Every June at the
seaside town of Broadstairs people gather to dress up and celebrate
one of it's most renowned visitors – Charles Dickens. As some of
you know this was where my love of costume first started, so here is
my not so impartial review of the festival. For me the day started
with a mad rush to reconstruct my crinoline as some little mousy
friends had got in to where I had stored it, so it needed disinfecting and
re-wiring. The tapes had shrunk in the wash which made getting the
hoops back in interesting to say the least. The start of the main
parade was 2.30 and we finally got there with 10 minutes to spare.
The day itself was windy but fair. People come from across the
country to take part in the festival and there is always a great
atmosphere just before the parade starts, as it is often the first
chance we get to meet up with everyone. After the parade was the
opening ceremony and here I think a special mention needs to go to
the Page Mason School of Dance and Drama who did brilliantly with
scenes from the musical “Oliver” despite how unruly the wind was
behaving.
Dickensian characters making their way along the promenade as part of the festival parade
A stalwart of the
festival is the Victorian Cricket match. This is no ordinary cricket
match, but a light hearted affair with interruptions from amongst
others a group of militant maids.
We were a bit unlucky
with the weather this year, but that didn't seem to stop anyone.
Militant maids in action at the cricket match
The
sea bathing was bracing for those brave souls who went into the
water, and for those of us who stayed on dry sand we had much fun
with a seaside picnic and traditional seaside musical entertainment.
Braving the sea
"Oh I do love to be beside the seaside"
Jason and Rose having fun with a windmill
A highlight of the
festival for the last few years have been the costume talks given by
Louise Woodcock for the ladies, and Vernon Mee for the gentlemen.
Louise's talks are always good fun with tongue in cheek humour and
this year was about dressing a Victorian bride. Vernon gives tips on
how a gentleman would dress and always brings along original objects,
which I love, and he kindly gave me permission to take photos of (and
gently drool over) an original 1850s waistcoat in his collection.
A bit of tight lacing going on here...
A very dapper gentleman
Food is always an
important part of the festival for my family, and here I need to give
a special mention to the Kiosk at the bandstand. They've been a
favourite of ours for the last couple of years. They've got a large
and diverse menu, their portions are huge, the quality is 5 star and
they are really good value for money. The staff are very friendly
and helpful. They have a great range for vegetarians too and my
husband would heartily recommend their Klubless Klub sandwich. Rose
(my daughter) became a huge fan of their cheese on toast, and having
tried it I can't blame her. Another great place to get food in Broadstairs is
Continental Corner. Although we only visited them once this year
their food was as delicious as ever and I very much enjoyed munching
into one of their giant hot dogs :D
Guilty pleasure - hotdog from Continental Corner
Two events of the
festival really stood out for me. I attempted to play croquet for
the first time in around 5 years, and I did gloriously badly at it.
Luckily for my foot my boot protected it from the hit I gave it. I
also got the pleasure of seeing Rose handle a croquet mallet and ball
for the first time, her desire for the balls to always form a
triangle and her minor obsession with the croquet peg :D Croquet is a
really fun game when played with the right group of people (and with
a flexible approach to the rules) and the couple of matches I watched
were playful and entertaining. I did feel sorry for the poor flower
beds though. The seaside frolics at the bandstand was the last event
of the festival, and was a really upbeat way to end the week.
Rose taking a serious interest in the croquet
Rose watching me try and play croquet
Other events of the
festival included the festival play, music hall, garden party, competitions, picnic
and talks. You can find more details about the festival at www.broadstairsdickensfestival.co.uk
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