Don’t miss one of the world’s biggest May Festival celebrations this weekend

One of Europe’s largest annual celebrations of folk music and dance featuring UK and international artists will transform Rochester, in the south-east of England, into a spectacular kaleidoscope of colour and sound this weekend.

The Sweeps Festival, between Saturday, 29 April and Monday, 1 May, is a symbol of the beginning of the British summer.

The sound of hundreds of clogs clattering along the cobbled high street in the historic town of Rochester, in Medway, will fill the air this weekend.

The Sweeps Festival was historically a traditional holiday that chimney sweeps enjoyed on the May bank holiday each year. After working throughout the winter, they would welcome the much-needed break by processing through the streets of Rochester, accompanied by Jack-in-the-Green – a 7ft green giant character.

This weekend the ancient town of Rochester will be transformed into a stage offering with a dazzling array of traditional music, dancing and entertainment. On Monday, 1 May witness a parade of Morris dancers clattering down the historic high street.

Visitors to the festival will enjoy performances throughout the weekend from 45 Morris teams from around the country and beyond with a packed programme each day over the three-day spectacular.

An array of folk music will be on offer at venues across Rochester including headliners Sur Les Docks, The Singing Loins, Stompin Dave, FaltrUKeiras Jacob Bride’s ‘Mercurial’ and The Beard Conspiracy.

The festivities continue into the impressive gardens of Rochester Castle offering visitors performances on the main stage, a real ale tent, traditional fun fair for the young ones and a variety of opportunities to indulge in artisan produce, folk art, records and musical instruments across the town, as well as food stalls.

Medway Council has run The Sweeps Festival, together with founder Gordon Newton, since 1981. The annual festival was designed to recreate the joy and laughter enjoyed by chimney sweeps on their traditional holiday, welcoming the arrival of summer.

Charles Dickens, who lived and spent his final years penning his novels near Rochester vividly describes the Sweeps celebrations in his book, Sketches by Boz, in the scene, First of May.

Visitors to Rochester can enjoy Rochester Castle, the finest and tallest Norman castle keep in the country, and Rochester Cathedral, the second oldest cathedral in England, providing an impressive backdrop. There is also a superb range of bars, pubs and restaurants offering cuisine from around the world as well as bespoke independent shops – perfect for gifts – including England’s largest second-hand bookshop, Baggins Book Bazaar.

Medway is a leading tourist destination in the south-east and is easily accessible. Rochester is just 34 minutes by high-speed train from London and has excellent connections to major motorways, airports and the port of Dover is just 50 minutes away.

Paul Cowell, Head of Culture and Libraries at Medway Council, said: “The Rochester Sweeps Festival is brilliantly unique and quirky and is one of the largest gatherings of Morris sides in the world. It is a highly anticipated event and is one of the highlights of our impressive Medway Presents events programme which is set to be beyond your greatest expectations. Historic Rochester will be filled with live folk music and dance during this spectacular weekend and we are looking forward to welcoming thousands of people to this iconic festival.”

Gordon Newton said: “Since founding the festival more than 40 years ago, this May Festival celebration has from strength to strength. Morris Dancing is currently having a resurgence in popularity and we are looking forward to welcoming more than 40 Morris sides to this year’s festival. We are proud that we are giving new dancers an opportunity to perform in one of the largest May Festival celebrations of its kind, in the world. We are looking forward to celebrating century old traditions on the historic high street with a vibrant, local, national and international audience.”

To find out more about The Rochester Sweeps Festival, visit: visitmedway.org/SweepsFestival