Photos: Stuart Allen
Winchester’s Hat Fair provided a great day was had at the UK’s longest running festival of Outdoor Arts last weekend.
The festival, which took place on Saturday 5 July across Winchester city centre, saw an exciting line-up of street performers, local talent, and national and international acts, take to the streets and green spaces with acrobatics, clowning, theatre, music, dance and more.
There was drizzle to start, but the weather couldn’t keep audiences away as they descended to enjoy the hatters – so called for the act of holding out a hat following their performance to collect donations from the audience, and from which Hat Fair took its name in 1974.
Acrobats Juribonke – from Austria, Kyrgyzstan and Basque – celebrated the UK premiere of Catch Me If I Fall with challenging and visually striking feats and live sax, festival goers held their breath as shimmery show-woman Goldie Fiasco threw knives at willing participants, veteran hatter, George Orange – retiring this year – sought young volunteers to assist with his daring tight-rope walking; Rudkin and Hicks – also with a wealth of experience – charmed audiences with their eccentric dance moves and clowning around, and the UK African Acrobats impressed with fire-eating, bowl spinning and limbo.
Crowds watched in wonder as Sienta la Cabeza saw courageous volunteers, young and old, step up on stage to brave coloured dyes and leave with wacky hairstyle, featuring props such as twigs and flowers – even a witch’s hat made with a 7-inch vinyl record.
The Last Baguette Theatre Company’s hot pink set attracted the youngest festival goers who screamed in excitement as the puppet rat emerged from it’s hiding place, and dance circus act, Joli Vyann, braved the elements to tell the tale of a couple living by the sea, through the years – with a backing track of audio collected from local community members sharing stories of favourite times spent on the beach.
TS Crew from Hong Kong combined dance, physical theatre, martial arts and beatboxing to move through the streets and weave through the crowds in Prototyping (No Sugar No Milk); while Jane Austen enthusiasts were treated to a walkabout telling the story of a lost manuscript. Finally, the Winchester-based Animate Puppet Co. captivated with their realistic Bella elephant – worn and controlled by three actors – and ran inspiring drop-in sessions teaching simple-to-make puppets.
Hat Fair is also a platform for local and young talent and the Playmakers Youth Theatre groups performed three original shows – the youngest members inspired by pigeons, who risked their lives to deliver communications during war time; the School Years 7-9 group worked with a professional spoken word artist to create poetry exploring safety and belonging, and making spaces where every voice is heard, while the eldest participants combined theatre with an art installations and protest banners to tackle issues students care about.
The Playmakers Top Hat competition was back to showcase work by University of Winchester students and graduates and saw Midnight Hags perform Agnes of God – a powerful movement piece exploring good and evil and the impact of patriarchy – and dare to diverge win the contest with Bunch of Clowns – a playful performance about perceptions of gender.
Last year’s winners, Truth Be Told Theatre Company, also returned with Shrewish Women– honouring the women who challenged social norms and expectations; and joined by the women of Trinity for a masked performance and more protest banners.
The festival programme also featured many local performers – there was dance from Winchester’s Integr8 Dance; country music from David Dogwood, Elvis classics from Jelvis, ukulele music from Lounge Room Lizards, song from The (Amazing) Fusion Choir and Winchester A Capella, reimagined fairy tales from Mayflower Young Company, Blue Apple Theatre’s giant Jane Austen puppet walked Winchester High Street, cultures were celebrated by returning acts, the Ukrainian Kalyna Choir and Zdravets – with Bulgarian folk dance, and much more.
Plus, Saturday’s audiences also enjoyed circus stunts and juggling from Covent Garden’s Harvey Juggling; and children swarmed Juggling Jake’s iconic red and yellow circus tent for workshops in plate spinning, stilt walking, unicycling and more.
Following Saturday’s bustling and joyous festivities, Hat Fair will now take a break in 2026, but it returns on Saturday 3 July 2027.
All are welcome to support future festivals by contacting Fundraising Manager, Becca Moore at becca@playtothecrowd.co.uk; or entering this year’s prize draw to win a holiday to Malta – courtesy of Kuoni. More information can be found here – www.crowdfunder.co.uk.
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