The Fayres – a brief history

Our Fayres were born, not so long ago, in West Dorset – initially as the Bridport Psychic Fayre.

The brainchild of local holistic therapist Susan Outhwaite, the Fayres quickly gathered an enthusiastic following. Their growth saw the inclusion not only of diverse psychics, intuitives and clairvoyants, but physical and emotional healers and those offering spiritual support, along with a variety of like-minded traders. Plainly, ‘psychic’ no longer quite covered it.

Our geographic range grew as well, from the original base to wider Dorset and Devon, with intent to spread further still. It therefore made sense to formally broaden the scope of the movement and so we relaunched our events for the new decade as Mind, Body & Spirit Fayres.

The Fayres – venues

The first of our Fayres was held at the Electric Palace, a stunningly restored art deco cinema (now a multi-purpose entertainment centre) in the heart of Bridport – a funky little market town known to the cognoscenti as Notting-Hill-on-Sea.

At this inaugural Psychic Fayre, exhibitors filled the stage, the dancefloor, spread up the aisles and took over the auditorium bar for good measure. While curious visitors flocked in, protests by certain religious fundamentalists required (gentle) police intervention and the Fayre was handed the sort of publicity money can’t buy. Interest blossomed.

Clearly, there was a need to extend beyond the town. While the Electric Palace continued in its steadfast support of our local events, the East Devon village of Rousdon joined the venue roster as well.

In spring 2010 we stepped up to the larger arenas of Dorchester’s Corn Exchange and the Weymouth Pavilion, where we took the stage with our new Mind, Body & Spirit Fayres.

Summer 2010 sees us first in the historic north Dorset town of Sherborne, then we spend a full weekend in the Devon resort of Torquay, soon followed by the Somerset town of Chard. We’ll be back at Weymouth Pavilion for Hallowe’en. (See previous page for details.)

For 2011, more and farther-flung Fayres are planned. We’ll keep you posted…