Both 2026 fairs are over: the Michaelmas Fair ran 4 to 6 October and the Runaway Fair was listed for 12 October. 2027 dates: Monday 4 and Tuesday 5 October.

The Abingdon Michaelmas Fair 2026 has finished. It ran from Sunday 4 to Tuesday 6 October, with the rides open noon to 11pm on the Monday and the Tuesday, and the roads reopened on Wednesday 7 October. The smaller Runaway Fair was listed for Monday 12 October, noon to 11pm, on the Market Place and the top of the High Street only, though no council ever published that date. Next year’s Michaelmas Fair falls on Monday 4 and Tuesday 5 October 2027.

Updated 18 October: both 2026 fairs are over; the next Michaelmas Fair is Monday 4 and Tuesday 5 October 2027.

Last checked Monday 12 October 2026: still no council or county notice for the Runaway Fair, and no Oxford Bus fair diversion.

Abingdon fair 2026 dates, at a glance

There are two fairs in October, a week apart, and a separate funfair in November. People searching for “the Abingdon fair” usually mean one of these.

Abingdon's fairs in 2026 and 2027
WhatWhenStatus
Michaelmas Fair 2026Sunday 4 to Tuesday 6 October 2026; noon to 11pm on the Monday and TuesdayFinished. Roads reopened and bus diversions ended at 9am on Wednesday 7 October
Runaway Fair 2026Monday 12 October 2026, listed noon to 11pmListed, never confirmed by a council. Follows the town council's "a week after" rule; only a listings site gives the date
Abingdon Funfair and FireworksSaturday 14 November 2026, Abingdon AirfieldA different event, on the airfield at Shippon rather than in town. County council road order published
Michaelmas Fair 2027Monday 4 and Tuesday 5 October 2027Worked out from the by-law; a Sunday opening on 3 October is likely if the operator repeats it

The Runaway Fair: listed for Monday 12 October

The Runaway Fair is the smaller second fair, held on the Monday one week after the Michaelmas Fair. Abingdon Town Council’s fairs page explains the name: it was the chance for anyone hired at the Michaelmas Fair who found their new master cruel or the work intolerable to “literally run away and find another place to work”.

The expected date is Monday 12 October 2026, noon to 11pm. That comes from The Oxford Magazine’s event listing, read on 11 October, and it matches the town council’s rule. Treat it as expected rather than confirmed:

  • Abingdon Town Council’s fairs page, re-read on 11 October, still gives the rule but no date for any year.
  • Oxfordshire County Council’s large public events list, read the same day, has no traffic order for a Runaway Fair. The Michaelmas Fair order has been taken down now that it has expired, so check road signs before driving into the centre.

Where the Runaway Fair is, and the roads it closes

The Runaway Fair is much shorter than the Michaelmas Fair. It does not go down Ock Street. The town council’s own description puts its rides, side shows and food stalls on the Market Place and the High Street, as far as the junction with West St Helen Street, and says that by law it has to be held in those streets on the Monday after the Michaelmas Fair. So if you are walking in from Ock Street, the fair starts at the top of the High Street, not at The Square.

No road order has been published for this year, so the closures below are the pattern from the last Runaway Fair notice the town council put out (2016), not a confirmed 2026 plan:

  • Closed to all traffic from 8.30am on the Sunday, the day before the fair: the Market Place, and the High Street from the Stert Street and Bridge Street junction to the West St Helen Street junction.
  • Diversion: traffic coming in along Stert Street and Bridge Street is sent along East St Helen Street. There is no right turn into Lombard Street; drivers carry on to the end and turn right into West St Helen Street, or left over St Helen’s Wharf and the iron bridge, which runs westbound only while the fair is up.
  • Lorries over 7.5 tonnes are kept out of the town centre.

Ock Street, Stratton Way and The Square, which were all shut for the main fair, are not part of that pattern. Oxford Bus Company had published no fair diversion for Monday 12 October when we checked its service updates on the morning of 11 October.

If you are coming by bus: separately, Oxford Bus Company has the Our Lady’s Abingdon stops suspended in both directions because of roadworks, now “until further notice” rather than to 12 October as it said earlier in the week. The operator advises using the Vineyard or Oxford Road Shops stops instead. Other closures are on our Abingdon roadworks and travel page.

When is the Abingdon fair in 2027?

The date is set by rule, not chosen each year. The town council’s fairs page quotes it: “By law, the Michaelmas fair must take place annually on the Monday and Tuesday falling first before the 11 October.”

