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Abingdon Runaway Fair 2026
12 October @ 12.00pm to 11.00pm
About Abingdon Runaway Fair 2026
The fair for “runaways” who wanted a different master
The Abingdon Runaway Fair is a smaller funfair that takes place on the Monday, one week after the Abingdon Michaelmas Fair in October.
The origin of the fair lies in the tradition of championing the rights of the common man. This hiring fair was held specifically so that farmworkers and others who had been hired at the earlier Michaelmas Fair and had found their new master cruel or the conditions intolerable could quite literally “run away”, i.e. return back to the town for another try at finding suitable paid work before the winter set in.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
Abingdon Michaelmas Fair 2026 will take place on Monday 05 and Tuesday 06 October 2026. By law, the fair takes place annually on the Monday and Tuesday falling first before the 11 October from noon to 11.00pm on both days.
The Runaway Fair is a smaller funfair that will take place the Monday, one week after the Abingdon Michaelmas Fair in October i.e. on 12 October 2026.
The Runaway Fair takes place in Abingdon town centre.
The historic Abingdon Michaelmas fair has its origins in the shortage of labour following the Black Death of 1348/9. The fair was a hiring fair, the equivalent of today’s employment agencies and online job websites.
The Runaway Fair is a smaller funfair quite literally for those who have “run away” from the masters that hired them the week before and returned back to the town in the hope of finding alternative work before the winter months set in.