The Blandford Blog

The two biggest annual events in Blandford Forum are the Georgian Fayre and The Great Dorset Steam Fair.

The Blandford Georgian Fayre

Each year, on the first bank holiday in May (May Day) the town holds a Georgian Fayre. It started about 15 years ago, and just seems to get bigger and more popular each year. Currently around 25,000 people visit the Fayre.

Between 10:am and 6:pm the streets of Blandford are full of Stalls, Street Entertainers, Rural Craft Displays, Farmer’s Markets, Brass Bands, Morris Dancers, May Pole Dancing, Fun Fair Rides and a whole host of other activities.

The whole days is enjoyed by young and old alike, there is always something to entertain you, no matter what age you are. So if you are in the area for the May Bank Holiday then you should visit the Georgian Fayre.

The Great Dorset Steam Fair

Every year at the end of August/beginning of September A 600 acre field just outside of Blandford Forum becomes the home of The Great Dorset Steam Fair. The fair always runs from Wednesday to Sunday, and this year the dates are 29th August to 2nd September.

The fair is not just for steam enthusiast, it has something for everyone, including 2,000 working exhibitions, 200 working steam engines, and around 100 steam organs. There are many other attractions too, including a fun fair, music festival and, my favourite the beer tent.

To say the fair is large would be a huge understatement. The fair attracts around 200,000 visitors over a 5 day period and at any one time there are around 25,000 people living on the site. This includes exhibitors and there families, but also a great number of visitors too.

To give you an idea of the scale, here are some facts about what is used over the 5 day period.

To prepare the site, 600 portable toilets are installed. 2 miles of water piping is laid to supply over 3,000,000 litres of water. 2,000,000 litres are used by the steam engines. Over 10 miles of electric cable is also laid. 27 large generators are brought in to supply everything from the fair ground attractions to the 3 shower blocks and 6 entertainment pavilions. 150 tonnes of coal are used by the steam engines and 80 tonnes of wood is used for the woodsawing demonstrations. Last year at the fair over 1000 barrels of beer were drunk.

After the fair, 76,000 gallons of effluent is removed, as well as 150 tonnes of rubbish.

The Great Dorset Steam Fair really is a spectacular sight. If you are in the area at the time you should not miss the chance to visit.

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