Newent Onion Fayre & Onion Eating Contest

Where: Formerly Newent, Gloucestershire in the Market Square
When: Formerly 2nd Saturday in September
Time: Formerly From 11 am onwards with competition at 1pm

 

The Onion Fayre at Newent was the only celebration devoted to the ever useful vegetable; it had been held since the Twelfth Century but the Onion Eating competition had only been going since the mid-1990s, so you got an ancient and a recent custom in one day! There was an onion show, lots of stalls, a fairground, music and street entertainers going all day; the eating competition started at 1 pm. There were classes for men and women with different sized onions, peeled ready for consumption and provided by the organisers – the winner was the one who gobbled their onion fastest. You could expect plenty of tears and grimacing! The show featured numerous classes including character displays – we were particularly taken with Henry VIII and his Six Chives and the giraffe with leek legs.

Helpful Hints

In 2022 it should have been on Saturday 10th September but was cancelled- and the future of the fair appears very uncertain owing to ongoing financial and personnel problems post-pandemic.It will hopefully return in future but for now appears to have lapsed. If anyone hears of a revival please let me know.

The town centre was closed to traffic to accommodate the event – signposted parking was available in a field on the edge of town.

If you prefer eating your onions as an ingredient rather than on their own, there was plenty of local produce available at the event. In 2018 there was onion ice cream…

Click here for the event website : http://www.newentonionfayre.org/

View this location on the map.