LIFESTYLE
Originally published on Friday, 23 May 2008
Roll Up! Roll Up!
Ok, so I think we’ve finally got our heads round festivals: get hammered, dance a bit, and as long there’s a tambourine and a spare acre, hey presto. But whatever happened to those modest fairs that used to bring such pure, unbridled joy? Sure there are art fairs, craft fairs, book fairs, antique fairs… Must they all be so boring?
How do you match the balance-demolishing Waltzer, with its giddy sense of half-terrified glee to accompany the clutched velcro seats and candy-floss high? Of course, you could always try sitting a goat after a few too many Pimms at the agonizingly family-friendly Country Affair . Or, should medieval re-enactments and best turnip competitions float your boat, the huge Lambeth Country Show does a similar, pagan-inspired job.
Hardly the helter skelter, wind-through-your-slide-burned-buttocks experience you were after? Then perhaps the full-on vintage steam fair at Paradise Gardens might be the answer you’re after. Unlike those dodgy, gaffer-taped rides of yore, Paradise, apparently, is all about the Victory Dive Bomber, the big ol’ ‘Galloper’ carousel, a lindy-hopping Tea Dance Tent and a string of Victorian slot-machines. You won that tambourine for me darling? Ah, you shouldn’t have.
A Country Affair - 24-26 May
The Lambeth Country Show - 19-20 July
Carter Steam Fair - Vintage Funfair
Paradise Gardens - 24-25 May