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Purim in Stamford Hill: A riotous ritual of colour and dance

Clapton Common transforms for the yearly carnival celebration of Jewish survival

March 16, 2025 10:23
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2 min read

A clown, a nurse and a police SWAT officer stroll down the street. A rocket ship follows them. This is not the setup for a joke, but a scene straight from Stamford Hill on Purim.

The Charedi answer to Notting Hill Carnival, Purim in this pocket of north-east London is an explosion of Yiddish songs, raucous dancing and toddlers dressed as fruit. The streets throb with honking cars, parade floats blast music, and children dart through the throngs in increasingly surreal costumes. Purim in full, unfiltered swing.

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One man in his 20s, Chaim, is dressed as a giant smiling emoji. What is his favourite thing about the festival, I ask? “Togetherness and unity,” he beams, swigging from a plastic cup of wine as he ambles through Clapton Common. He is, quite literally, dressed as pure happiness.

The costumes ranged from sweet to eccentric. Some families committed to themes – a loveliness of ladybirds, a colony of penguins, a band of pirates chased three tiny bears into a house. From lifeguards to pilots and horse riders to zookeepers, this is the Stamford Hill of dreams. A trio of little girls in Indian saris and a boy in a Mexican sombrero and poncho might make some liberally minded people wince with cries of cultural appropriation, but when a group of small children in tartan kilts marched past, their sheer cuteness can’t be denied.