Witney Feast fun returns to The Leys (From Witney Gazette)

Witney Feast fun returns to The Leys

9:00am Wednesday 6th September 2006 in Witney By Samantha Simpson

HOG roasts, special church services, and all the fun of the fair will feature at the annual Witney Feast starting on Saturday.

Hundreds of people will make their way to The Leys to take part in the historic feast, which runs until Tuesday.

An art exhibition, including displays of work based on previous Witney Feasts, will open at St Mary's Church on Saturday, for visitors to view throughout each day, except during service times. On Sunday, Songs of Praise in St Mary's, at 6pm, will be followed, at 7.30pm, by a special fairground service at the galloping horses carousel, on The Leys, by Rev Richard Donaghue.

The fair, featuring classics like the Victorian carousel and the latest nail-biting rides, will open on Monday and Tuesday.

Cakes and refreshments will also be sold in the church on Monday and Tuesday afternoons. The feast is one of Witney's most popular annual events, and has featured in the town's calendar since 1243.

It originated as an actual feast, organised by the rector of St Mary's Church.

By the 20th century, the feast was held on Church Green, and moved to The Leys in the 1920s. The fair was once a place for Witney-dwellers to trade cattle, pigs, horses, and cheese, but this tradition died out in the 1960s.