Widecombe Fair 2024
A celebrebation of Dartmoor life!
"Live music all day long. Devon axe racing championshiop. Vintage displays. Craft & produce. Livestock. Dogshow. Food talls. Bar and more!"
It was our 4th time as an exhibitor at Widecombe Fair. We love the excuse to visit a favourite place and catch up with friends. (It was on a visit to my parents, who lived just outside Widecombe, that we came up with the idea of PACMAT in 2015.)
The fair is always held on the second Tuesday of September. The earliest recorded fair was back in 1850. It gave an opportunity to sell livestock such as locally bread sheep and Dartmoor ponies. In the 1920s and 30s sports, arts and crafts were introduced. Over the years it’s grown, occupying the “Fair Field’ and up to the village green. A park and ride system operates from nearby.
Uncle Tom Cobley always makes a visit. There’s a running race back to the fair from a secret drop off, bands, singers, morris dancers, classic cars tug of war and the famous hay bale tossing.
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The day before, the sun had shone, but typically on the morning of the fair this year it looked a little grey. We packed the van and headed down to the fair field. As exhibitors we had a parking pass. We were greeted by the volunteers (friendly, familiar faces) directing traffic in the pouring rain.
We found our pitch, next to The Dartmoor Preservation Society and opposite The Dartmoor National Park. Both lovely neigbbours to have. After our annual struggle of setting up the gazebo we got to organising our stand. We were all set up and ready for the first visitors by 9am.
The weather was a bit hit and miss all day. Our Rain Ponchos came in handy and our stand became a popular place to hang out for a chat and shelter.
A nice surprise was to see my uncle Jolyon and Jane in their vintage Austin, driving around the ring. They'd travelled down from Somerset for the show.
As the day went on we (Guy and I) took turns to pop to see the centre ring activities or the performances in the large marquee. I loved looking around the craft and produce tents.
After the highlight of the bale tossing and excitement of the running race, we packed up our stand (ready to dry out the following day)... and headed to the Ruggle to warm up and have a bite to eat.
We loved meeting everyone who came by. And of course, the weather was glorious the following day, making it easier to dry everything out.
Thank you to all the organisers and volunteers for another wonderful day at Widecombe Fair.