Hereford May Fair (extract from 'Carousel')

This is an extract of the 'Carousel' film, part of the HLF-funded 'Herefordshire Life Through A Lens' three-year project run by local media company, Catcher Media.
With its thrills and spills, Hereford’s May fair has been with us since the 12th Century. It started life as St Ethelbert’s Fair in 1121 and a street fair has been held in the city ever since. Each year, roads are closed off for three days in May to allow the event to take place. The fair has evolved to meet the needs of the modern consumer and today we have gravity-defying, scream-inducing rides, candy floss, deep-fried doughnuts, crisp chips, hook a duck stalls, and numerous opportunities to win fluffy giant pandas, giraffes, and animals of all descriptions.
But there are many who will remember a far more colourful fair. Dancing girls, naked ladies, bearded ladies, 'freak' shows, and the boxing booth, were just a few of the entertainments long gone from the streets of the May Fair. It would have been impossible for a photographer like Derek Evans, whose studio was on Broad Street, to miss it this annual visual spectacle. His archive is testament to that.
Herefordshire Life Through A Lens is a Catcher Media project in partnership with Herefordshire Council’s Libraries, Archive and Collections, and Learning and Achievement Services.