Yesterday, we went to Rochester which is about an hour East of London. We just planned to go there to have a look, Charles Dickens lived there... but as soon as we arrived closer to the streets we could enjoy the local music, the colours, the fancy dress and a lot of joy around : what a surprise, it was The Sweeps Festival!
"Imagine a world 400 years ago where children were used as chimney sweeps. The pay was low, it was a dirty trade and there was little reward for the men who did the job and even less for children.
Medway’s annual Sweeps Festival recreates the joy and laughter enjoyed by the chimney sweeps at their traditional holiday: the one time of the year the sweeps could leave the soot behind and have some fun. The sweeps’ holiday was traditionally held on 1 May each year. Locally, they used to mark the occasion by staging a procession through the streets of Rochester."
4 comments:
Those were sad times when children had to sweep chimneys but the festival looks like a lot of fun. Glad you had a wonderful easter.
Seems to be a funny event!
Salut!
Franka
great photos!
hello ladies :)
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