Pearly Kings and Queens Harvest Festival
The Pearly Kings and Queens are quite a sight to behold in their sparkling, pearl-encrusted Smother Suits. We’ve been fascinated since we first got a glimpse of the animated Pearlies in Mary Poppins as children and all 28 Pearly Families in London will once again be coming together for their annual Harvest Festival on 30th September.
The idea of Pearly Kings and Queens came about after Henry Croft started sewing stray pearls to his clothing to draw attention to himself and help him raise money to help his fellow orphans and other unfortunates. The idea of the pearl-encrusted Smother Suits and Skeleton suits spread with the news of Croft’s charity work and soon there were several Pearly Families in London doing similar charity work. Eventually, there were 28 families – one for each London borough plus one for the City of Westminster and one for the City of London.
Today’s Pearly Kings and Queens will be out in force at the annual Harvest Festival, parading from Guildhall Yard to St Mary-le-Bow Church on Sunday 30th September. Visitors to the event will be entertained by marching bands, live traditional entertainment and donkeys and carts as used by the original Pearlies. The Festival begins at 1pm in the Guildhall Yard, with the procession making their way from there to St Mary-le-Bow Church in time for a service at 3pm.
The procession itself is worth going along to see – numerous Pearly Kings and Queens in their customised outfits, making their way through London streets en masse. Many of those in attendance on the day will be able to trace their roots back through Pearly history and most have fascinating stories to tell.
Watch out for the patterns formed by the pearls, each of which tells its own story. Some of the most popular designs include horseshoes for luck, doves for peace, hearts for charity, anchors for hope and wheels to represent the circle of life.
Admission to the Harvest Festival is free of charge but donations are welcome. All funds raised on the day will be given to the Whitechapel Mission.
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