Pearly Kings and Queens Harvest Festival

London’s pearly tradition is positively peculiar.

Every September, pearly kings and queens
descend on Guildhall for the annual Harvest
Festival, which involves Morris and maypole
dancing, marching bands and a pearly
parade.

The tradition has its origins with 19th-century

costermongers (market traders) and during
the Victorian era, a street cleaner and rat
catcher by the name of Henry Croft became
the very first Pearly King. He might have
gotten the idea from the flashy style of the
coster kings and queens – elected to represent the collective interests of
the costermongers.

Inspired by the coster kings’ pizzazz and

community orientation, Henry smothered his
suit in mother-of-pearl ‘flashies’ (shiny
buttons) and set about collecting money for
charity. Impressed, the coster kings and
queens joined his charitable cause as pearly
kings and queens and soon every London
borough had its own
pearly royalty. And just like that, a working-class
tradition was born.
 Burns Supper
Burns Supper is a holiday which tributes famous Scottish
poet Rabbie (Robert) Burns and is held on January 25,
the anniversary of his 1759 death. One of his most
famous poems, The Address to the Haggis, has become
central to the celebration of Burns Supper. The ritual
consists of reading Burns' work and eating a meal that
includes, of course, haggis.

Haggis is made of the minced lungs,

heart, and liver of a sheep, encased in the stomach
along with beef or lamb, onions, and spices.