Burnley Wakes Fun Fair coming to Towneley Park will have rides, food and fun
Organisers of the upcoming Burnley Wakes Fun Fair are looking forward to six days of sun-soaked fun, as well as bringing two new rides to the town.
The historic event in Towneley Park promises around 50 individual rides, attractions, games stalls and food kiosks.
The fair can be found on the car park to the right, half way up the path into Towneley Park from Todmorden Road where the rides and attractions can be enjoyed from Wednesday, July 9th to Monday, July 14th at Towneley Park car park from 5pm to 9-30pm on weekdays, 1pm to 9-30pm on Saturday, and 1pm to 7pm on Sunday. Entry is free.
“We checked the weather forecast when arriving at Towneley Park earlier this week and our mouths dropped when we saw how beautiful it’s going to be,” said John Silcock, spokesman for the Lancashire Section of The Showmen’s Guild.
Making its first ever appearance in Burnley – is the Super Trooper.
Other major attractions on the line-up this year include the Freak Out, Waltzer, Twister, Mexican Wave, Super Bob, Ice Dragon Coaster, Fun House, and of course the Dodgems. There’s also a good selection of children’s rides, slides, trampolines and inflatables, plus fairground games and food.
Local historian Roger Frost MBE revealed the long history of the Burnley Wakes or Burnley Fair.
He said: “Burnley Fair can be traced to the late 13th Century. On June 6th, 1294, at Westminster, King Edward I granted to Henry de Lacy, Earl of Lincoln, and his heirs, a Charter whose provisions included that there should be “a weekly market on Tuesday at their Manor of Burnley in the county of Lancaster”, and a yearly fair “on three days, that is, on the eve, the day and the morrow of the apostles Peter and Paul.”
Roger went on to srmise that Burnley Fair, in the Middle Ages, would have taken place, each year, from June 28th to 30th at the time when the feast of St Peter was celebrated.
More recently, the fair has been held in the first half of July, the dates determined by the former Cotton Industry Board and coinciding with Burnley’s school holidays. However, this no longer applies because Lancashire County Council, since 1974 Burnley’s Education Authority, moved the local school holidays to the end of July.