Roaring Twenties Lawn Party
Castle Hill at the Crane Estate
Ipswich, Massachusetts

"How long have you been Roarin'?" Turns out all it takes to make Ipswich feel like 1926 is a few hundred straw hats, some suspenders, live jazz, vintage cars, and an impressive commitment to linen.

I photographed the Roaring Twenties Lawn Party at Castle Hill on the Crane Estate, where the grounds filled up with swing dancers, picnics, parasols, antique cars, and people who clearly understood the assignment better than I did.

I kept drifting toward the quieter and slightly stranger moments. Individuals enjoying the rolling hills, two men posing like they had just closed a railroad deal. People wandering through the gardens, and tiny figures disappearing across that huge lawn.

The whole thing felt half historical reenactment, half very stylish fever dream, with a dash of a regional burn. Which is probably why it was so fun to photograph.

The Roaring Twenties Lawn Party returned to Castle Hill on the Crane Estate in Ipswich, Massachusetts, for two days of live jazz, swing dancing, vintage fashion, and wonderfully committed characters. Co-presented by Boston Swing Central and The Trustees, the annual event turns the estate’s sprawling lawn into a lively Jazz Age picnic, complete with dance lessons, Charleston contests, vintage vendors, afternoon tea, mansion tours, and the occasional bootlegger.

The 2026 celebration carried the theme “Reimagine the Jazz Age,” pairing the fun and spectacle of the era with a broader, more inclusive look at its history. Highlights included Florence’s Glad Rags Strut and Stroll, suffrage-inspired costumes, the Poetry Brothel, family lawn games, and crowds dressed as though 1926 had never ended.

I photographed the event with an eye toward the small moments between the main attractions: the gestures, glances, odd pairings, elaborate outfits, and flashes of humor that made the afternoon feel less like a historical reenactment and more like its own strange, joyful world.