Around 1000 chimney sweeps, joined by children with blackened faces, descended on the northern Italian village of Santa Maria Maggiore for the 25th annual celebration of their profession.
Sweeps from Europe and the United States arrived for three days of folk spectacles.
A law in 1873 banned the use of children under 14 in the perilous occupation.
<i>Picture:</i> Back to black old days
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