Swan Upping is no tourist gimmick but a genuine tradition in which the swans on the Upper Thames, which are the property of the crown, are counted and health-checked. Abingdon-on-Thames is the end point of the annual survey.
The Runaway Fair is the smaller fair on the Monday one week after the Michaelmas Fair in October. Abingdon-on-Thames has a tradition of championing the rights of the common man and this hiring fair was held specifically so that farmworkers and others who had been hired at the earlier Michaelmas Fair, and had found their new master cruel or the conditions intolerable, could quite literally “run away”, return back to the town for another try at finding suitable paid work before the winter set in. To find the exact date of the next Runaway Fair look up October events on the Town Events Calendar.
The Michaelmas Fair was originally a mediaeval hiring fair for rural farmworkers to find work in the local area around Abingdon-on-Thames. Over the years, more and more stalls and fairground rides were added to make it now the longest street fair in Europe, running a mile down the length of the High Street from the Market Place and down Ock Street. The Michaelmas Fair is remembered fondly by residents, even if some no longer head down to the town centre at dusk with the crowds of young people, for whom it remains a highlight of the annual calendar.
Look up October events on the Town Events Calendar for details of the fair and the Runaway Fair which follows a week later.
For centuries all the fairs in Oxfordshire and Berkshire have been in sequence, all slightly different to reflect their home town. Some locals and visitors follow the fairs to enjoy the atmosphere.
Abingdon Fair is run by Bob Wilson Funfairs with support from townspeople and the town council.
The Election of the Mayor of Ock Street, an annual tradition in Abingdon-on-Thames, is held on the closest Saturday to the midsummer solstice, which suggests ancient roots.
As well as being a Morris Dancing marathon lasting from midday into the evening, taking in pubs up and down the street, the day includes a real election, conducted according to strict rules, for the town’s ‘mock’ mayor.
Abingdon holds a proud tradition of standing up for the rights of the common man. Ock Street used to be the area where the poorer townsfolk lived in previous centuries and this was their way of appointing a leader and spokesman who could call the real Mayor to account when he forgot about the ordinary townspeople.
You still have to live on or near Ock Street to be able to exercise a vote in this election. Once elected, the new mayor is carried shoulder-high on a litter of flowers back to the market place where the final dance of the day takes place as the sun sets. Onlookers join in and the dancing sometimes spills out in to the surrounding streets.
This is one of the occasions when you can see the Horns of Ock Street because the Abingdon Traditional Morris side will not dance without it. The Horns of Ock Street are the regalia of the Abingdon Traditional Morris side, and the symbol of what must be one of the longest standing neighbourhood grudges in history. In 1700, at a town celebration which included the roasting of an ox on the market place, there was a fight over who would keep the animal’s horns between the lads of Ock Street and the boys from the Vineyard on the northern side of the town. The Ock Street boys won and they continue to flaunt their victory to this day with a cow’s head and horns cast in iron and supported on a pole, decorated and proudly standing over every dance of the Abingdon Traditional Morris.
Bun throwing is an iconic 400 year-old tradition which is unique to Abingdon-on-Thames, when specially made buns are thrown to residents from the top of the historic County Hall in the centre of Abingdon.
Bun throwings are held to mark a royal occasion and Councillors in full ceremonial robes climb to the top of the County Hall and throw several thousand currant buns down at the chanting crowds filling the Market Place below.
The buns are always specially baked for the occasion and are often preserved by local families and visitors. The Abingdon County Hall Museum has a selection of buns from previous bun throwings throughout the years and there is even a local cafe named after the tradition with old newspaper clippings and pictures on the walls.
You can find out more about this unique Abingdon tradition here.
