Thomas Hardy Victorian StreetFair

Based around the commemorations to mark the famous novelist’s birthday, the Fair brings together makers and performers steeped in the traditions of the county for a day which will entertain and as well as educate. From morris dancers to food stalls, poetry reading to folk music peformances, wool spinning demonstrations to a steaming traction engine, there will be something for everyone on Sunday 31st May up and down South Street, in Brewery Square and in the Victorian Hall at Dorset Museum & Art Gallery.

Many of the stallholders will offer activities or opportunities to have-a-go at their craft, and in doing so introduce the ways of rural life from the 19th Century, as described in Hardy’s writings. There will be punch and judy, penny farthings and a steam engine. Visitors and participants alike are encouraged to dress in Victorian costume to help the day go off as a spectacle. The Fair is set to open at 11am and go on until 4pm, and is free to attend.

The event is always held as close to Thomas Hardy’s birthday as possible and there was also a formal procession led by the Mayor, accompanied by councillors and the Thomas Hardy Society, down the length of the high street to Hardy’s Statue, where a wreath will be laid to honour his birthday.

The day will end with a free ceilidh and then mass Hokey Cokey organised with Tom Browns Pub at the Town Pump on South Street. Tom Brown’s held their last hokey cokey outside their pub in 2023 and hundreds of people joined in.