The Cherry Fayre
The 2022 Cherry Fayre will take place from Thursday 23rd June - Friday 1st July.
We will keep you updated of all our plans on this page.
Dates for your diary:
Thursday 23rd June - The Raising of the Glove Ceremony, The Minster Green, 11am
Friday 1st July - Axminster's Big Dinner, Trinity Square and Minster Green, 4pm - 9pm
Please have a read of the programme here to see what went on in 2019!
Many people are aware that a Royal Charter gives Axminster the right to hold the annual fayre that’s known today as The Cherry Fayre. However, what many folk don’t know is that the town benefits from the blessings of a total of three Royal Charters.
The first was granted in 1204 and incorporates the right to hold a weekly market. The second is the one that makes specific reference to an annual fayre in honour of the Feast of St John the Baptist. There is some debate as to whether this document came into being in 1209 or 1210, we’re just glad it did at all! The third and final Royal Charter was issued just after the signing of the Magna Carta 1215 and reinforced key aspects of the previous two.
The original annual fayre brought great prestige and valuable trade to the town with patronage by merchants, traders and dealers of all kinds, some even from Europe, these long-distance travellers particularly prizing the cherries that formed a major part of the fare on offer. Hence the name.
It was more than five hundred years later towards the second half of the 1800’s that The Cherry Fayre began to wane and whilst we can’t with our modern-day
reincarnation promise the attendance of the peddlers, quack-doctors, strolling
players and acrobats of yesteryear we will be striving, as you’ll see from the Schedule of Events within the programme to provide a whole range of activities that appeal to all.
Get Involved
If you would like to get involved with The Cherry Fayre 2022 please get in touch with us.
All enquiries can come to:
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