The Glasgow Fair is a

holiday A holiday is a day set aside by custom or by law on which normal activities, especially business or work including school, are suspended or reduced. Generally, holidays are intended to allow individuals to celebrate or commemorate an event or tra ...

usually held during the second half of July in Glasgow, Scotland. 'The Fair' is the oldest of similar holidays and dates to the 12th century. The fair's earliest incarnation occurred in 1190, when Bishop Jocelin obtained permission from King William the Lion to hold the festivities. Until the 1960s, most local businesses and factories closed on 'Fair Friday' to allow workers and their families to attend, typically spending their time in the Firth of Clyde or

Ayrshire Ayrshire ( gd, Siorrachd Inbhir Àir, ) is a historic county and registration county in south-west Scotland, located on the shores of the Firth of Clyde. Its principal towns include Ayr, Kilmarnock and Irvine and it borders the counties of Re ...

coast. This practice was known as going "doon the watter" (literally "down the water" in the

Glasgow dialect The Glasgow dialect, popularly known as the Glasgow patter or Glaswegian, varies from Scottish English at one end of a bipolar linguistic continuum to the local dialect of West Central Scots at the other. Therefore, the speech of many Glaswegian ...

The Fair

The Glasgow Fair was originally held within the boundaries of Glasgow Cathedral; from the 1800s onward, the fair has taken place on

Bellahouston Park Bellahouston Park (Scottish Gaelic: ''Pàirc Bhaile Ùisdean'') is a public park in the Bellahouston district on the South Side of Glasgow, Scotland, between the areas of Craigton, Dumbreck, Ibrox and Mosspark covering an area of . The main ...

. In its earliest incarnations, the fair focused on economic practicalities such as the sale of horses and cattle. In the modern era, the fair has become known for its amusements, with circus and theatre shows as centrepieces.
The Glasgow Fair has been a nexus for travelling showmen, who congregate in order to take advantage of the large audiences. This provided the fair with a diverse roster of entertainers and performances. The 1912 fair, for example, featured a traditional

penny gaff A penny gaff was a form of popular entertainment for the lower classes in 19th-century England. It consisted of short, theatrical entertainments which could be staged wherever space permitted, such as the back room of a public house or small hal ...

as well as short melodramas. The Glasgow Fair also served to introduce attendees to changes in industry and commerce. The 1912 fair also presented a scenic railway that took visitors on a simulated ride through

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

and back to Scotland. Starting in the 1900s, the Glasgow Fair focused on introducing attendees to global events. In 1917, the following advertisement was printed in a local publication on: The fair continues to be held annually, though attendance gradually decreased and a large portion of the fair was relocated to

Vinegarhill Vinegarhill was a location in Glasgow, Scotland, that served as a residence and place of business for travelling communities from all over the United Kingdom and beyond. All types of travellers resided there. The site of Vinegarhill, in the old ...

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* {{Glasgow Culture in Glasgow Glasgow Green Holidays in Scotland Summer events in Scotland

The Fair

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