Carters famous vintage funfair is coming to Hemel Hempstead

Vintage steam fair featured in Paddington 2 and Rocketman is coming to Boxmoor Common!
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The brightly decorated vintage vehicles from Carters Steam Fair will be arriving back at Boxmoor Common in Hemel Hempstead with a range of their vintage fairground rides and

attractions for a two-weekend stay.

The fair will open tomorrow (September 4) and Sunday, September 5, and next weekend (September 11 and 12) and will include a free firework display over the fair on both Saturdays.

Carters famous vintage funfair is coming to Boxmoor Common in Hemel Hempstead (C) CartersCarters famous vintage funfair is coming to Boxmoor Common in Hemel Hempstead (C) Carters
Carters famous vintage funfair is coming to Boxmoor Common in Hemel Hempstead (C) Carters

The fair will offer a range of rides suitable for toddlers, big kids, and anyone young at heart including their iconic set of beautifully restored British Galloper horses dating from the 1890s and their dodgems which have recently featured in an art installation at Somerset House in London.

This is the first time the fair has been back on the road since 2019 and the Carters team are looking forward to welcoming visitors back to their covid-secure fairground experience.

Dating from the 1890s to the 1960s, the vintage fairground rides have featured in films such as Paddington 2 and Rocketman and are usually taken on tour around the South-East.

The fair has been grounded for the last year because of the coronavirus pandemic and associated restrictions.

Carters famous vintage funfair is coming to town! (C) CartersCarters famous vintage funfair is coming to town! (C) Carters
Carters famous vintage funfair is coming to town! (C) Carters

Fairground owner Joby Carter has put a lot of thought into ensuring the fairground experience is covid-secure.

Around the fair there are hand sanitising stations and the rides are cleaned and sanitised at regular intervals.

The rides are also laid out further apart to enable more space for visitors to social distance from others as they move around the fair.

Visitors get free rides when they book online with family friendly ride token bundles starting from £20. Ride tokens will be available to buy on the day at the fair too, but the best value

deals are in advance.

Fairground art tour Sunday, September 12

Anyone with an interest in letter forms and fairground art is encouraged to join a guided tour of the fairground artwork and lettering at the fair on Sunday, September 12, at 10am before the fair opens.

The tour is a unique chance to hear Joby Carter talk about the history of the rides and vehicles that pull and power the fair and the traditional techniques they have used to restore them to their former glory.

Tickets are £6 and registration is via their Patreon site which uses donations from fans to help fund their ongoing fairground and vintage vehicle restoration projects.

Joby said: “It’s great to be out on tour again after a year in lockdown and I’m excited to set up the fair at Boxmoor Common.

"We are looking forward to seeing lots of smiles when people visit.

"Children have missed out on a lot of fun over the last year or so –some toddlers that have grown up in lockdown haven’t had chance to visit a fair yet!

"We wanted to find a way to bring back the family fun and the smiles to children’s faces, but in a way that was as reassuring as possible for the parents.

"Our focus right now is on creating good old-fashioned fun for families in a covid-secure way.

"If you book your ride tokens online before you arrive, we give you extra free rides as a thank you.

“I encourage anyone visiting to take a close look at the lettering and artwork at the fair- it has all been done by hand using traditional signwriting skills and techniques – no computers or fancy software programmes!

"Stand next to our brightly coloured trucks with huge lettering over 1 meter high and see if you can figure out how we manage to paint it all by hand!"

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