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Irish Travellers, also known as Pavees or Mincéirs, are a traditionally peripatetic indigenous ethno-cultural group originating in Ireland.
The Hoppings is an annual travelling funfair held on the Town Moor in Newcastle upon Tyne, during the last week in June. It is one of Europe's largest travelling funfairs. In recent years, over the course of the nine days it is held, it regularly attracts around 300,000 visitors.
Angloromani or Anglo-Romani is a mixed language of Indo-European origin involving the presence of Romani vocabulary and syntax in the English used by descendants of Romanichal Travellers in the United Kingdom, Australia, Canada, New Zealand, United States, and South Africa.
Showman can have a variety of meanings, usually by context and depending on the country.
The Romanichal are a Romani subgroup within the United Kingdom and other parts of the English-speaking world. Most Romanichal speak Angloromani, a mixed language that blends Romani vocabulary with English syntax. Romanichal residing in England, Scotland, and Wales are part of the Gypsy, Roma, and Traveller community.
St Giles' Fair is an annual fair held in St Giles', a wide thoroughfare in central north Oxford, England. The origins of the fair can be traced back to medieval times where it became one of England's dynamic trading centers. The fair has survived medieval times and is organised for a two-day duration in September each year by the Oxford City Council with the London and Home Counties section of the Showmen's Guild of Great Britain.
A vardo is a four-wheeled horse-drawn vehicle traditionally used by Romanichal travellers as their home. The name Vardo is a Romani term believed to have originated from the Ossetic wærdon meaning cart or carriage. It is pulled by a single horse in shafts, sometimes with a second horse hitched on its right side outside the shafts to help pull heavier loads or assist in pulling up a hill. The vehicle is typically highly decorated, intricately carved, brightly painted, and even gilded. The Romanichal traveller tradition of the vardo is seen as a high cultural point of both artistic design and a masterpiece of woodcrafter's art.
Scottish Romani are the Romani people of Scotland. This includes Romanichal and Lowland Roma.
Summercourt fair is a charter fair held annually in Summercourt, a village five miles (8 km) south-east of Newquay in Cornwall, United Kingdom. The fair is held during the last week of September each year. It is one of the largest fairs in Cornwall and is over 800 years old.
The Kale are a group of Romani people in Wales. Many claim to be descendants of Abram Wood, who was the first Rom to reside permanently and exclusively in Wales in the early 18th century, although Romanichal Travellers have appeared in Wales since the 16th century. Welsh Kale are almost exclusively found in Northwest Wales, specifically the Welsh-speaking areas. Romanichal Travellers inhabit South Wales and North East Wales.
Patrick Collins was a Liberal MP for Walsall (1922–1924) and Mayor of Walsall (1938), but he is chiefly remembered for his involvement in the fairgrounds industry; in fact, the "Pat Collins Funfairs" company still bears his name. He was also an early presenter of moving pictures, both in travelling shows and in cinemas. At one point, he was running four separate fairs a week and owned thirteen cinemas and several skating rinks.
The Romani people are known by a variety of names, mostly under the broad categories of gipsy, tsinganoi, Bohémiens, and Roma. Self-designation varies: In Central and Eastern Europe, Roma is common. The Romani of England call themselves Gypsies, Romanies, Romany Gypsies or Romanichal, those of Scandinavia Romanisæl. In German-speaking Europe, the self-designation is Sinti, in France Manush, while the groups of Spain, Wales, and Finland use Kalo/Kale. There are numerous subgroups and clans with their own self-designations, such as the Kalderash, Machvaya, Boyash, Lovari, Modyar, Xoraxai, and Lăutari.
Tavistock Goose Fair, known locally as the Goosey, or Goosie, Fair, is the annual fair in the stannary town of Tavistock in the west of Devon, England. It has been held on the second Wednesday of October since 1823 and it is one of only three historically established traditional fairs in the UK to carry the name, the other being the larger Nottingham Goose Fair, and the smaller Michaelmas Goose Fayre in Colyford, also in Devon.
The Ballinasloe Horse Fair is a horse fair which is held annually at Ballinasloe, the second largest town in County Galway, in the western part of Ireland. It is Europe's oldest and largest horse fair, dating back to the 18th century. The annual event attracts up to 80,000 visitors. This festival is one of the most important social and economic events in the life of the town. The town also hosts other horse and pony riding, show jumping and other equestrian activities throughout the year.
The Sloe Fair is a travelling funfair that is held annually on 20 October at Northgate carpark in Chichester, West Sussex. The fair was first held in 1107 or 1108 after King Henry I of the Kingdom of England granted Ralph de Luffa, Bishop of Chichester, the right to hold a fair for a period of eight days from a date of de Luffa's choosing. The fair was originally chosen to coincide with the Feast of Saint Faith the Virgin on 6 October, a Gallo-Romano saint with a strong following in the area, but in 1207 a license was awarded for the fair to be held several days later, on the Vigil of the Feast of the Holy Trinity and the eight days thereafter. It is, however, unclear whether the date of the fair was actually changed, and according to records held in the library of Chichester Cathedral, as late as the 18th Century the Court of Piepowders that was held on the occasion of the fair took place between the Feast of Saint Faith and the Eve of Saint Edward the Confessor, on 12 October. The name "Sloe Fair" is believed to be a reference to a sloe tree that grew on the original site of the fair, in a field just outside Chichester's North Gate.
There are a number of traditionally itinerant or travelling groups in Europe who are known as Travellers or Gypsies.
Randall Kay Williams was a Victorian showman noted for popularising moving pictures on British fairgrounds. The first known reference to a cinematograph exhibition in Williams' show was at Rotherham Statute Fair on 2 November 1896.
Romani people have been recorded in the United Kingdom since at least the early 16th century. There are estimated to be around 225,000 Romani residing in the UK. This includes the Romanichal, Kale and a sizeable population of Eastern European Roma, who immigrated into the UK in the late 1990s/early 2000s and after EU expansion in 2004. They are considered part of the Gypsy, Roma and Traveller (GRT) community.
Vanessa Toulmin is an English academic specialising in popular culture. She is Professor and Director of City Culture and Public Engagement at the University of Sheffield, and founded the National Fairground and Circus Archive (NFCA) at the University of Sheffield. She is chair of the Morecambe Winter Gardens Preservation Trust.
References
- ↑ "The Showmen's Guild of Great Britain: Notes on the Early History and Organisation of the Guild", All The Fun Of The Fair, archived from the original on 7 April 2008
- ↑ "Showmen's guilds", National Fairground Archive, University of Sheffield, archived from the original on 17 July 2011, retrieved 17 June 2010
- ↑ Bradbury, Clare. "The Officials". The Showmen's Guild of Great Britain. Retrieved 9 July 2024.
- ↑ "Home Page", National Fairground Archive, University of Sheffield, retrieved 17 June 2010
- ↑ "Oxford St Giles", National Fairground Archive, University of Sheffield, archived from the original on 21 August 2009, retrieved 17 June 2010
