Dickens Christmas festival

These are Dickens festival enthusiasts who turn up regularly for the twice yearly festivals.

For those who don't know; Dickens lived in Chatham as a child and then in Higham as an established writer later. Rochester lies between these two places and he was supposed to have always loved it and it was the inspiration for many of the locations and settings in his books.

This festival happens here every year at about this time in December.
Mostly there are crowds of people eating burgers, German sausages, hog roasts and glugging mulled wine and spiced cider.... and hopefully spending lots of money in the shops and at the stalls in the big marquee of crafts goods and the fair in the bailey and in the many pubs, coffee and tea shops!

There is a procession of people in costume several times throughout the week end.

There is a snow blowing machine! (You may laugh those of you with no need of such a device!)

I chose this particular image because, as well as looking good the revellers are standing in front of Demelza - the charity shop where I work on Mondays - which is why I left so much background in!