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Nottingham's Goose Fair
Goose Fair is traditionally held in Nottingham on the first Thursday, Friday and Saturday of October every year though for the past five years it has started with a special charity night on the Wednesday.
Goose Fair is the biggest non fixed fair in the land. Over 1 million attend each year. The official opening is marked at noon by the Lord Mayor of Nottingham ringing a pair of silver bells after the reading of the Proclamation in the presence of the Sheriff of Nottingham.
The fair, including the showmen's living vans, covers about 18 acres. There are around 55 riding machines plus another 40 or so for children. A further 225 games stalls invite the public to have-a-go.
A further 400 stalls sell novelties, luminous bangles are always a favourite, as well as refreshments. The aroma of Goose Fair foods fills the air: hot dogs, mushy peas, cock on a stick, candy floss, toffee apples brandy snap and coconuts.
No one really knows exactly how many centuries the fair has existed, though it is thought that The Danes established a market/fair in Nottingham over a thousand years ago.
The first official recognition came when King Edward I granted Goose Fair a charter in 1284 to mark the Feast of St Matthew. The Fair has failed to take place on only 11 occasions since being made 'official,' in 1284. The plague of 1646 intervened and then there was also the matter of two World Wars.
By 1927 the new Council House was almost complete but not even the building work could stop Goose Fair, though it was soon to be moved from the Market Square. Unsurprisingly, it all began with geese. Thousands of them were herded into The Market Square each year to be sold for the feast of St Matthew. Some were walked from Lincoln and Norfolk, more than a hundred miles away, their feet coated in tar and sand as make-shift shoes.
Then geese went out of fashion and the side-shows which had grown up around the fair became attractions in their own right.
Waxwork exhibitions became popular and animal shows became attractions too. There were soon comedians, clowns, dancing bears, bearded ladies. And eventually there were merry go rounds.
The fact that the fair has lasted for so long is an indication of it's popularity amongst locals.
They talk of Goose Fair weather when the nights begin to draw in and there's a hint of autumn in the air. www.nottinghamgoosefair.co.uk |
Nottingham
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