Tradition comes in the shape of hundreds of morris dancers and live music this weekend.

The annual Sweeps Festival, which has been a staple of Rochester’s calendar for more than 35 years, attracts thousands to watch the spectacle and revel in the free entertainment on offer throughout the bank holiday weekend.

The traditional English folk dance to music comes in many styles, including Border Morris, who blacken their faces for a ritual disguise, dancing with sticks and jackets adorned with colourful strips – topped off with top hats.

Cotswold Morris sees dancers in white with baldricks – coloured bands across their chests denoting their team colours and bells around their legs. They wave white handkerchiefs and sticks and are accompanied by concertinas, melodeons and even whistles.

Look out for the distinctive Jack-in-the Green, an 8ft walking bush which symbolises the arrival of spring and which awakens on May Day.

It has been associated with the Rochester Chimney Sweeps since the mid-1600s and featured in Charles Dickens’ article Sketches by Boz.

As well as street performances, there will be fun family activities at Rochester Castle Moat and on Bank Holiday Monday Splat! will bring free craft workshops, children’s shows and roaming performers to the town between 11am and 4pm.

Throughout the weekend, there will be five outdoor stages with live music, a musical instrument fair, record fair and artisan produce fair, as well as bands playing in local pubs.

FESTIVAL HIGHTLIGHTS by Doug Hudson

The London Bulgarian Choir are one of the headline acts this weekend. The 25-strong vocal act have appeared in concert halls, embassies, TV studios, rock concerts and village squares around Europe.

They will be on the big stage in the Castle Gardens on Saturday, April 29, and will be followed by Medway favourites Sur Les Docks.

The French band from Dunkerque started coming over to the festival in the Nineties and now have a big following in the south of England with their brand of French punk/folk/maritime and original material.

Their fans aren’t restricted to England as they have organised a 58-seater coach of French followers who will stay in Rochester for the festival and see the group in action at several different venues.

Other overseas folk musicians will appear at Sweeps with the Heart Collectors from Australia, Track Dogs from Spain and Rik Van Den Bosch from Holland contributing to an international flavour of folk.

The Sailing Barge Kitty will be moored on Rochester Esplanade. It has a programme of folk music on board during the weekend when the public are welcome to enjoy the facilities of the renovated Thames barge. It’s free of charge but they also hold two ticketed concerts in the early evening of Saturday and Sunday with the Flowing and Sally Ironmonger.

For the real die hard traditionalists, hundreds of dancers will congregate at Kits Coty by Blue Bell Hill for the Jack-in-the-Green awakening ceremony to welcome in the summer at 5.32am on Bank Holiday Monday.

FESTIVAL DETAILS

The annual Sweeps Festival will be held from Saturday, April 29, to Bank Holiday Monday.

To get a full programme, go to medway.gov.uk/sweepsfestival

You can also get details at the Visitor Information Centre in Rochester High Street

GETTING THERE

The new Rochester Station is a short walk from the High Street. The new multi-storey car park at Rochester Station will be open and parking is available at the Civic Centre, Strood, throughout the festival.