Those who enjoy rising with the sunrise or remaining awake through the night will find Oxford’s May Day festivities on Friday worth attending.

The Magdalen College ensemble will perform from the college tower’s summit at six in the morning, while morris dancers and additional musicians contribute to the celebratory atmosphere. Establishments serving food and drink will welcome guests bright and early.

Visitors adorned with flower-topped headwear, individuals in clown attire, and participants in vibrant clothing will line the streets during the early hours.

These archival images from the Oxford Mail document the substantial crowds that have gathered throughout the years.

The initial image, captured in 1993, depicts a fire performance that drew considerable notice along Broad Street. The second photograph features nine-year-old Katrina Gaskill and her six-year-old companion Lily taking part in the activities in 1989.

Members of the public stood in close proximity beneath Magdalen Tower in the third image from 1994.

Fortunately, those watching in the fourth photograph remained on the walkway in 2001, allowing performers ample room to showcase their talents.

The fifth photograph displays the Magdalen College choir delivering their performance from the tower in 1976, while the sixth shows their inquisitive counterparts in 2000 gazing outward and pondering how many below would hear their singing.

The 1989 May Day observances proved more eventful than typical. One individual entered the water while listening to the choir, and another woman lost consciousness as the sizeable crowd assembled. Both required transportation to medical facilities.

That same year, an unrelated gathering drew 300 attendees to the Oxford Canal bridge on Aristotle Lane in Jericho.

Oxford-based artist Michael Black fashioned a two-foot replica of Magdalen Tower and, with assistance from Headington Quarry morris dancers, marked the occasion away from the boisterous masses in the city centre. The replica even featured its own bells, though these tumbled down during their ringing at precisely six a.m.

Black initiated the gathering because the increasing attendance and amplified music at the primary event troubled him.

Despite the bell mishap, he later observed that numerous people remarked on how pleasant the atmosphere felt. It possessed a distinct quality, he explained, with a strong sense of neighbourhood.