People's free city fair celebrates 50 years

Strawberry Fair, which has been going for 50 years, is run by volunteers

People dancing around a maypole on a leafy green open space in a city probably did not imagine their celebratory event would still be going strong 50 years later.

But, Cambridge's Strawberry Fair - which started in 1974 on Midsummer Common - is still taking place, and in the same venue.

The free fair is, according to organisers, "the UK's longest running and largest one-day arts and music event that is run solely by independent volunteers".

This year's event takes place on Saturday and is expected to attract more than 30,000 visitors across the day.

Strawberry Fair regularly draws in thousands of visitors

From humble beginnings it has blossomed into a mainstay of the city's social calendar.

On the May Day bank holiday in 1974, a number of Cambridge University students, known as the May Day Group, set up a stage on Midsummer Common and held a small festival. It was such a success, they had another a few weeks later.

They named it Strawberry Fair and it had just one stage and featured clowns and comedy acts.

The following year, about 2,000 people turned up and the annual fair continued to be run throughout the 1970s by students.

In the 1980s local volunteers took it over and it has been run that way ever since.

Medieval soldiers battled in a ring in 2011

The sun shines on Strawberry Fair in 2006

This year marks its golden anniversary and its volunteers - known as Strawberry Fairies - have been working hard to make it a special one.

Billed a "musical and visual extravaganza" for people of all ages, it promises more than 10 music stages, a children's park area with free entertainment, 150 stalls and performances by more than 140 groups across the day.

Music, poetry, community art, circus acts and wellbeing sessions are all part of the eclectic mix on offer.

Organisers said in 1989 the fair cost about £6,000 to stage but with rising costs, the committee now struggled to raise the required £150,000, which comes from traders, merchandise, benefit events and donations.

Liz Nathan, chairperson of 2024's event, said: "We're so excited for Saturday. Not only are we now in our 50th year, but we are still completely free, entirely volunteer run and independent, yet have grown so much into something Cambridge can be so proud of."