This year’s Cuckoo Fair is on Saturday 2 May. The Borough will be closed to all traffic from 8:30am – 6pm, but may open earlier if the crowds have cleared.

There will be at least 60 new stall holders this year, including 20 who live within 10 miles of Downton. Over 40 of these stall holders will be selling work they have handmade. Many food vendors are returning, but there will also be a new Thai street food vendor, two new coffee stands, and boba tea.

Residents will be issued with a non-transferable parking voucher for the day. Visitors using the car parks will be charged £10 per car, with the proceeds going to the local charities/schools that manage the facilities. The X3 buses will be running (as usual).

Toilets in the Memorial Gardens will be closed, but other toilets (including accessible ones) will be available and well signposted around the site.

The Fair Committee works hard to run the Fair as a non-profit making event and has to deal with escalating costs, as well as the requirement to adhere to all health & safety protocols, local guidance, and policies. The ongoing support and cooperation of the local community is always welcome and much appreciated. The committee is, once again, grateful to local company Toomers Limited for their generous donation and providing key safety equipment, and to Batt Broadbent Solicitors for kindly sponsoring the Day Leaflet. For further information visit cuckoofair.co.uk.

Published in InDownton (Spring 2026).

ROAD CLOSURE
FOR
DOWNTON CUCKOO FAIR
SATURDAY 2nd MAY 2026

ORDERS UNDER SECTION 21 OF THE
TOWN POLICE CLAUSES ACT 1847

Dear Resident

I wish to advise you that I have applied for a Road Closure Order under Section 21 of the Town Police Clauses Act 1847 as detailed in the Schedule below:

SCHEDULE

STREETS	DATE	TIME
Downton – B3080 The Borough from The Headlands to Church Hatch including Gravel Close, South Lane and Green Lane	SATURDAY 2nd MAY 2026	0830 – 1800 hrs

I attach a map showing the extent of the closure.

If you have any objections to this road closure request, please send them by 27th March, to:
By email trafficorders@wiltshire.gov.uk
By post Traffic Orders Team, Sustainable Transport, Wiltshire Council, Bythesea Road, Trowbridge, BA14 8JN
Note: your objections must include your name and address or they cannot be considered. However, you have the right to request under the Data Protection Act 1998 that your name and address be withheld from public inspection or inclusion in any published report.

Yours faithfully

Bev Cornish
Company Secretary, Downton Cuckoo Fair Ltd

Published in InDownton (Winter 2026)

The Core Team have had their first “Cuckoo Fair 2026” meeting which mainly focused on the list of possible improvements which had been fed back by all in our Post Fair wash up meeting. We do this every year as this informs us of areas where we can improve the Fair to make it even more enjoyable for our visitors.

Of particular note was that all of our new volunteers who joined us in 2024 to help organise the 2025 event wish to return to help organise the 2026 event. This is great news and the date is set for the 2nd May.

Next year will see the overall format being much the same with hopefully plenty of new stalls and attractions. Over one third of all the stalls this year were new to the Fair and this was testament to the skill of our new Bookings Manager who recruited these stalls to the Fair.

We have had to moderately raise the cost of most of the stalls for our exhibitors due to pressure on our costs. It is quite a difficult balance to agreeprices for all our stalls etc (our major source of income) in October without knowing our true costs until much nearer the Fair. We have to budget forMedical Cover for around 18,000 people, we have to ensure we buy therelevant insurance and we do provide added security. Adding to this we bookthe entertainment, marquees, bins, toilets and we run off 5,000 copies of ourDay Leaflet.

It is estimated that the cost to lay on the Cuckoo Fair next year will be around £45K but we are encouraged that this allows our schools, churches, pubs, clubs and charities to raise their much needed funds. Trafalgar School for example operate one of the car parks and they raise much needed funds from the car park charge.

Finally we would like to thank the generosity of local business Toomers Ltd foronce again sponsoring the Fair and providing the road barriers. Equally ourthanks go to Batt Broadbent Solicitors who are again sponsoring the printing ofour Day Leaflet.

Should anyone wish to volunteer their services around or on the Event Day please contact us at cuckoofair.co.uk/contact-us.

Published in InDownton (November 2025).