Great men are seldom over-scrupulous in the arrangement of their attire

Saturday arrived, bringing with it sunshine and the most anticipated day of the year – Dickensian Festival.  Ulverston could probably be called the “festival town” since they seem to have some sort of festival every week.  However, their most popular festival is without a doubt Dickensian Festival.  Since I first heard of this festival involving 1850’s style costumes (or fancy dress as they call it here), I knew I had to attend as I love any reason to wear a costume.  I was even more thrilled when I realized that the festival coincided with the arrival of Katie and Cailin, two others who love costume parties as much as I do.

 

The costume shop in town, Inspirations, had a small selection of costumes for rent, but the main source for costumes is through a catalogue that is located at one of the local clothing stores, and has a wide selection of costumes in various sizes.  Since Cailin and Katie are very tiny, we wound up getting their costumes from the catalogue since it had a better selection of dresses in small sizes.  In addition, they had an extensive selection of suits, cravats and top hats for men, so Kevin got his costume (and John’s that he couldn’t use :( ) as well.  My dress I found in the costume shop the last time I was in Ulverston.

 

When I arrived in England two weeks ago, I was greatly dismayed to find a beard on Kevin’s face.  However, the reason for this beard was evident when Kevin shaved authentic mutton chops for the festival.  While I absolutely HATE his beard, I actually love the mutton chops.  I’m trying to convince him to keep them for Christmas so that all our American family and friends can enjoy them.  So, if you are reading this in the States, make sure to request that he keeps them!

Before

After

Mutton chops completed, we set off with our costumes around 1 pm, walking up Market Street and taking a few pictures before we headed to our friends Fred and Jen’s house for a little party.  As we were heading up the street, we thought the costume aspect of the festival may have been an “embarrass the Americans” prank as we were the only ones in costume.  In addition, every time we tried to take a few pictures, random people kept taking our picture like we were a tourist attraction.  Needless to say, I was excited when we made it to Fred and Jen’s and I saw other people in costume. 

    

About 100 random people have the same pictures

Victorian Pimp?

Jen and Fred not only had a huge spread of delicious food, but the best view of the festival around.  You could see everything going without having to be outside in the cold.  We filled up on some yummy snacks and drinks before we headed outside to take part in the costume parade.

 

   

Cailin and Katie enjoy some non-Victorian Drinks.  Diet coke and a Dickensian please?

 

  Some of the other fantastic costumes

The costume parade was probably the weirdest part of the day.  Everyone in costume meets at the Town Hall and is lead through town by a woman dressed as Queen Victoria and accompanied by the town marching band and a Bag Pipe band.  I absolutely abhor bagpipes and some how we got stuck directly in front of them, which naturally made me very angry.  However, it was fun seeing all the other costumes.  The weird part came when everyone else in town watched the parade and took pictures.

 

Queen Victoria

 

 

 

 

 

If only the Von Schnauzers were here! 

AHH! Bagpipes!

 

After we made a spectacle of ourselves, we went back to Jen and Fred’s to warm up and watch the lights be switched on, after which we went to grab a drink at the Swan.  Overall, a fantastic day!  I hope to be able to come back next year and attend.  This time, I’m making sure John Felty and Doyle get there as well!