The Buckingham Hotel Buxton. Three star accommodation in the peak district (Fairs Festivals)

FAIRS & FESTIVALS

Buxton plays host to a varied hotchpot of events. The heavy hitters take to the plate in the summer months when thousands of visitors from all parts are drawn to the town. The main ones are listed below with a few others at the end of the page:

Buxton Festival Fringe
Buxton Wells Dressing Festival
Buxton Festival
Buxton Country Music Festival
Buxton Puppet Festival
Four Time Festival of Live Music
Gilbert & Sullivan Festival

Buxton Festival Fringe (9 - 27 July 2008) - EDITOR'S PICK

The biggest "unfunded" Fringe in England is gonna be even betta in 2008!!!

A 100% packed programme of music, comedy, drama, poetry, visual arts and spoken word in a great variety of venues (sometimes unusual!) throughout the town (oops, mustn't forget the odd outta Buxton thing, there are a few that take place in "plague-free loactions"). Fringe Sunday (tbc) is free-to-view Day - so don't miss it! Deadline for Brochure inclusion is 26 April - so don't miss out!.

LATEST LIST OF ACTS

The truly varied list of entrants are capable of producing some real quality acts, as witnessed by last years award winners - The best Drama production winner "Oleanna" was worthy of any stage in the country (trust me - I saw it, sexy theatre at it's best!). Lotz of other well impressive stuff too - so do come! Buxton Festival takes place simultaneoulsy so you can slum it on the odd nt at The Opera House. FULL EVENTS DIARY

Buxton Wells Dressing Festival (July 2008 )

This is the town's annual celebration with well dressings, fair and traditional carnival procession.

There are 3 wells (well, well, well)
.
St Ann's Well in The Crescent
The Higher Buxton Well in Market Place
The Young People's Well in Spring Gardens
(The wells dressings remain in place a week or so)

In pre-reformation times people would have shown their gratitude for the healing waters by leaving their own offerings at shrines or wells. Buxton had a chapel or shrine dedicated to the tutelary saint Anne (the patron of cripples) which some of the healed chose to decorate with their crutches. The early Christians saw this practice as water worship - and put a stop to it - instead believing the waters derived their curative properties through priestly intervention. The custom was revived at different times in different places though many took up 'tap dressing' when piped water first came to town.

Buxton well dressing in its present form began in 1840 at the Market Place Fountain, where the 6th Duke of Devonshire provided that area with its first public supply of water. The Higher Buxton towns people expressed their delight by decorating the fountain and holding a parade and a street party. From then on, the fountain (Higher Buxton Well) and St Ann's Well have been dressed, spasmodically before 1923 and annually since as the Town Council elected a committee to organise matters. The Council put the actual dressing out to tender, which is why for many years the wells were dressed by teams from various Derbyshire villages. In 1985 The Council withdrew financial support and the current dressers are volunteers who rely on sponsorship and donations to produce their beautiful designs.

"IT IS...(1862) about twenty-two years since the Duke of Devonshire, who did so much for the improvement of the fashionable watering-place of Buxton, supplied the town with water at his own expense, and the people, out of gratitude, determined hence-forward to decorate the taps with flowers. This has become such a festival from the crowds arriving for miles round, as well as from Manchester and other towns.

It is the busiest day in the year, and looked for-ward to with the utmost pleasure by young and old. Vehicles of all kinds, and sadly overloaded, pour in at an early hour; the streets are filled with admiring groups, and bands of music parade the town.

The crescent walks are planted with small firs, and the pinnacles of the bath-house have each a little flag—alternately pink, white, blue, and yellow —the effect of which is extremely good, connected as they are by festoons of laurel. But the grand centres of attraction are the two wells. On an occasion when we visited the place, that of St. Anne's was arched over; the whole groundwork covered with flowers stuck into plaster, and on a ground of buttercups were inscribed, in red daisies, the words 'Life, Love, Liberty, and Truth.' Ferns and rockwork were gracefully arranged at the foot, and amidst them a swan made of the white rocket, extremely well modelled; an oak branch supported two pretty white doves, and pillars wreathed with rhododendrons completed the design, which was on the whole very pretty". (thanks to Chambers' Book of Days)

The third well is the Children's (Young People's) Well reconstructed in 1992 after relocation following completion of the bypass. It now incorporates three picture boards, the subjects for which are chosen by means of a competition at Buxton Community School. Winners are given the opportunity to dress their own design.

Um, I'll come back to this later - me well's all run dry!

Important dates for 2008 Wells Dressing Festival were:

Thursday 3rd to Saturday 5th July
It all starts here in St John's Church (2 mins walk) where you can see first hand the actual dressings being put together

Sunday 6th July
The 3 wells are dressed n blessed in turn (1.45pm start)

Crowning of the 2008 Wells Dressing Festival Queen (3pm)

Saturday July 12th
CARNIVAL DAY - Wells Dressing Carnival Parade N Float Procession around the town - the route goes past The Hotel (2pm start)

Buxton Festival (9 - 27 July 2008) Now nationally recognised as a major event on the arts scene, the 30th Buxton Festival will include a rich programme of professional opera productions (inc two Festival productions) along with an outstanding program of concerts, recitals, literary events, & talks. For 2008, the Festival is extending it's duration by 2 days - with a midweek start. The festival is hosted by The Opera House along with a variety of alternative venues around town.

Buxton Country Music Festival
International and British Country Music bands playing their tunes for listening n bopping - unfortunately the 22nd Festival (2006) was cancelled, and there's been no news since...which = gud news...but not in this case - RIP

Buxton Puppet Festival (July 28- Aug 1 2008) - EDITOR'S PICK

The 5th annual Festival (2007) featured the Legend that is Nori Sawa & Peak Puppets + others

RECOMMENDED!

Four-Four Time Festival of Live Music (Feb 2008)
Held annually in February, the festival features a diverse programme of the very best rock, pop, folk, blues, jazz, world music. The event takes place over a w/e with most performances in The Opera House.

Gilbert & Sullivan Festival (Sat 2 Aug - Sat 23 Aug 2008)

The International G&S Festival provides competition for amateur groups and full scale professional productions.

This 15th year of The Festival welcomes the 2007 Champions (Festival Productions - Dublin) with "Pirates" and there's an offering from the Orient (not sushi) - a Japanese "Cox and Box"...sounds like gud, clean fun!

Thomas Round will re-introduce “Gilbert and Sullivan For All” with sp guests Valerie Masterson and Gillian Knight

G&S Opera Co present Gondolierz, Mikado n HMS Pinafore...plus Opera Della Luna return as well! Many others too!

The Awards Ceremony has been brought forward to
be a part of G & S For All on the final Saturday afternoon.

Pavilion Gardens
A host of fairs are held at the Pavilion Gardens opposite The Hotel. As well as Toys & Trains, Record & CD, Food, Crafts, Antique, Plant, Family History, Artist & Designer and Book Fairs there are regular Farmer's Markets and Classic Car Auctions and a Dickensian market.

Buxton Antiques Fair (May 2008) This year is the 43rd Annual Buxton Antiques Fair making it one of the UK’s longest established dateline fairs.

Peak District Walking Festival
Running (!) from 19-27 April, this year's Festival features more than 100 walking events. NB Walkers caught running will be disqualified. Set amid the spectacular Peak District scenery, the nine-day Walking Festival is host to a wide range of guided walks of varying grades, with local experts leading walks on themes such as food & drink, ghosts, heritage and geology. Together with storytelling walks for the family and evening events which include talks, presentations and entertainment, you're sure to find an ideal walk, whatever your ability or interest.