Alnwick Fair

Alnwick Fair is an annual costumed event. It was held every June between 1969 and 2006 in the market town of Alnwick, Northumberland, England. Opinions vary about whether the fair is intended as a recreation of a medieval trading fair, or of a 17th century agricultural fair, but at any rate historical verisimilitude usually takes second place to a sense of fun and a celebration of local heritage in general. Until 2004 the event opened on Fair Sunday with a costumed parade involving every local club and organisation that cares to join, and continued through the week, during which all locals and shopkeepers are encouraged to dress in period costume, and the town's numerous hostelries lay on entertainment that usually takes the form of folk music and/or games involving lots of drinking. During 2004 and 2005 the Fair was shortened to a 5 day event starting on Wednesday and ending with a parade. The event is centered on the market place, where local traders and craftsmen sell vaguely historical goods or items with a local flavour, whilst entertainment is provided on a makeshift stage. This consists of performances by distinguished local musicians, undistinguished but enthusiastic local musicians, local schoolchildren and visiting performers. The highlight of the entertainment is the 'Pied Powder Court' (pied poudre is French for dusty feet). Several times a day, some nubile young costumed wench who may or may not have volunteered earlier is hauled onto the stage and briefly tried for some contrived and trivial offence in an entertaining manner by a rather suspect 'judge' last seen selling electrical goods at a shop down the road, and by a jeering mob who have already decided the outcome. She is then tied to a chair on the end of a pole and ducked spectacularly into a pond (or 'skip') of suspiciously dirty water by three or four members of the authentically-costumed local militia ('Alnwick First Foot-and-Mouth'); she then proceeds to splash said water all over those members of the audience who were incautious enough to stand too near the front.

In recent years Alnwick Fair has suffered from a case of diminishing returns. This promoted the decision to reduce the festival to five days. For many of the locals the novelty value has long since worn off, and many of those responsible for its vitality in earlier years have moved on, while the town's other annual Summer events, the Music festival and Castle Tournament, have, presumably, taken their share of the limited local supply of organisational energy, funding and creativity. The traders' stalls seldom fill the modest market place, and new entertainment, it seems, is becoming harder to attract.
The Fair for 2007 is due to be held for the first time in July, taking for the first time the theme of "magic".

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