Stow on the Wold Horse Fair

I think travellers or travelling people is a reasonable term these days.

It might be quite rowdy. I've never been to one of the horse fairs, but it is a big social occasion for that community. If you like horses you should go. Maybe some of our contributors from the north have been to Appleby.

It's somewhere where alongside the horses and trading, young people will go to meet other young people, sometimes with a drink involved. It's a big event for people in general from that community to get together and they may be some other activities planned. It depends on your tolerance for rambunctiousness and affection for horses how much you'll enjoy it I think.

I've never been, but I was around travellers through being around horses when I was young. There was a couple of families living on the land where I rode. The lads I was friends with played a bit rougher than me!

It’s not for the faint hearted.

I think the best way to enjoy it would be to plan for some heavy drinking and getting into the spirit with the people that are there for the fair. The craic would be great if you embrace it.

Otherwise, if you're there to see The Cotswolds, give it a wide berth. It will be a major operation for the cops to keep traffic moving on the roads best they can, but it's entirely possible roads might be a bit clogged around the village.

Gypsies, Travelers, Romanies are all totally acceptable and all are terms used by the people themselves.

I haven't been to Stow on the Wold but I see it is a one day fair with a really interesting history- https://www.cotswolds.info/blogs/gypsy-horse-fair.shtml

The difference with Appleby is that Appleby is a week long affair, and is the biggest such fair in Western Europe. It, too, has a history of being a general livestock fair which subtly changed it's focus. However it actually replaced an earlier Whitsuntide Charter Fair in the town.
The essential problems with Appleby are that it is attended by about 10,000 travelling people, and 30,000 visitors, in a town with a population of 3,000. So it overwhelms the town in every possible respect- but also brings a huge amount of money in and puts the town on the world stage.

Do go (to Appleby, I assume Stow is the same) with an open mind, and if you are of an Equine mind it is getting close to a must see. In Appleby a lot has been done concerning animal safety and cruelty concerns. But, and it is a big but, these are people used to handling and working with horses. Many commentators are not. So what looks cruel to you may not be to them. Appleby is one major week with much going on except the horse business.

Seeing the romany vans, the way they dress, the dipping in the river, the racing down the Main Street as part of the buying process (all Appleby) is fascinating. The atmosphere in the town is electric.

In Appleby, and I assume Stow, it all spreads out around the area as the travellers have intermediate staging points on their way there.

I saw go for it. It is a fascinating part of history.

as someone whose parents lived both right in Stow on the Wold and in a nearby hamlet, I can relate from personal experience that although that community has the legal right to congregate there for that period of time they are not particularly welcomed by residents. Police presence will be heavy, traffic will be diabolical. Caravans (motor homes and trailers) begin arriving at least a week ahead and park anywhere they like, often in the front gardens (uninvited) of residents.

The police will tape off kerbs and pavements making parking or caravans there illegal which stops many, so they look elsewhere, often in car parks.

Expect police tape throughout Stow, and down the hill towards both Bourton on the Water and both Swells. Up the hill towards Moreton in Marsh. And down the hill towards Oddington.

Many businesses will not only close but also board up windows.

Many residents will leave for the week, if they can.

My parents both died before 2010 and I always avoided what I could of trouble and that included the Horse Fair so although I am in Stow fairly frequently it has been that long since I was there at Horse Fair. Others may have more recent first hand knowledge. I present it exactly as I have lived it.

Thank you Stuart [edit: and Nigel] for that informative post(s). I found it interesting. My knowledge is fairly limited to being around some travellers through horses when I was young, and what I've read and seen in the media (mostly about Appleby).

I used to visit a stable in Hamilton sometimes that trained horses for sulky racing, trotters. They used to race at Lanark many years ago. Most of his horses came from the Irish travellers. By any normal standards, racing trotters in Ireland the way it's done is cruel. The travellers never followed English standards of horsemanship that evolved over the centuries, so it would be kind to say their culture can be a bit different. They ride, and sometimes treat their horses, totally differently.