I’ve written this post as my piece of ‘extra information’ to accompany a flash fiction story inspired by this prompt, which is courtesy of Pixabay:
The story can be read here.
A Look at the History of Fairs
A fair, or the older version of the word, faire or fayre, is a gathering of people for various entertainments and activities. Many fairs are temporary, some lasting for a mere afternoon, others for lasting for several weeks. Types of fairs include trade fairs, street fairs, agricultural shows, fêtes, festival and travelling carnivals or funfairs.
It was once believed that the Romans introduced fairs into Britain, and the word fair is derived from the Lain word, feria. But the tradition is more deeply rooted, having its origin in pagan customs. Their seasonal gatherings, thought to be for festivity and trade, contained the elements of the fair.
Following the Norman Conquest, trade became the more important part of holding a fair, when they were restructured along French lines. Charters were granted by the king, giving fairs legal status, and they became increasingly important to the economic life of the country. Fairs were often tied to Christian occasions, such as Saints’ Days at the local church, and became important landmarks in the calendar, socially and culturally. As well as drawing in traders and farmers, they were venues for a variety of entertainments, including jugglers, tumblers and musicians. Dancing bears were sometimes a crowd-drawing feature.
Close to 5,000 fairs were granted royal charters during the Middle Ages. An example of one such fair is the Nottingham Goose Fair, granted a charter by King Edward I in 1284, (Edward was the king responsible for the building of the Welsh castles I did posts about a few weeks ago.)
By the 18th century the trading side of fairs had waned, and some fairs, like the famous Bartholomew Fair in London, were devoted entirely to pleasure and amusement. It was around this time that the first fairground rides appeared – simple, hand-turned roundabouts and swingboats. Shows were still the main attraction and were until the 1860s when engineer, Frederick Savage devised a method of driving roundabouts by steam power. Since they didn’t depend upon muscle power, roundabouts were soon made larger, more heavily ornamented and more spacious:
Picture of ‘Sea-and-Land’ a fairground amusement ride from the 1880s. Author unknown. Public Domain
Fairs of all types are still very popular today. In Nottingham, Goose Fair is an annual attraction and people return to it year after year. It is held on 1st October. Here are some pictures of it:
In India, the Kumbh Mela, held every 12 years at Allahabad, Haridivas, Nashik and Ujjain, is one of the largest fairs in the country. Sixty million people gathered in 2001, making it the largest gathering in the world. In the U.S. fairs draw 150 million people each summer. Children’s camps range from breeding small animals to robotics, whilst the organization 4-H (a youth development programme) has become a traditional association.
Millie Thom 
Very interesting! Thanks for taking the time to create this post!
Thank you for finding it interesting, PJ. I had too much information to put with the story, especially as I’d already written about the dialect. 🙂
You are always welcome to put your footnote information and historical information in your story’s post. People have the choice of reading it or not.
That’s good to know, thank you. I do like to keep them together, but if the ‘extras’ are long, it makes a rather huge post! Some topics I can keep short. Often it’s the pictures that make posts seem very long.
You put a lot of detail in your posts and that, along with your historical knowledge, makes them so interesting!
What a great compliment. Thank you!
You’re welcome! It is true!
❤ ❤
Now be honest Millie. Were you thinking about Vanity Fair?
‘Vanity Fair’ originally comes from Bunyan’s The Pilgrim’s Progress (1678–my Lord!) It’s a fair (pilgrims love fairs) in a town called Vanity. It’s an allegorical work, so I’ll let you guess about the significance of the town’s name.
Well, it does seem as though my post follows on really well from our previous chat about your own lovely piece of writing. You might be right – perhaps I did have ‘Vanity Fair’ on the brain. I’ve already added the book to my reading list, you’ll be pleased to hear.
Thank you, Prospero. 🙂
Wow this is amazing Millie very nice!!
Hi, Lyn.Thank you for the lovely comment. I love fairs and could have written a lot more about the history of them, but that would have made a very long post! I grew up in a seaside/holiday town, and we had a permanent fairground – well, at least from Easter until October. It did close down for the winter months. I loved the stalls and rides when I was a child. 🙂
That is such a nice memory!
Thank you! 😀
your posts are so amazing, the photos are really perfect and I always feel like I am there!
This post is a fun read for me since I’m a big fan of fairs. I always find fairs have so much to see and experience. Thank you for the awesome post Millie! ❤ It is greatly informative and interesting enough to make me fantasize my next fair experience 😀
Thanks, Millie for another excellent post—and Khloe(?) for expressing the same thoughts!
Thanks, Izzy. Fairs are fascinating things! I always loved to go at night when the lights made it seem quite magical – and seemed to transport me into a different world. 🙂
I can never get enough of them (especially their nightly transformations)
Night time’s the absolute best for rairs, isn’t it. It makes everything so much more atmospheric. Thank you, Izzy. Sorry I’m late getting back to comments. Our internet went off on Saturday morning and we’re still not back online (it’s now Monday). BT are such rubbish providers, especially out to the villages. We just get forgotten!
🙂
I still love fairs, Khloe, even at my age. I grew up in a seaside town which had a permanent funfair for holidaymakers. We also had regular visits from travelling fairs. It all seemed quite magical. 🙂
I find people love fairs regardless of age 🙂 Who doesn’t want to have fun, right ? 😉 How wonderful it is to have regular visits from travelling fairs! 🙂 🙂 🙂
I totally agree, Khloe. Fairs are magical, especially at night with all the lights. 🙂
“Magical” is the perfect word for describing fairs 😉
This is a wonderful post. Thanks for sharing and congrats!
Another wonderful post. I love the fairs! It must be sitting deep in my genes 🙂