Appleby Horse Fair will move dates next year to avoid clashing with the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee.
The jubilee will see an extended bank holiday for the UK over the first weekend in June, the normal dates for the horse fair.
However, a statement from Appleby Horse Fair Multi-Agency Strategic Co-ordinating Group said it had been mutually agreed to move it to the following the week.
The start date for next year’s fair will be Thursday June 9, the week following the jubilee celebrations.
Les Clark, chair of the group, said: “All the agencies involved in responding to the fair were keen to reach a compromise that enabled both the settled communities of Appleby and the surrounding areas and the Gypsy and Traveller communities to arrange and enjoy both celebrations.
“We’re grateful to the Gypsy and Traveller representatives in the Multi-Agency Strategic Co-ordinating Group for being flexible on moving the date of next year’s fair to accommodate the celebrations of the Queen’s Jubilee.
“As part of this mutually agreed compromise, a delegation of representatives from the Gypsy and Traveller community will gather in the Fair field on Wednesday 8 June, to reinforce the traditional dates of the fair.
“The MASCG will also engage with those communities that normally accommodate people travelling to the fair in the days before to ensure that the impact on their jubilee celebrations is minimised as well as reinforcing a strong ‘do not come early’ message to those wishing to attend the fair.
Gypsy and Traveller representative, Billy Welch, a member of the group, said, “In the spirit of compromise and mutual respect that led to the cancellation of the fair in 2020 and its postponement in 2021, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, I’m pleased that we have been able to reach agreement on the dates for next year’s fair.
“This decision will enable the settled communities in and around Appleby to mark the Queen’s Jubilee, while preserving the fair’s historic association with the town at a time that’s as close to the traditional dates, as is possible.
“It has also been agreed that, after the last three years in which the traditional dates for the fair have been disrupted for different reasons, we will return to the traditional dates in 2023.”
