Banbury Michaelmas Fair

Banbury Michaelmas Fair is the town's big October street funfair, known locally as Banbury Fair and once as the Mop. The 2026 fair ran from Wednesday 14 to Saturday 17 October, and the 2025 fair from 15 to 18 October. The 2027 dates are to be confirmed. By tradition it opens on the first Wednesday after 10 October, Old Michaelmas Day, and runs to the Saturday, which would make it Wednesday 13 to Saturday 16 October 2027; that is our reading of the pattern, not an announced date. Cherwell District Council delivers it each year and we will confirm the dates when it announces them.

What happens

There is no gate or showground. Rides and stalls fill the Horse Fair, North Bar, the Market Place and Bridge Street, with Banbury Cross in among them. The town council promises dozens of rides and attractions, from children's rides to dodgems, with candyfloss, hot dogs, burgers and chips. The Wilson family, trading as Bob Wilson's Funfairs, own and run it, and the line-up of rides changes from year to year. Entry is free and you pay ride by ride. We found no published price list.

The moment to see is the opening, at about 4pm on the first day. A member of the Wilson family hands a giant golden key to the Town Mayor and the chairman of the district council, and they walk the fair with it. Any ride the key touches gives one free turn, usually 10 to 15 rides in all, and anyone can follow the walk. In 2024 the Saturday was a family day, with free street entertainment.

Opening times

We could not find the district council's hours for 2026, so treat these as a guide. In 2024 it gave 4pm on the Wednesday, then midday on the Thursday, Friday and Saturday, closing late in the evening. Check with the district council before you travel for a particular hour.

Roads, parking and the market

Do not plan on driving into the centre. The county council's order for 2025 shut Bridge Street, Market Place Road, Cornhill, and parts of High Street and Broad Street from 6am on the Tuesday to 6am on the Sunday, and moved the taxi ranks to Broad Street and High Street. We could not find the 2026 order, but the closures ran the same way in 2024. Some car parks close too, so check our parking page and allow for a walk. Banbury station is about five minutes on foot from the Town Hall, which makes the train the easy way in.

In 2024 the Thursday and Saturday market did not run in fair week. If you come for the shops, choose another week.

Where it came from

The fair began as a hiring fair, where farm workers and servants came to find a place for the year. The rides and shows were there long before the hiring stopped: the story of the Mop has the records, from 1677 to the golden key.