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A man of leaves leads the sweeps through Rochester.
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Free festival over the early May bank holiday weekend (2026: 2–4 May). Check before you go.
May in Rochester: a man made of leaves leads the sweeps' parade through the old town.
Chimney sweeps once took 1 May as their holiday, parading through Rochester with blackened faces, music and dancing to collect money. At the heart of the procession was Jack in the Green, a figure entirely covered in a cone of leaves. The custom later died out, but it now returns every May bank holiday weekend as the Rochester Sweeps Festival. Medway Council describes a tradition reaching back about three hundred years. Jack in the Green leads the parade on the bank holiday Monday, with music and dancing in the streets of the old town.
One sourceOnly one written account of this legend has been found so far.