Historic events like Charter Fair 'must be celebrated', says Salisbury Mayor
The Charter Fair moves into its final day for this year today
An event part of Salisbury's fabric moves into its final day in the Market Place today.
The traditional Charter Fair has been in the city since Sunday and comes to a close this evening (23/10).
The fair dates back to 1227, when King Henry III granted a charter to the Bishop of Salisbury to hold a fair on the third Monday in October.
Mayor of Salisbury, Sven Hocking, opened the fair on Sunday, which he said was an 'honour and a privilege, and told us the fair is a big deal for the city.
"Historically it's quite a big thing," he said, adding: I've been living in and around the city since about 1978, so the best part of 45 years, it's been here every year.
"The fair has been a feature of the city for hundreds and hundreds of years, and it's a really good thing, brings people together and it's just a nice thing to have around and part of the history of the city."
The Mayor told Greatest Hits Radio that Salisbury's traditions must be savoured and passed onto generations to come.
"We have traditions and events that have been going on for hundreds of years. We've had a fair around for all those years, along with a whole host of other stuff." he said.
The market, which is held on Tuesday and Saturday, is another of those chartered events - with the Tuesday market only making way for the Charter Fair or when Christmas or New Year's Day falls on a Tuesday.
Mayor Hocking added: "These things are all part of the fabric of the setting we should celebrate."
'An honour to open historic event'
As per tradition, the Mayor opened the event as part of his role, which Mr Hocking said he took great pride in doing.
"I've got to do so many different sort of things and this is just another one of those things to put on the tick box of things that I've done," he said, adding that Sunday was a 'great day'.
The Mayor also told us that this year's fair has been a success, helped in part by the weather.
"Last year, I think it rained continuously from the Sunday afternoon to when they packed up on a Wednesday, so for the stall holders and the traders, it was terrible.
"This year it looks like we've got some half decent weather. There's plenty of people around, it's a great event, great show, long may it continue."
And that success spills over into the local businesses, giving the local economy a boost.
"Anything that we can do in the city that brings more people in to spend their money in the pubs, bars, restaurants, cafes and shops is a good thing," he said.
"If you look at the Market Square, there's now this is what it was built for precisely to put on this sort of stuff.
"So it's a massive boost to the businesses in the city. We've had a pretty torrid time with Novichok followed by COVID and all that sort of stuff, cost of living crisis, but you see the people are back, events are back and it's all in the city centre and the more people we can bring in the better."