Thomas Hardy Victorian Fair Brought 5,300 Visitors to Dorchester

Wednesday, July 31st, 2019

A superb new video and some very encouraging figures are released by the organisers of the successful Thomas Hardy Fair which took place in Dorchester in June.

alastair chisholm talks about the Thomas hardy victorian fair 2019 in dorchester — Alastair Chisholm – Dorchester Town Crier

Volunteers

The Thomas Hardy Fair had support from 210 Volunteers. A contribution of 1,894 volunteering hours went into the event.

Visitors

There were approximately 5,300 people in attendance on the day in Dorchester, with 24% of them were visitors who live outside Dorset.

Visitor Spend

The event brought a total of £115,600 of visitor spend to the local area. A huge success!

Thomas Hardy Fair Video

Pageant Productions’s video captures the spirit of the The Victorian Steet Fair perfectly in a new video. Watch the video below and relive the experience…

During the event, both High West Street and High East Street were closed to traffic for Dorchester’s first Victorian Street Fair. The event was a celebration of the 179th Birthday of one of Dorchester’s most famous residents.

As you can see from the video, it was a well-attended and fun filled day for all the family, with a wide variety of Victorian and Thomas Hardy themed activities. From maypole dancing to traditional folk music performance, there was something for everyone.

Costume Competition Winner

Gary Spracklen, Headteacher of the Prince of Wales First School, made the perfect judge for Dorchester’s Victorian costume competition. The Judging process took place in the High Street during the morning of The Thomas Hardy Fair. The winner of the business category of the competition was the Old Tea Shop at Top of Town.