Martinborough Fair came and went for 2013 today. New Zealand’s biggest outdoors fair, it is held on the first Saturday of February and March each year. It’s been a success story since it kicked off with 35 stallholders in 1972. Now there more than ten times as many stalls and more than 25,000 visitors flood into town. The fair is run by the South Wairarapa Rotary Club and proceeds from stall space rentals are spent on regional projects as well as national and international Rotary programmes.

Below: three young people appear to be leading the throng out of the Kitchener Street stalls area. All eight streets leading into the Martinborough Square are packed with stalls, rides etc. Stalls are also around and inside the Square itself.

(Click on any of the photos to enlarge them.)

We’ve only gone to the Fair for about 15 years but even in that time the number of stalls has mushroomed. This is a good thing, because the crowd is spread out more. Previously, fair patrons were jammed together like sardines, often in stifling weather.

Some of us have to work…

Age is no barrier:

The Martinborough Rugby Club food stall outside Scotty’s butchery, is always popular.