Dumfries has a long history of funfairs and the travelling showpeople who return twice a year to the town.
And tomorrow the public will get to walk in the footsteps of the show families who have been operating on the banks of the Nith for generations.
The unique event gives people the chance to hear their stories while walking the path of local fairgrounds, past and present.
And it comes as Dumfries’ historic Rood Fair recently returned to the Whitesands for the first time in two years after the pandemic kept it away.
The autumn Rood Fair is one of three that used to be held in Dumfries – the July one is no more and the February fair has switched to March.
Centuries ago the fair would have been packed with horse trainers and merchants selling their wares, amid entertainment including acrobats, jugglers and minstrels. In the last century it became a hiring fair for domestic and farm servants. Nowadays, it is all about the excitement of the funfair.
And its history and some of the show families have become a labour of love for Dumfries artist Dr Tara Beall, who has been looking into showpeople’s historic connections with Dumfries as part of the Stove Network’s Atlas Pandemica project, with help from showmen Kevin Carter and Philip Paris.
She has created amazing new informational signage recalling the local fairs’ history and the families behind them.
Now, she is encouraging the public to join in tomorrow’s walk which is being hosted in partnership with Fair Scotland, a new charity created to promote the heritage and future of Scotland’s showpeople.
Tara said: “During interviews and conversations, it became clear that showpeople are an integral part of the fabric of Dumfries’ history, with everything from local folklore and leisure time to industry and infrastructure having been impacted by the shows and the people who run them.”
Tara added: “Many of the showpeople who attend Dumfries’ fairs call it ‘Biddall’s Bridge’ after the Biddall family. George Biddall (1848-1909) came to Dumfries with his family twice a year for the fairs, bringing their famous ghost illusion and mobile cinema and always set up in the same place every year – at the foot of the suspension bridge on the Whitesands. It was a prime spot for trade, given the foot traffic from mill workers and other local people.”
The free walk, from 1pm to 3pm, starts from the Wild Goose Festival Hub on Dumfries’ High Street and needs to be booked at https://thestove.org/event/fairground-walkabout-travelling-showpeople-and-dumfries-historical-riverfront-fairs-6/.
Spaces are limited but the event will be recorded.
