When: 17th – 23rd June 2017
Where: Broadstairs, Kent
£: Ticket prices vary depending on the event. Many events are free.
What is it?
Broadstairs Dickens Festival will take place in Kent, from Saturday 17th to Friday 23rd June, with parades, plays, music, and talks. The fun, eclectic, festival has taken place annually since 1937.
Ticketed events during the festival will include a Mothers Ruin Gin Tasting, Vintage Music Hall, Catherine Dickens Luncheon, a Mead, Cheese and Pickle Tasting, a Victorian Banquet, a performance of the Pickwick Papers, and an Elegant Afternoon Tea.
Free events during the festival will include events on the festival stage, a Country Fair, a Grand Parade, Frolics on the Green, Coffee Dickensian Style, Beach Parties, and the Bandstand Players.
The Broadstairs Dickens Festival kicks off at 10am on the Saturday with a Victorian Country Fair at Victoria Gardens. The fair is free to attend and will take place daily until Thursday 22nd, with stalls selling local produce, gifts and collectibles, a bar, children’s games and croquet. Living history performers will also be wandering around the fair.
Also on the Saturday will be the Grand Parade, which will start on the high street and finish at Victoria Gardens. The parade will feature a horse-drawn carriage, Queen Victoria and Dickens characters, and a pipe and drum band.
Throughout the festival there will be all sorts of Dickensian characters on the loose at Victoria Gardens and on The Prom. Look out for policeman making arrests, wives chasing naughty husbands with rolling pins, and militant maids marching.
More info: www.broadstairsdickensfestival.co.uk and www.facebook.com/BroadstairsDickensFestival