Punkie Night

A bit of history

The village tells it like this. One autumn the men of Hinton St George went to the fair at nearby Chiselborough and stayed far too long. Their wives set out to fetch them home, and because a gale was blowing they cut lanterns out of mangolds to stop the candles going out. Seeing the strange lights bobbing across the fields towards them, the men took them for will-o’-the-wisps, or for the punkies, the spirits that West Country lore linked with the souls of unbaptised children, and hid in the hedges in terror.

Whether or not any of that happened, Punkie Night is plainly one of a family of late-autumn lantern customs. Wikipedia’s account notes that it is almost certainly linked with Hallowe’en, and that farmers once set a punkie on the gatepost to keep bad spirits away. The children’s song, with its request for a candle and its playful threat if none is given, is close cousin to trick-or-treating. The word itself may simply be an old name for a lantern, or may come from punk, meaning tinder.

Hinton St George is the best-known home of the custom, and the neighbouring village of Lopen has kept it too. Chiselborough, whose fair started it all, still remembers its part in the story: its parish council publishes the long dialect Punkie Night Song, with a recording of it being sung.

What you’ll see

The evening begins at the Village Hall, where the lanterns are lined up and judged. A punkie is a mangold (a mangelwurzel, the big root vegetable once grown as cattle feed) hollowed out, carved with a face or a pattern and lit from inside with a candle. The carving is shallow so the light glows through the skin rather than pouring out of holes, which gives punkies their soft, slightly spooky orange glow.

Then the procession forms. Calendar Customs describes children carrying their lanterns around the village, led by a Punkie King and Queen, with stops for Morris dancing and the song. At each stop a member of the party knocks at a door and the group sings, hoping for a donation. Back at the hall, prizes go to the top three lanterns in each age group.

It is not a big show. Calendar Customs expects at least 250 people, many in fancy dress, which in a village this size feels like a crowd. In 2025 the procession was held on the Village Hall playing field, but the same listing says the traditional route around the village returns from 2026.

Watching, taking part and tips

This is a community evening rather than a ticketed event, and Berry’s Coaches describes it as open to all. Watching is free. If you have children who would like to carry a lantern or enter the judging, check the rules with the organisers first through the event’s Facebook page, which Calendar Customs gives as the place for details.

If you want to carve your own punkie, a mangold is tougher than a pumpkin. Cut a lid, scoop the flesh out with a strong spoon, leave the walls fairly thick, and carve the design only part way through so the light glows. Keep the candle small and the lid loose.

Dress for a dark, cold, possibly wet October night in the countryside: warm layers, waterproofs, sensible shoes and a torch for the walk back to the car or taxi. Lanes in and around the village are narrow and unlit, so keep children close to you when the procession is moving. Fancy dress is welcome but not required.

Finding a spot

The best place to start is the Village Hall, where you can see the lanterns before the judging and catch the procession setting off. Once it is moving, follow at a respectful distance or wait on the route for it to come past: the joy of a punkie procession is the line of small lights in the dark, which you see best from a little way off.

The singing happens on doorsteps, so do not crowd the houses. Let the children and their families go first, and leave room for residents to come to the door.

Questions people ask

Where it is

The pin shows the approximate area. Open in OpenStreetMap