Egremont’s popular Crab Fair is set to make its annual return this weekend.
The 750-year-old fair will take place from Friday 20 September to Saturday 21 September – and new attractions and activities have been added to this year’s event.
Event-goers can expect to see all the fair’s traditional competitions and activities in full swing, including the climbing of the greasy pole, horn blowing, apple throwing, the pipe smoking contest and world famous Gurning Championships.
Live music, food and craft stalls, a fairground, sporting events, a classic car show and more will also go ahead.
Crab Fest, the fair’s very own miniature festival, will also be taking place. Tickets are still able to be booked via the fair’s Facebook page.
Music across the weekend will include party band Boomin, The Ultimate Shania Experience, Jameson Covers Band, Almost Pink, Danny Dunnery Band, The Antics and The Mustangz.
The pre-fair annual sporting events including clay pigeon shooting, a darts tournament, duck racing, a multi-terrain race and more have proven a hit so far this week and have featured good turnouts of both spectators and competitors.
The town’s main street will be closed to traffic from 12pm on Friday until late on Saturday night and the fairground, situated in Chapel Street Car Park, is now open to the public.
Crab Fair chairman Callum Scott said the committee are looking forward to this year’s event after working incredibly hard to fund it amidst challenging economic times.
We will update this story if any timings are changed as the weekend goes on.
What’s happening on the Friday?
Fair festivities will officially start on Friday at 5pm until late with Dancing in the Street – a free live music event that takes place on main street near the town’s war memorial.
Organisers said this year’s event will have a new look and feel with Stella The Fella and Sam Davidson hosting this year’s event.
A mixture of well-known acts and local artists will take to the stage – with performers including Boomin, Jenny Ball, The Ultimate Shania Experience, Sneaky Finch and the Committed 2 Rock Choir.
Alongside the performers, the annual fancy dress wheelbarrow race and pipe smoking competition will go ahead.
The wheelbarrow race will start at 6.30pm and is open to adults and children and prizes will also be up for grabs.
Food and craft stalls, face painting, street entertainers and more will also be on site. Both cash and card payments will be taken.
The fairground is now open and will remain open throughout the weekend – with fair rides in Chapel Street car park, on the main street and in the Sports Field.
What can I expect on Saturday?
All the fair’s main events will take place on Saturday starting from 9am onwards.
Stalls will be open and street entertainers and stage acts including local dancing groups and singers will be performing throughout the day.
From 9am until 10am street racing will take place starting at Dent View. The event is this year being sponsored by GoLocal stores, Orgill.
At 9.30am, the fair will be blessed and at 9.30am until 2pm vintage bikes and classic cars will be on show on the main street.
At 10.30am, the traditional climbing of the greasy pole will go ahead followed by the riding of the boundary, which sees horses ride through the town, at 11.30am.
At 12.30pm the apple cart spectacle, which sees apples thrown for spectators to catch from a cart featuring the Crab Fair Queen, will go ahead.
Eventgoers can then follow the crowds in the afternoon and visit the Crab Fair field on Baybarrow Road where more events will take place.
In the field, event-goers can expect sporting events, entertainment including a chance to walk with alpacas, food and craft stalls and horticulture tents as well as street entertainers and more.
Entry to the fair field costs £7 while OAP entry costs £4 and under 12s costs £3 while children under five go free. The entry fee allows access to the whole field including Crab Fest.
At 10am, the fair’s dog show events will go ahead, hosted by Graham Hogg, followed by the horticulture tent judging at 11am.
Details of the categories open to entrants are available on the fair’s Facebook page and range from awards for giant vegetables to best baked goods. Both adults and children can enter.
At 12.30pm sports event will start in the field and will include running, cycling and more open to all age categories. Trophies are up for grabs for those lucky enough to win an event.
This year, the Crab Fair Committee are also working with Bee Unique, a local charity who support autistic children and their families.
The charity are providing a new, inflatable fun arena complete with slides and toys for youngsters to enjoy at 12.30pm.
CrabFest will kick off at 1pm on the fair field and continue into the night, featuring bands including Almost Pink, DJ Ratman, Misfitz, Jameson Covers Band, Collision, Danny Dunnery Band, The Antics and The Mustangz.
The festival takes place inside a marquee and this year the bar will be cowgirl themed and run by Emma Ralls Wealth Management. Emma formerly ran the Black Bull pub in the town.
Crab Fest entry is included in the cost of a field entry ticket and can be purchased early through the fair’s Facebook page or on the day.
Only alcohol purchased in the field is allowed at Crab Fest and the rest of the field’s events.
At 2.30pm traditional Cumberland and Westmorland wrestling will go ahead followed by the annual ferret show hosted by Jane Butt at 1pm.
At 3pm a wheelbarrow race will take place along with the popular egg throwing event at 3.20pm.
The egg throwing is described as surprisingly competitive and asks pairs of competitors to see how far they can throw an egg without cracking it.
At 3.45pm a children’s pet show will go ahead with prizes up for grabs followed by the novelty dog show at 4pm, bringing events on the sports field to a close.
The World Gurning Championships will take place at 6pm in the town’s market hall, with doors open at 5.45pm. It is free to enter and on a first come, first served basis.
The horn blowing competition and the singing of old hunting songs will also take place in the market hall before the gurning goes ahead.
New for 2024 – can you beat the Crab Fair?
This year, organisers have introduced a new challenge for event-goers that aims to seek out the fair’s biggest fans.
Those who complete six of the crab fair’s most popular events the fastest will be awarded a special Crab Fair prize.
Only a limited number of top prizes are available – so event-goers are encouraged to take part and tick off the events as fast as they can.
The eligible events are as follows:
- Catch an apple from the apple cart
- Compete in the wheelbarrow race
- Compete in a foot or cycling race
- Compete in the horn blowing
- Compete in the World Gurning Championships
- Attempt to climb the greasy role
- Try Cumberland Wrestling
- Compete in the hunting songs event at the World Gurning Championships
A sheet to record each event competitors tick off is available in the Crab Fair programme – available for purchase from local shops in the town from today onwards.
Competitors must get their record sheet stamped for each activity they tick off at Emma Ralls Wealth Management on main street.
Programmes for this year’s Crab Fair are expected to be available for purchase from most shops in the town today.
Completed record sheets should be handed into a member of the committee on Saturday evening at the gurning championships, where winners will be awarded a special prize.
A separate Crab Fair treasure hunt is also being run this year and details of how to take part can be found in the fair’s programme.
Competitors must visit five locations and collect clues that form a code. Prizes will be awarded to those who find the code the fastest.
