Plans to restage Bartholomew Fair in Smithfield and through the City in 2023
Bartholomew Fayre returns this year on September 18-19 – hosted by The Charterhouse, and supported by Islington Council. In the past the event has run in the City in Cloth Fair and West Smithfield. It was started in 1133 to support Barts Hospital. Charterhouse Square The move shows the potential for new cross-boundary collaborations between … Continue reading “Bartholomew Fayre crosses the border in 2026”
Bartholomew Fair is being re-staged on September 19th and 20th as a family-friendly neighbourhood festival that is part of Open House Festival 2025. It promises to be great fun – but the original Fair provided rather different entertainments that wouldn’t play well today. Bartholomew Fayre 2025 London Museum promotes this year’s Fayre: “Across two jam-packed … Continue reading “Bartholomew Fayre re-staged as a community festival”
A review of Destination City, due out shortly, is likely to recommend that the future programme drops costly events like the “spectacular” 2023 version of Bartholomew Fair. Instead it should focus on promoting the Square Mile’s unique culture and heritage, improving the public realm of streets and spaces, and building stronger partnerships with key organisations … Continue reading “Last minute ideas for the Destination City review”
Following the meeting yesterday of the City Corporation’s Policy and Resources committee it is pretty clear that its flagship Destination City programme to attract visitors is going to change. My report here and video recording here. No longer, it seems, will the Corporation back and organise big events like Golden Key (£1m for one day … Continue reading “Corporation dropping funding for Bartholomew Fair and rethinking Destination City”
The City Corporation has published an evaluation report on Bartholomew Fair – held over three weeks in September – detailing visitor numbers, their spending, preferences, and the partnerships formed to put on 250 events in 17 locations across the Square Mile. The Fair was part of the Destination City programme – which is now under … Continue reading “Bartholomew Fair evaluation published … no more Corporation funding?”
One of the challenges for the Destination City programme, aimed at attracting more visitors to the Square Mile, is helping people find their way around once they arrive. That was particularly true during the three weeks of Bartholomew Fair in September, with 250 events scattered across the City. While there was an official map with … Continue reading “Finding our way around the Square Mile”
A week after the City Corporation’s £1.3 million Bartholomew Fair ended, two more modest events showed how traditional activities can attract crowds despite relatively little publicity. Yesterday I went to the Pearly Kings and Queens Harvest Festival in Guildhall Yard, while at Southwark Bridge the annual Sheep Drive celebrated the ancient privilege of Freemen of … Continue reading “Pearly Kings and Queens and the Sheep Drive show City’s authentic culture and heritage”
Over on the Cloth Fair site I’ve reported on my research into earlier re-staging of Bartholomew Fair, starting with the big one organised by Barts Hospital in 1923. Senior medics yielded to a session in the stocks. I’ve asked for more info from anyone involved in more recent events, including 1973, 2000 and 2010. Meanwhile, … Continue reading “After the Fair is over”
A new website Clothfair.city tells the story of how a Fair started in 1133 to support Barts church and hospital, but closed in 1855, was relaunched this week both locally and City-wide. The site features articles from a souvenir edition of The City Courant. As I’ve already written, the City Corporation picked up Councillor Matthew … Continue reading “A website for Cloth Fair, Bartholomew Fair and The City Courant”
The first edition of the Londonist: Time Machine newsletter provides a brilliant example of the delights of wandering about the City of London, which I wrote about yesterday. Matt Brown offers The Ten Ages of London in One Short Walk starting with Prehistoric London on the banks of the Thames, and walking through Roman, Anglo-Saxon, … Continue reading “Ten Ages of London – a great Square Mile wander from Londonist”