Nottingham’s Goose Fair set to return for ten days

Nottingham City Council and the Showmen’s Guild have announced that Goose Fair will be held over ten days this year starting on Friday, September 29 to Sunday, October 8.

Last year marked the first time that the fair has been held over ten days and the decision to extend it meant that an extra 130,000 visitors were able to attend. This is in comparison to pre-Covid numbers that attended the traditional five-day event in 2019. It has not been decided if the fair will remain at ten days in the future.

Over half a million visitors came to Goose Fair last year from across the region which helped to give businesses and the city a significant economic uplift. This included visitor spend, local event suppliers and companies who provided visiting showmen with a range of goods including catering supplies to accommodation nearby.

It was also recognised that a ten-day fair does impact residents and some businesses surrounding the Forest Recreational Ground. The council has announced it will work with those affected to deal with some of the concerns raised during last year’s fair. This included increased traffic complaints

The environmental impact of the event, both on the city’s ambition to become carbon neutral and more locally on Hyson Green itself, has also been considered. The Showmen’s Guild members who attend the fair will now pay a 3 per cent levy on the site fees in a bid to help the event become more sustainable in the next few years.

This year will see over 250 rides and attractions return to the grounds as Goose Fair is one of the largest travelling fun fairs in Europe. It is also one of the highlights of the city’s event calendar.

Cllr Pavlos Kotsonis, Portfolio Holder for Leisure, Culture and Planning at Nottingham City Council, said: “Nottingham’s Goose Fair has been staged annually since at least 1284, and so it’s great to see that it will return in 2023 for a ten-day event.

“This longer period will allow opportunities for more local and regional visitors, increase the city’s economic uplift, and enable new and impressive rides and attractions as well as returning favourites. We look forward to welcoming the Showmen’s Guild back for another fantastic event for all the family to enjoy.”

William Percival, Chair of the Showmen’s Guild (Nottinghamshire & Derbyshire branch), said: “We’re pleased to welcome this good news after the success of the ten-day fair last year, which worked well for the showmen, the council and local businesses in Nottingham.”

“We’re grateful to the council for allowing us to bring an extended fair for a second year, and hopefully it will be as successful as it was in 2022. We’d like to thank the council’s events team for the work they’ve done with the Showmen’s Guild to make this possible.”