THE SEASON of mists and mellow fruitfulness is now upon us and nothing heralds its arrival more than the traditional mop fair for the village of Alvechurch.
The village’s rural heritage is celebrated on the first Wednesday of October when the funfair sets up, taking over The Square for the day and evening.
Historically, the fair was held to hire farm hands where people would parade before the landowners who were looking for extra workers.
After being hired, workers would spend the rest of the day at the fair as a holiday. A maid would carry a mop to show the sort of work she was after hence the event was known as the ‘Mop Fair’.
These days mops are swapped for music and candy floss with scary fun rides like Remix and Meteorite providing the thrills for fairgoers as the streets are thronged with families having a good time.
