Rochester Pipe Festival (30/04)

A frivolous, but never despondent person with stairs, ropes and brooms cheerfully looks around the city — with a tiled roof, this remains the image of a chimney sweep from children's tales.

In ancient times, the craft of the chimney sweep was enveloped by a certain mystery. There were legends about rich gentlemen who lost their children and after many years of inconsolable grief found them among the chimney sweeps. Stories surrounded the chimney sweeps with a halo of secrecy. Nobody ( except their owners ) dared to mistreat the chimney sweeps: after all, it is not known who he is, — what if he turns out to be the son of some peer or noble lord?

Many of those who believe in miracles began to believe that chimney cleaning — is a kind of difficult test, after which sooner or later chimneys of noble origin will regain their titles and titles; therefore, it was customary to respect the craft of the chimney sweeps. With the development of technology, the need for chimneys has decreased.

There are about 600 chimneys in England now. Although modern heating systems do without people in this profession, in old houses with fireplaces and stoves there are still enough pipes in need of cleaning. And besides, according to popular beliefs, meeting with the chimney sweep brings happiness, and they are willingly invited to weddings.

At the end of April — in early May, England hosts the Rochester Pipe Festival ( Rochester chimney sweeps festival ), which attracts many tourists from all over the world, as it is very picturesque and has a rich 3-day program.

The festival has been going on since 1981. The program of the festival — performances by dancers and artists, parades of chimney sweeps, dances around the May pole and many other bright and exciting events. There is also entertainment for children.

One of the most important traditions of the festival is a colorful procession with dances, where the procession is led by « my lord ». This is followed by a procession with « Jack-in-Green » — a boy decorated with green leaves and branches, in front of him they somersault and do different things teenagers dressed as clowns, and after them lords and ladies walk. The procession is closed by « milady », which collects « channel ». Jack-in-Zeleni personifies the spirit of spring and forest revered during these traditional rites of spring.

And, of course, in the evening the fun smoothly moves to local pubs, where beer is pouring in the river, and local music groups entertain the audience all night.

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