Caking Night

The rural fringes of Sheffield (Stannington, Dungworth, Deepcar, Loxley, Dore), once had a curious old tradition called CAKING NIGHT. It was similar to Halloween in that children went from house to house in costume in the hope of being given sweet treats or money for Bonfire Night fireworks; meanwhile, the adults attended the pubs of the area in fancy dress. The aim was total disguise, with other pubgoers invited to guess who the people were underneath the costume. This all took place the day after Halloween – 1st November, the eve of All Souls Day. It died out around the mid-2000s (pretty much killed off by the globalised tradition of Halloween), but after a twenty year hiatus, CAKING NIGHT IS BACK, reviving an ancient South Yorkshire custom. So don your fancy dress – the creepier and more bizarre the better – and head to the Crown & Glove pub at Stannington (one of the traditional Caking Night venues back in the day) from 5:30pm onwards. There will be prizes for best fancy dress, and the following week, French photograph Charles Freger will visit Stannington to photograph some of the best ‘CAKERS’ for his forthcoming book project.

96 Uppergate Road
Stannington
Sheffield
S6 6BY