Every year during August, Broadstairs comes alive with the sounds of folk music, sea shanties, and morris dancing, marking the the arrival of Broadstairs Folk Week.
This annual week-long folk music and dance festival celebrates the cultural heritage and folk traditions of the local area with a diverse lineup of live music, craft workshops, and traditional dance.
I grew up in Thanet and have experienced many Folk Weeks. The lively performances and street revelry is completely normal to me. It was only when I told my bemused friends about the hooden horses that I realised how bizarre it all sounded to others!
The hooden horse is a fond memory from childhood that no doubt ignited my love of folklore and historic traditions. Having not visited Broadstairs during Folk Week in over a decade, I took a trip back to experience it all over again as an adult.
The Folk Week festivities start at the beginning of the week with a parade from Pierremont Avenue, winding down through the high street and onto the promenade. The procession ends with a show at the bandstand featuring live music and dancing.
Throughout the week, there are ticketed events, gigs, ceilidhs, and workshops in local venues and bars. As well as free entertainment including concerts, dances, and a craft fair around The Bandstand and in Victoria Gardens.
Getting to Broadstairs Folk Week is easy—once you're in the area. The Thanet Loop operates 7 days a week running in a continuous cycle through Ramsgate, Broadstairs, and Margate with buses up to every 8-10 minutes. I took the bus with the dog and although busy, it was a quick and affordable way to travel.
We visited late in the week on the penultimate day of the festival to catch the hooden horses performance at the Bandstand. Although there were crowds, it wasn't uncomfortable and everyone was in a good mood. We didn't find queues for food or drink to be long, no matter where we went, and there was always a seat free.
There is plenty to see and do during Broadstairs Folk Week without a ticket. Around every corner, impromptu music and dancing takes place in the streets while pesky hooden horses tease the crowds—a centuries-old folk tradition from the local region.
With a black wooden head, red snapping mouth, and sack cloth body, the hooden horse is a curious spectacle that adds a theatrical magic to the festival. These mischievous tricksters like to taunt the audience by stealing hats and scaring children.
These are the mischievous tricksters I know very well from my childhood. Although hooded animals appear throughout British folklore, "hoodening" is a distinctly Kentish folk custom unique to the local area. Offer them a coin and they'll swallow it, or otherwise they might steal your hat!
Are dogs allowed at Folk Week?
As most of the festivities take place outside in public areas, dogs are allowed at Folk Week. Unlike Broadstairs Food Festival, dogs are allowed in the Victoria Gardens market and at The Bandstand.
The only places dogs are not allowed to go during Folk Week is into the ticketed events. These are usually small venues that get very busy so wouldn't be appropriate for dogs anyway!
For more dog-friendly things to do in Thanet, visit my travel guides to Margate, Broadstairs, and Whitstable.