Winchester Hat Fair 2014

Friday 4th to Sunday 6th July 2014
various venues, Winchester, Hampshire, SO23 8SB, England MAP
mostly FREE, some events ticketed

Daily capacity: 1,000

Last updated: Thu 9th Jan 2014

The 40th Winchester Hat Fair, Britain's longest running Festival of Street Theatre and Outdoor Arts, returns annually on the first weekend of July from Friday 4th to Sunday 6th July 2014.

A crazy, colourful celebration of theatre and music, now in its 39th year, where entertainers perform voluntarily in exchange for money to be thrown into their hats. Supported by local businesses, colleges and organisations, this FREE festival takes Hat Fair takes over the whole of Winchester's ancient city centre.

Free events

There are no events announced yet for 2014.

Ticketed events

There are no events announced yet for 2014.

More info

Over the weekend there will be interactive installations around the town, walkabout acts, and shows, plus many other festival treats and surprises. The programme usually includes innovative community and education projects that include local school children.

Friday is traditionally the unofficial 'Festival Warm up Day' and Schools Day, with a colourful procession of over 1000 children in costume with music and dance, culminating in outdoor theatre, circus and craft workshops in the grounds of the cathedral. This year as well as the launch procession there's a Mad Hatter's tea party involving kids from local schools to the Small Wonders Park at the Winchester Discovery Centre and a tea-tent in Abbey garden for older ones.

Hat Fair doesn't charge the audience a penny for most performances but you can show your appreciation by putting coins (or notes!) in the artists' hats after the performance.