Whilst the Crab Fair has always been popular within the local community, the organising group were often told that people these days aspire to more than a small village fete and point to the range of events and attractions organised by others in the county. Still wanting to retain the unique and traditional events such as the parade of the apple cart, the greasy pole and the World Gurning Championships they also wanted new and exciting events which are inevitably expensive to put on. As a consequence the organisers undertook some longer term planning to kick start the improvement process which will in turn lead to increased public support, income and sustainability.
Egremont Crab Fair was founded by royal charter in 1267 and the organisation has been in existence ever since and certainly for over 200 years.
Chair of Egremont Crab Fair, Steve Foster said “The 2013 event has been acknowledged as the best yet, with a greatly increased audience (est. 2500) for the Friday street music evening and a similar increase in the numbers on the Saturday morning. This impressive increase in numbers was primarily due to the big name star attraction and the large number of entertainers we were able to host. Without doubt the business planning support and funding from Copeland Community Fund and funding from other funders and our sponsors has helped enormously to secure such quality acts.”
He added “Also being able to purchase a range of infrastructure goods, particularly marquees and a PA system, has reduced our reliance on hiring equipment therefore achieving a great cost saving to our organisation. The Copeland Community Funding is for 3 years and we believe we can go from strength to strength and take the Crab Fair to a higher level to improve the experience for locals and visitors within that timeframe to ensure the Crab Fair continues well into the future.”
