Plans to restage Bartholomew Fair in Smithfield and through the City in 2023
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Pearly Kings and Queens and the Sheep Drive show City’s authentic culture and heritage
September 25, 2023 – 12:29 pm
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 read more »
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After the Fair is over
September 6, 2023 – 5:34 pm
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, read more »
A website for Cloth Fair, Bartholomew Fair and The City Courant
August 29, 2023 – 3:57 pm
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 read more »
Ten Ages of London – a great Square Mile wander from Londonist
July 12, 2023 – 10:09 am
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, read more »
Destination Square Mile needs support for wandering about
July 10, 2023 – 12:03 pm
The City Corporation’s programme to attract more visitors is pitched in competition with other London destinations, including Canary Wharf and Covent Garden, as I reported earlier. One destination that might have been mentioned is South Kensington, which has a wide range of cultural attractions. The City prides itself on that too, saying: “It is recognised read more »
First public vision of the Square Mile as Destination City
July 10, 2023 – 7:58 am
The City Corporation has now offered the first public vision of its £2.5 million Destination City programme, which aims to attract visitors whose spending will boost a Square Mile economy hit by working from home. A presentation on the programme shows the City competing for visitors globally with festivals and events in Sydney, New York read more »
Policy chief commits to engaging residents in Destination City programme
June 30, 2023 – 3:36 pm
The City Corporation has now posted on Youtube a recording of the City Question Time event held with residents earlier this month. I asked about Destination City and Bartholomew Fair – in particular what wider plans beyond the Fair there were for the programme, how to carry forward the promised proposals for better wayfinding, and read more »
Destination City workshop can explore benefits for Square Mile residents
June 26, 2023 – 12:14 pm
There’s a chance for residents as well as businesses to find out more tomorrow about the City of London’s top priority programme, Destination City, and to offer some ideas on how it may make the Square Mile a better place to live as well as work and visit. Earlier posts here. The £2.5 million annual read more »
How Bartholomew Fair might benefit City residents and visitors all year
April 19, 2023 – 6:07 pm
Update: the Policy and Resource Committee approved plans for the Bartholomew Fair spectacular, with some discussion of wayfinding, maps and media. See note at end. The promise of an aerial dance display on the facade of St Paul’s Cathedral in September as part of a revived Bartholomew Fair has understandably captured the headlines in the read more »
Corporation plans a spectacular City-wide Bartholomew Fair throughout September
April 13, 2023 – 4:20 pm
Update: the Evening Standard has picked up on the plans saying “The city is increasingly trying to throw off its “nine to five” image and become a leisure destination for Londoners and others” When Matthew Bell and I floated the idea of re-staging Bartholomew Fair (1123-1855) in the EC1 Echo last year little did we read more »