Huge crowds expected in Bangor next Friday

More than two centuries of tradition will be celebrated next Friday when the Bangor Erris Sheep Fair takes centre stage. Huge crowds are expected to throng the village street as traditional sheep shearing demonstrations, a blacksmith and many other historic attractions vie for attention.

The main business of selling and buying lambs, ewes and breeding stock will also take place as organisers mark more than 200 years of fair days in Bangor.

Sheep fairs in Bangor stretch back through the centuries with a statistical survey of the area in 1802 noting that such events were held regularly in the village at that stage. Farmers from the four corners of Erris and beyond converged on Bangor for the fairs which were held up to 13 times a year.

However, in recent years the fair day has become less important for farmers and the tradition was at a low ebb until a community group decided to make next Friday a celebration of the excitement and bartering which made fair days in Bangor such a vital part of local life.