Carnivals on the village green

MontgomeryClift

Does anyone remember these smaller carnivals that came to towns and villages for a week or so, usually in autumn?

We still have larger ones in major towns, but these small ones stopped travelling the early 90s.

Any idea why? Insurance, maybe?

Typically they had bumper cars, swinging boats, target shooting, etc. They would probably look a bit small and sad if we saw them now.

Pics would be great, though I know we weren't great for taking photos in those days.

A thriving hotbed of opportunity for the "cousins" to purloin some coin. These hands never strayed from the pockets in case they got lighter.

SEPT 23 1989

very few of them now

250,000 a year to insure them

Omackeral

quote="[Deleted User];111124354"]A thriving hotbed of opportunity for the "cousins" to purloin some coin.[/quote]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=da47BmdDloY

whisky_galore

You answered your own question OP, changing tastes and insurance.

MontgomeryClift

SEPT 23 1989 wrote: »

very few of them now

250,000 a year to insure them

Yikes! Though I can see why.

I remember a local got a bit playful with one of the air rifles and the woman behind the counter had to snatch it off him before he did harm.

The sides of the bumper arena used to be open, so you could stand right there as they smashed into the side of the platform. I only landed on my face on the metal arena once.

freshpopcorn

I can think of a few towns where these still take place but in general it's in the Summer months!

Cienciano

They still have them all the time. I know about 10 places where they regularly have them.

SEPT 23 1989

Cienciano wrote: »

They still have them all the time. I know about 10 places where they regularly have them.

Same one moves around Dublin

dobman88

This happens every year in the village I'm from in Kerry. All organised and set up in the GAA club grounds. Carnival with bumpers and a few small rides set up. Always a great weekend and people from all over the county travel to visit it. On Friday night they cast votes to elect a local "mayor", tenner a vote, all proceeds to the club. On Saturday they have a blitz for all the local kids teams, a ladies senior game and a mens senior game. After that there is live music and the mayor results in the club hall. Sunday is a family fun day where all the different town lands would put a team together and play a small blitz. Great weekend and great craic.

BDI

Funderland?

El_Duderino 09

I was flicking through the Duchas.ie where school children wrote the oral history of their towns. My village used to have a fayre in July each year. They had a Mary and goods stalls and dozens of stalls selling homemade booze. It was a week long blowout for the people from a the nearby towns.

There we’re even faction fights where people settled grudges that built up over the course of the year.

I suppose it was a big event back in the day. But now there is so much entertainment that there’s no need for the fayre anymore.