The Oyster Girls is a ladies' Morris dance side from the Isle of Wight.

The side has been dancing for over twenty years, though with much change of personnel over the years. The very first dance that the group learned was to the tune "The Oyster Girl", hence the name. We don't actually eat oysters while dancing, or sell them, or even wave them around or clash with them in dances.

The Oyster Girls dance loosely in the north-west tradition of Morris dancing, and wears clogs while dancing. Some of the dances that we do originate from the north-west, but others we have made up ourselves. We call it the Isle of Wight tradition, and it is very very old, dating all the way back to the last Millennium! Some of our dancers are even older...

You can read more about our dances here.

Quite a few of the Oyster Girls are married to the Men of Wight. (Not to all of them at once, you understand.) Half of them are also in Mr Baker's Dozen, and a couple of them are also Wight Bells. What is it that people say about islanders and in-breeding?

The Oyster Girls practice hard all winter, and "dance out" on Wednesdays during the summer, as well as the occasional weekend. We mostly dance on the island, but occasionally pluck up our courage to venture over the sea to dance on The Mainland. You will probably recognise us if you see us, since our bright green dresses are rather distinctive.

When we dance, we hand around a collecting jug, and we donate money every year to various local charities. Charities helped lately include the Mountbatten Hospice, and local branches of the Marie Curie Nurses and the RSPCA.