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Ilkeston's annual Charter
Fair has a long and varied history behind it - a history that now spans 750 years! Take a
closer look at the event that makes Erewash buzz.
- Ilkeston's
750th Charter Fair is underway.
It was opened at noon by the Mayor
of Erewash, Councillor George Buckley, and 14-year-old David Crew of Long Eaton who won
the right to open the fair when he came first in a competition to design the front cover
of the fair's programme.
Dating back to 1252, the Charter Fair is older than Nottingham's Goose Fair and to mark
the anniversary it will run for five days instead of the usual four - until 10pm on Sunday
20th October.
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| David Crew rings the bells
to open the fair |
The extra Sunday date will
be a special family fun day, with street entertainers in the town centre during the
afternoon and a thanksgiving service outside the Town Hall at 2pm. The fair will run from
2.30pm.
The original fair consisted of little more than peddlars, agricultural traders and a few
opportunist entertainers.
Now, it is widely regarded as one of the UK's premier modern-day fairs and boasts some of
the biggest and best travelling fairground rides in the country.
A magnet for visitors to Ilkeston, it enjoys the distinction of a slot in the calendar of
nationally known Autumn fairs, along with Nottingham's Goose Fair and the Great Hull
Pleasure Fair.
The fair combines the latest 'white knuckle' rides with traditional favourites including
the gallopers, waltzer, and dodgems, which take over the Market Place, Upper Bath Street,
East Street, South Street, Queen Street, Wharncliffe Road and Pimlico, transforming the
town into a flashing plethora of colour.
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