Frost Fair on the Thames in London

The Frost Fair was a rare, surreal winter party in old London when the River Thames froze solid during the Little Ice Age (mostly in the 1600s to early 1700s). With the water locked under ice, Londoners turned the river into a temporary street of booths, bonfires, games, skating, drinking, and dancing. Vendors sold food and trinkets, performers entertained crowds, and the whole city gathered where boats normally passed. It felt impossible: a carnival on a river, framed by smoky rooftops, Old London Bridge, and St Paul’s in the mist, then gone again when the thaw returned.