hungry for home: Hull Fair

Hull Fair; the highlight of the events calendar in Hull.
It's come and gone, and the public in Hull have to wait for yet another year to see the bright flashy lights, hear the loud banging music and to taste the 'delights' that are so specific to the fair. However, I'm sure that the residents of Walton Street will be pretty glad to see rid of the unsightly rubbish and the deafening noises that the fair brings to their neighbourhood at this time of year.

I can't say that that I love the fair; the novelty has kind of worn off over the years, but I still usually manage to go at least a few times; mainly to see and feel a different energy and life from the normalities of life in Hull.

Thinking about it, my 'Hull Fair Life' has gone through different stages. Back in the day when I was younger, I would go to the fair with my parents and brother. I don't really hold much recollection of the whole experience, but I don't think that we really did much, apart from walking around the grounds. It was ok. As I got a bit older, I started to go with my secondary school friends. They loved to go on all the scary rides, and so I followed and tried them out as well! My post-student days now involves going to take pictures, eat, and possibly going on pretty harmless rides such as the Big Wheel and the Dodgems.

We people from Hull always use the term 'Hull Fair Weather' to refer to the cold, dark and wet weather that is associated with this time of year, which usually seems to start to show its face around the begining of October. The fair starts on the first Friday in October and lasts until the following Saturday; the exact period of time when Autumnal weather properly sets in. This year wasn't too bad though. It used to be absolutely freezing...one year I remember that I went back to my friend Leila's house afterwards and her mum had lit the log fire ready for our return. It was amazing.

Let's talk about the food....there are so many traditional things that you only eat at the fair. I have absolutely no idea why. All the food stalls were selling noodles. It was rather strange to observe people queuing to get a box of chow mein noodles and to see them walking around eating them with chopsticks. I guess that people have come a long way from eating burgers and chips.

I used to die to eat these. I'm still not entirely sure what they are, but they are good. I didn't eat any this year,...but there were plenty on sale; ranging from £1 to £2.50 per bag. What a rip off!

There really is not much sense to what food you end up consuming or buying. You would never dream of eating half of the things in reality, and neither would you pay that price for it! For example, the giant dummies. It literally takes hours to finish eating it, if you actually decide to have the patience to get through the entire piece of pure sugar. And these nougats....they look pretty and tasty...but they are so hard that it breaks your teeth to eat it!

A lot of people love hot chestnuts. I never have the patience to stand and peel the piping hot things to eat the flesh inside.

Many other food stalls....

I remember that Leila always joked that the burgers or hotdogs were made from horsemeat and refused to try them!

There was a new stall selling churros, which were really popular. I really think that people's tastebuds are getting more exotic!

Although Bob Carvers are always there and still do really well.

You can never get away with going to the fair without eating the donuts. They are unbelievable. The stall at the entrance is the cheapest and there was a long queue throughout the evening; at 5 of £1, that almost beats Tesco!