The sense of sight has to work overtime at the fair. It is stimulated by the innumerable lights and by the garish colours. Our eyes record all these impressions in top gear.
It’s hard not to notice a fairground. Especially at night its glow is unavoidable. The countless lights, the flashy colours and the dashing design of the attractions provide an entrancing atmosphere. You don’t have to visit the attractions to have a good time: just watching it all is very satisfying. The cheerful visitors and all the festive and flamboyant elements of the fair mix to provide a fascinating feast for the eye. This is also the case with that 19th century offshoot of the fairground, the circus. The fairgoers’ senses of sight and hearing were also stimulated by the travelling theatre companies that used to perform at fairs.
Ferris wheel by night.
A Dragon Coaster at Nottingham Goose Fair in 1993.
Saint Giles Fair in Oxford, 1995. Oxford is one of the largest and oldest street fairs in England that is still held on the original site.
Elliot Hall’s Top Buzz No 1 (Top Scan) at the Rotherham Fair on Herringthorpe Playing Fields in 1994.
General view of Nottingham Goose Fair in 1961. Entertainment includes two boxing shows and freak and variety attractions.
Nottingham Goose Fair in the Market Square around 1900.
Pat Collin’s Racing Cockerels Roundabout at Nottingham Goose Fair in 1907.
General view of an unidentified fairground.
Saint Giles Fair in Oxford in 1920.
General view of Hull Fair. Attractions include a Cake Walk and a Razzle Dazzle Ride. The photo is taken in 1910.
J.P. Collins’ Lakin Walzer at the Birmingham Onion Fair in 1951.
Fair of Saint Anthony in Prato della Valle in Padova, Italy. The photo was taken in 1906.
The Wave Swinger Chairoplanes at Hull Pleasure Fair in 1997.