This year’s Appleby Horse Fair was safe and enjoyable for the vast majority of those that attended, a report into the event says.
The Multi-Agency Strategic Co-ordination Group (MASCG) has published its annual evaluation report for the 2021 Appleby Horse Fair.
The group’s principal objective is the preparation, delivery and co-ordination of an operational plan for the fair.
The group includes representatives from Eden District Council, Cumbria County Council, South Lakeland District Council, Cumbria Constabulary, North West Ambulance Service, the RSPCA, the Environment Agency, Highways England, elected representatives of local settled communities and representatives of the gypsy and traveller communities.
The MASCG consulted all groups involved with the fair in compiling the report.
The 2021 fair was held against the backdrop of the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to the cancellation of the 2020 fair and the postponement of the 2021 fair to mid-August, due to ongoing restrictions around social gatherings.
In the report, Les Clark, deputy chief executive of Eden District Council and chairman of the MASCG for the 2021 fair, said: “The planning for the 2021 fair was both heavily influenced and significantly complicated by the changing position on COVID regulations and guidance.”
While infection rates were falling in the run up to the 2021 fair, the potential for the fair to result in increased COVID infection was a key concern particularly among the settled community. There was also the risk of transmission to, or within the Gypsy and Traveller community.
These concerns prompted the MASCG to introduce a series of mitigating measures, in close co-ordination with director of public health.
The measures included the issuing of ‘don’t arrive too soon’ messages, the provision of a mobile vaccination unit; the distribution of testing kits to transit sites in the run up to the fair; free WiFi for those attending the fair to make use of the NHS contact tracing app and increased marshalling at venues to manage crowds.
The report concluded that, as the fair did not go ahead in 2020 and people were in lockdown for much of the previous year, this may have contributed to increased numbers attending the 2021 fair.
However, while the large numbers and added complications raised a number of challenges, the fair itself was safe and enjoyable for the vast majority of those that attended, the report said.
The report also identifies actions for the 2022 fair, including reviews of the provision of toilet facilities in Appleby, clean-up arrangements at transit sites and The Sands area and of the availability and adequacy of stopping places and transit sites.
There will also be a consultation on changes to the fair’s Traffic Regulation Order to adopt emergency and temporary measures added for the 2019 and 2021 fairs, including a temporary 40mph speed limit on the A685 between Appleby Road and Brough.
The MASCG has already agreed with the Gypsy and Traveller communities that the date of the 2022 fair should be moved to Thursday June 9 to avoid the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee Bank Holiday weekend.
This will allow local settled communities to plan their own community celebrations around this historic event.
