Letter - 'Hat Fair had become associated with drunken brawling'

In the mid-1980s, Hat Fair had become associated with drunken brawling and general rowdiness and the city council had refused to allow it to continue. In 1987 Helen was persuaded by the original founder of Hat Fair, Jonathan Kay, to take on the task of trying to re-establish the event. She asked me to work alongside her. 

Because of the trouble at previous Hat Fairs, our work initially involved a considerable amount of delicate negotiation and diplomacy. Winning the trust of a few local councillors, (including Judith Martin, amongst others) we eventually persuaded the council to give us the go-ahead, but with big restrictions in place.

There was to be no electronic amplification, no road closures and certainly no use of the Broadway for staged music on Saturday evening. The council made it very clear that this was our last chance to prove that Hat Fair could be a safe and family friendly celebration.

With limited performance spaces, we desperately needed to make use of the cathedral grounds. Negotiations with Dean Trevor Beeson took place. With promises and assurances from ourselves that noise and litter would be tightly managed, we won the support of the Dean.

It was only once we knew we could use the Outer Close that we were confident the event could work. Fortunately Hat Fair still had a significant local fan base, and Helen was able to muster and inspire an army of volunteers. Struggling with limited funding, we were also hugely lucky in harnessing the good will of local businesses - like Sarsen Press, who gave crucial help with printing and publicity.

We quickly developed good relationships with local schools, engaging primary school children in the high street procession on the Hat Fair Friday and running a competition for children to design the Hat Fair poster. 

We were able to use the very fine St John's Rooms for the Friday Night Cabaret, but it was a struggle to think how to manage the street-based Saturday night finale, with no amps and no stage.

Eventually we booked a fantastic steel band, who played in the shadow of the Buttercross as the sun set and stretched the last of its warm rays down the high street. There was a lot of joyful dancing that Saturday night. All the diplomacy and hard work, carried out mostly around Helen's overloaded kitchen table, had paid off. 

The 1987 event was a success and laid the foundations for Hat Fair's revival. Helen went on to run the festival for a few more years, as it gradually grew in size and garnered more secure support and funding. She died in 2010 but it seemed to me important to acknowledge her very significant contribution to Hat Fair's history and to the continued success of the festival in Winchester.

Rebecca Hiscock,
Colebrook Street,
Winchester

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