The Mayor of Wisbech and town councillors were snapped last night riding rollercoasters and fairground attractions at the opening of The Mart.
The Mart is an annual fun fair which is traditionally in Wisbech for the first two weeks of March and marks the start of the travelling year for show families.
The mayor, Cllr Peter Human and his wife Janet, were seen strapping into one of the main fairground rides and trying their luck on the game stalls and the hook-a-duck.
The councillors were spotted bashing into each other on the dodgems – some partnering up and some flying solo at the opening night on Thursday, February 28.
Last year, for the first time since 1993, the fair was not opened by the town mayor due to the cold weather and heavy snow that hit the UK.
An online history group recalls that since at least 1851, travelling showmen and hawkers have “gathered in the town”.
“This saturnalia sometimes continues five weeks, and during that period all the noise that can be tortured out of drums, lungs, trumpets and cymbals serves to enliven, if not to gratify.”
The Mart occupies the whole of Chapel Road Car Park, part of Somers Road Car Park and the Western half of the Market Place.
The annual fun fair, granted by a Royal Charter 800 years ago, was previously at King’s Lynn and has been since Valentine’s Day.
For more information, visit: www.british-history.ac.uk/vch/cambs/vol4/pp262-263
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