"It's a three day visit by the Lord of Misrule", someone who should know tells me. "All bets are off.".He's talking about the May Fair, which has just ended. Apparently a fair has been held here in one form or another since 1100-and-something, and it almost certainly originated as a pagan celebration that the church was canny enough to take under its wing.
These days though it's nothing more than a gigantic funfair. Now I'm used to such things in allocated, contained areas - parks, fields, open spaces, whatever - generally out of town and well away from the real world of offices and public buildings. But the fair rolls into the centre of our town and just takes it over.
The main streets are closed to traffic: big wheels and dodgems, roundabouts and burger bars, candy floss and helter-skelters - often strung out the length of a road in a long narrow line - replace the usual cars. Locals grumble about the consequent traffic jams and dearth of parking spaces and even on the outskirts you hear the distant thump-thump of the music. Squeezing past the hordes of parents and excited children, the groups of teenagers, you go about your business on the way to work or shop, step over unnervingly large electricity cables and enjoy the crackling energy and excitement of it all. But there's also a jittery nervousness in the air and the noise can be deafening.
The rides start around lunchtime so the early morning is relatively peaceful. The sacred provides a backdrop to the secular.
By mid afternoon the crowds arrive and the action will continue well into the night, when things really warm up. People travel here for miles, from way across country."Look at the faces", says my local friend.
Rides soar above the throng of pedestrians, dwarfing the cathedral skyline ...
... just yards away from banks, solicitors offices and GPs' surgeries. Heaven knows how all this is squared with current Health & Safety legislation.
In my own life during these three days there were two unexpected events - one tantalisingly agreeable, the second less so. Upheaval and catharsis.Maybe it's easier if you work with Misrule, or Chaos, when he comes to visit. He's not necessarily an enemy.
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Although I didn't like it for writing purposes, I've a smidgin of nostalgia for the template of my previous blog which allowed larger photographs. It's really, really worth clicking the photos to enlarge.
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Update: More photos of the fair on Flickr.
