Editing Freetown (section)

== Culture ==
The city has the [[Sierra Leone National Museum]] and [[Sierra Leone National Railway Museum]]. There are also various historical landmarks connected to its founding by [[African Americans]], [[Liberated African]]s, and [[Afro-Caribbean]]s whose descendants are the [[Sierra Leone Creole]] people.<ref name=Thayer>{{cite journal|last=Thayer|first=James Steel |year=1991 |title=A Dissenting View of Creole Culture in Sierra Leone|journal=Cahiers d'Études Africaines |volume=31 |issue=121 |pages= 215–230 |doi=10.3406/cea.1991.2116 |url=https://www.persee.fr/doc/cea_0008-0055_1991_num_31_121_2116}}</ref><ref name=Browne-Davies>{{cite journal |last= Browne-Davies|first=Nigel |date=2014 |title=A Precis of Sources relating to genealogical research on the Sierra Leone Krio people |journal=Journal of Sierra Leone Studies |volume=3 |issue=1 |url=https://www.academia.edu/40720522}}</ref><ref name=Walker>{{cite book|last=Walker |first=James W |year=1992 |chapter=Chapter Five: Foundation of Sierra Leone |title=The Black Loyalists: The Search for a Promised Land in Nova Scotia and Sierra Leone, 1783–1870 |location=Toronto |publisher=University of Toronto Press |pages=[https://archive.org/details/blackloyalistsse0000walk/page/94 94]–114 |url=https://archive.org/details/blackloyalistsse0000walk |url-access=registration |isbn=978-0-8020-7402-7}}, originally published by Longman & Dalhousie University Press (1976).</ref><ref name="Taylor">{{cite book |last=Taylor |first=Bankole Kamara |title=Sierra Leone: The Land, Its People and History |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=I__jAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA68 |date=February 2014 |publisher=New Africa Press |isbn=9789987160389 |page=68}}</ref> The [[Cotton Tree (Sierra Leone)|Cotton Tree]] represents the christening of Freetown in March 1792. In downtown Freetown is the [[Connaught Hospital]], the first hospital constructed in West Africa that incorporated Western medical practices.

Freetown has a long-held tradition of organized cultural events taking place on specific dates to coincide with specific holidays or seasons within the calendar year. One such event is the Eastern Paddle Hunting Society's annual exhibition of a highly sophisticated masquerade, consisting of a costume built, in a fashionable sense, of various materials available: leather, sequins, sea shells, traditional cloths, etc. The masquerade, known as "Paddle", strategically takes to the streets of the eastern and central parts of the city, followed by members of the Eastern Paddle Hunting Society, traditional musical bands and a crowd of supporters. For years this event coincided with the Muslim holiday of [[Eid al-Adha]] until recently, as critics said such an event should not be held on the same day as Muslims celebrate Eid, as Islam is against the practices of secret societies and masquerades.

The "Tangays" Festival is usually held in November, with a traditional theme that involves virtually every aspect of Sierra Leonean culture. It takes place at the National Stadium. Towards the end of the festival, a couple of musical concerts are usually held in the main bowl of the stadium, with performances from local and international musical artists (especially contemporary artists from Nigeria and other African countries or the African diaspora).

Freetown has its own tradition of Christmas street parades, organised in neighbourhoods across the city. The month-long celebration gathers residents in the streets with a variety of [[Sierra Leonean cuisine|food]] and [[Music of Sierra Leone|traditional music]].