Royal Victoria Park in Bath is set to host the Carters Steam Fair for the last time, as the vintage funfair arrives in the city for its final tour.
Photo © Carters Steam Fair
The popular funfair includes over 70 years of traditional British fairground rides and side stalls, which have been restored using traditional techniques.
Dating from the 1890s to the 1960s, the rare collection of vintage fairground rides has featured in films such as Paddington 2 and Rocketman and TV shows including Worzel Gummidge and Call the Midwife.
The fair will be open daily between 11am – 7pm from Saturday 13th August until Monday 29th August, with free entry every day.
Alongside the rides, there are rare vintage vehicles which are used to pull and power the fair, all of which have been restored and painted by hand using traditional signwriting techniques.
Fairground owner Joby Carter says: “Our collection of vintage travelling fairground rides is the largest in the world. There’s nowhere else that you’ll see as much traditional fairground art in one place.
“I encourage anyone visiting to take a close look at the lettering and artwork at the fair- it has all been done by hand using traditional signwriting skills and techniques – no computers or fancy software programmes!
“Stand next to our brightly coloured trucks with huge lettering over 1 meter high and see if you can figure out how we manage to paint it all by hand.
“Over the years we’ve been touring the fair I estimate that we’ve spent over £250,000 on gold leaf alone. We love it when we see our visitors appreciating the effort we take to keep the fair looking so good – please take photos and tag us on social media!
“It’s great to be back at Royal Victoria Park which is always a highlight of our tour. It’s such a fabulous park with so much for families to enjoy!
“I know that people will be sad this will be our final visit, but we hope that you will visit the fair when we find a new permanent site.
“When my dad started the fair, he wanted it to be for the many and not the few. As private keepers of heritage we have invested thousands of hours over the years to ensure that these rides could be enjoyed by so many.
“We have spared no expense on restoring these rides to the condition they once were when they were new, even painting by hand and using real gold leaf.
“We started on a jubilee year in 1977, we are now ending on a jubilee year, it just feels like the right time to do this.”
The Carters fair is currently for sale, and the owners are looking for a new permanent home for the attraction which will make it easier to preserve the legacy of the vintage rides for future generations.
