All The Fun OF The Fair

I popped down to the Forest Recreation Ground to see the Goose Fair; or Goosey, as the locals call it.

This year marks the 719th, so I went to see if there was anything different from last year.  Everything seemed to be almost identical to last years, except for a new ride called 'Air'.

Although it might be a new ride to Goose Fair, but it's not a new ride to Nottingham, as it made an appearance last Christmas in the Old Marker Square, where it was called 'North Pole'.

You're basically sent up to the top of the tower, whizzed round a bit and lowered again. Not a thing that I'd like to do. In fact, I don't like fairground rides at all, except to take photos of them.

For some reason nearly all the "test your skills" stalls had Minions for prizes. Whether it was hooking a duck; in the shooting gallery or knocking things over, the little yellow people were being given away to the successful contestants.

Festival Bites

The Riverside Festival is an annual treat down by the Embankment. We've been going for a few years now and mostly in the afternoon, so this time we though we might try the early evening.

It was quite overcast when we arrived, so it looked a bit darker than it actually should be. The canopy of trees adds to the feeling of night time.

The main road through the park is always full of fairground rides and food stalls. We were feeling a little peckish, so stopped to have some potatoes that had been roasted in duck fat. The potatoes had been diced, but hadn't been cooked long enough, so they weren't very crusty on the outside, the way that roast potatoes should be.

Music also plays a big part of the festival. This year there was three stages. We were drawn to the one that had the biggest audience. We could here the music, a real Latin beat, and the musicians seemed crazy with jumping and leaping all over the stage to their tunes.

I found out that they are called Txarango, and here's a WEBLINK to their site, so you can learn a bit more about them. They will certainly get your feet tapping, just like the audience's at the Riverside Festival.