Rochester’s attractions:

• Castle
• Cathedral
• Dickens Christmas Festival or Sweeps Festival

The city of Rochester has strong connections with the writer, Charles Dickens, and at Christmas there is a Dickensian Christmas festival with people dressed as characters from his novels walking around the city and acting out scenes of life. In the evening there will be a candle-lit procession down the High Street in Rochester. During the first May bank holiday weekend the Sweeps festival is a show of traditiional Morris dancing, which remembers the annual holiday for the people who cleaned chimneys.

Rochester Trips in 2025:

Saturday 3rd May (Sweeps)
Saturday 6th December (Christmas)

Practical Information
Sweeps Festival :
Meeting times: 09.00
Meeting Place: St. Pancras Station (by Thameslink barriers)
Return time: 17.00 (approximately)
Price: £34

Christmas Festival:
Meeting times: 09.00
Meeting Place: St. Pancras Station (by Thameslink barriers)
Return time: 17.00 (approximately)
Price: £34

See photos from the last Rochester Christmas Festival trip

See photos from the last Rochester Sweeps Festival trip