In 2027, 11 October is a Monday, so the fair falls on Monday 4 and Tuesday 5 October 2027. The same thing happened in 2021, when 11 October was also a Monday: the town council’s event listing put the Fair Service on Sunday 3 October 2021, the evening before the fair opened, and its road closure notice went up on Tuesday 5 October 2021 while the fair was running. The Runaway Fair would then be expected on Monday 11 October 2027.

The Sunday before is now part of the fair in practice (see below), so Sunday 3 October 2027 is likely to have rides too. That is up to the operator, Bob Wilson’s Fun Fairs, and nobody has announced it yet.

How the 2026 fair went

The rides came to the Market Place, the High Street, The Square and the whole length of Ock Street, which is why the town council calls it the longest street fair in Europe.

Sunday 4 October. This was the third year the fair has opened on the Sunday, having first done so in 2024. The Abingdon Blog, reporting that evening, found it “already in full swing” by 3.50pm, with a lot of young families out together. The Fair Blessing Service took place at 3.30pm, the same time as in 2025. Earlier listings, including the Abingdon Blog’s own What’s On and an earlier version of this page, gave 4pm; that was wrong. The Mayor and councillors rode the galloping horses after the blessing, which is the tradition. Earlier in the day one of the Market Place trees was pruned to make room for a ride.

Monday 5 October was sunny and busy, with groups of young people in the evening. The Abingdon Blog picked out the Booster ride at the end of Victoria Road as the tallest on the fair.

Tuesday 6 October was cloudier, with a few spots of rain. Oxford Bus Company warned of significant delays through the town that morning because of fair traffic on the B4017, with some journeys cancelled.

Roads and buses during the fair

The county council’s Special Event Order 2026 closed the town centre roads from Sunday 4 to Wednesday 7 October inclusive. That four-day window is worth knowing for 2027, because it covers the Sunday set-up and the Wednesday pull-down, not just the two fair days:

  • Closed: Market Place (north side of County Hall), the High Street and The Square, Ock Street from The Square to the Drayton Road junction, Stratton Way, and West St Helen Street. Ock Street and Stratton Way were shut from midday to midnight only, with access in the mornings.
  • No waiting: Bostock Road, Edward Street, Victoria Road and Spring Road, the streets drivers use to get round the centre.
  • One way: Lombard Street west to east, St Helens Wharf Bridge east to west.
  • Lorries over 7.5 tonnes were banned from entering at Abingdon Bridge, the Oxford Road and Wootton Road roundabouts, and Radley Road from Audlett Drive.

Every Oxford Bus Company and Thames Travel route through the centre was diverted from 7am on the Sunday to 9am on the Wednesday, with most routes starting and finishing at Bath Street. All of that has ended. Car park tariffs are on our Abingdon parking page.

Why the fair exists at all

Both fairs began as hiring fairs after the Black Death of 1348, when the population fell by more than 40 per cent and workers could suddenly go looking for a better master. The town council’s account describes skilled workers carrying the tools of their trade over one shoulder and unskilled workers carrying a mop instead, which is where the name mop fair comes from.

The Abingdon Blog went through old newspapers during this year’s fair to find when the hiring stopped. Hiring was still busy in the 1850s, was “dull” by 1882 according to the Oxford Journal, carried on in a small way for farm workers until 1907, when the Newbury Weekly News reported men being interviewed outside the Lion Hotel, and had “altogether ceased” by 1913, in the words of the Faringdon Advertiser. It has been a pleasure fair since.

Frequently asked questions

When is the Abingdon fair 2026?

The Michaelmas Fair ran from Sunday 4 to Tuesday 6 October 2026 and has finished. The Runaway Fair was listed for Monday 12 October 2026, noon to 11pm, though no council confirmed it. Both 2026 fairs are now over.

When is the Abingdon fair in 2027?

Monday 4 and Tuesday 5 October 2027, under the rule that the fair is held on the Monday and Tuesday falling first before 11 October. Rides on Sunday 3 October are likely but not announced.

Is the Runaway Fair the same as the Michaelmas Fair?

No. It is a smaller fair on the Monday a week later, run by the same operator.

Where is the Runaway Fair in Abingdon?

On the Market Place and the High Street up to the West St Helen Street junction. Unlike the Michaelmas Fair it does not run along Ock Street. In past years the Market Place and that stretch of the High Street have closed to traffic from 8.30am on the Sunday before.

Is there a fair in Abingdon in November?

Yes, but it is a different event. The Abingdon Funfair and Fireworks is on Saturday 14 November 2026 at Abingdon Airfield. Times, tickets and road closures are on our Abingdon fireworks page.

More in Abingdon this month

Sources