LEGEND OF THE REPLACEMENT BUS SERVICE QUEUE

VENUE CHANGE! For anyone who is coming to see us this coming Tuesday - or thinking about it - we’re now at The Boniface Centre in Crediton rather than the library. Do get your free place! www.nationalfolkloresurvey.co.uk/events/the-n...

Any of our followers in the mid Devon area? We’re heading down to Crediton Library courtesy of @folklorelibrary.bsky.social for an event on 7 Oct. Come and join us to hear all about the NFS, where we’re up to and what’s happening next. And it’s free! www.nationalfolkloresurvey.co.uk/events/the-n...

Another guest post, this time from Shelley Dotson-Greenland and how folklore feeds her storytelling.

Who has been out visiting stones today or this weekend? We sent off across Bodmin today. Can you name this stone circle?

We won’t eat Richard Bradley AKA Weird Derbyshire - promise! But we did enjoy have a good chat with him about his work for a thing. Keep your eyes (and ears) peeled for more info about said thing.

Head to our website to read our latest guest blog. This time we hear from @kupalabrighton.bsky.social to learn how this Ukrainian midsummer festival has got underway in Brighton since refugees began arriving in 2022. www.nationalfolkloresurvey.co.uk/news/kupala-...

One of our number is getting ready to dance on top of a hill for solstice. Anyone else up to anything to mark the occasion?

Today @lallymacbeth.bsky.social’s book, The Lost Folk, is published and, intrigued by its premise, we invited her to write a short piece for our website. You can read it here: www.nationalfolkloresurvey.co.uk/news/a-new-n...

A terrible photo as you can’t see all the folks that turned up to hear, but here’s the inimitable @dianearodgers.bsky.social telling us all about Dracula Returns to Derby today. Such a cool project.

We’re all very excited: our questions have been confirmed, our feedback has been amalgamated, and it’s now en route to Ipsos! Next stop: survey! Looking forward to seeing what the general public make of it…

Today featured the last of our focus groups. Now it’s a case of amalgamating all the incredible, perceptive and generous feedback and working out what we take forward into the next (and final) draft of the survey. Wish us luck!

And in a blog post swap, we learnt a little more about @superstitionsam.bsky.social and their thoughts around creativity and wellbeing in folklore: