The UK’s longest-running festival of outdoor arts celebrated its 50th birthday in style this weekend despite the patchy weather.
The festivities at Winchester Hat Fair began around lunchtime on the Friday, July 5 – shortly after the first performances of the weekend had begun – with the Hat Fair Carnival – made up of hundreds of school children and community groups who danced down the High Street in colourful costumes inspired by this year's theme: Look Back, Look Forwards, Look Up!
The event was joined by Blue Apple Theatre’s large-scale Jane Austen puppet and a community-made repurposing of last year’s Junk Giant – now the Junk Robot. After their procession, the Carnival participants sheltered inside Guildhall Winchester to enjoy a performance from hatter Darryl J Carrington.
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