HAWKWOOD college will be celebrating its 70th anniversary this May Day.

Hawkwood Centre for Future Thinking is inviting families to come to its May Day Festival on Monday, May 7 from 10am to 5pm.

On offer is a packed programme of free taster sessions of the college’s courses, entertainment for children and food.

There will also be maypole dancing and live music courtesy of Dodo Street Band - known as “the last word in Celtic Gypsy klezmer”.

“Being an independent charity, Hawkwood has had to be adaptable and flexible, demonstrating and meeting the current need for sustainability and positive change, all of which is very much part of the Stroud ethos,” said Mayor Kevin Cranston, who will open the event at 10.30am.

The college was founded in 1948 on Rudolf Steiner’s anthroposophical values.

Though its course programme has, according to its website, “broadened” since then, “the original Steiner impulse is always at the heart of this organisation.”

Current upcoming courses include summer oil painting, an introduction to practical spirituality, and a workshop on the Alexander Technique.

“As the world becomes increasingly volatile, we need oases of calm and well-being, where challenges can be addressed in creative ways,” said Alicia Carey, Hawkwood CEO.

“It’s our mission as the Centre for Future Thinking to provide this in our work, residencies and course programme.”