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The Nottingham Goose Fair is an annual travelling funfair held at the Forest Recreation Ground in Nottingham, England, during the first week of October, with the 2017 fair due to start at 17:30 on 4th October and running until 21:00 on Sunday 8th October. It is largely provided by showmen (travelling fair people). It is one of only three established fairs in the United Kingdom to carry the name, the others being the smaller Goosey Fair in Tavistock, Devon, and the even smaller Michaelmas Goose Fayre in Colyford in East Devon. In the 1400s geese were sold by huntsmen to local villagers in the forest grounds.
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The consensus among historians is that the fair probably started just after 1284, when the Charter of King Edward I referred to city fairs in Nottingham. The Goose Fair was cancelled due to the bubonic plague in 1646 and again during the two World Wars in the 20th century. 1927 was the last year it was held in Old Market Square in Nottingham City Centre; it was then moved to the Forest Recreation Ground because of redevelopment of the Square.
The Goose Fair started as a trade event and enjoyed a reputation for its high-quality cheese, although it is now known for its rides and games. Its name is derived from the thousands of geese that were driven from Lincolnshire to be sold in Nottingham.
Originally, the fair was held on 21 September, but in 1752, with the change to the Gregorian calendar, it moved to early October. The duration of the fair was shortened from eight days to three days in the 1800s.
Recent history
Nottingham Goose Fair is considered by many people to be one of the most prestigious fairs in the UK. However, in recent years, the dates of the fair have created a problem, as it now overlaps with the Hull Fair. Some of the top rides from the Goose Fair have therefore to travel directly from Nottingham to Hull, not opening at Hull until around the fourth day of the fair. This was avoided in 2013 by having Hull Fair start a week later than usual.
It is now held at the Forest Recreation Ground. After the turn of the 21st century its length was increased to four days, for the 700th anniversary, and was kept at four days afterwards. In 2006, the fair increased to five days with the addition of limited opening hours on the Sunday afternoon. However it proved unprofitable to open on the Sunday, so this was not repeated in 2007 although it was opened for five days again from 2009.
Goose Fair has seldom been affected by violence, but in 2004, Danielle Beccan, 14, was fatally injured.
In art and popular culture
The painting Nottingham Goose Fair by Noel Denholm Davis (1910) is held by Nottingham City Museums and Galleries. The Nottingham-based artist Arthur Spooner painted The Goose Fair, Nottingham in 1926. The painting was sold at Christie's in 2004 and is now displayed in Nottingham Castle.
The book English Journey by J. B. Priestley contains an account of the author's visit to the Goose Fair in 1933. One of Cecil Roberts's books, published in 1928, is called Goose Fair.
The goose fair has been used in television programmes as well as in films such as The Woman for Joe and Saturday Night and Sunday Morning.
The writer D. H. Lawrence would, while living in London between 1908 and 1912, return home to Nottingham every year to visit the Goose Fair.
The short story "Noah's Ark" by Alan Sillitoe is set in the Goose Fair.