News and Updates: Current News
Weston Park
Weston May Fayre takes place on Sunday 20th May 2012. The NFA will be present with a large tent of exhibits, and we are also programming various street performers, magicians and artists throughout the site. The event is free of charge so please come and say hello. See our Weston Park event page for details.
magic worlds
Sheffield's Weston Park Museum sees the opening of 'Magic Worlds' on Saturday 28th April 2012. This exhibition has used resources and ideas from the National Fairground Archive's growing magic collections, giving Magic Worlds a local angle to complement the main body of material assembled by the V&A. The exhibition will also see an extensive programme of outreach activities, with hands-on involvement from the NFA. See our Magic Worlds page for details.
new sales stock
Brand new NFA stock including tote bag, fridge magnets and new postcard set - click to view on the sales page to place an order.
Professor Vanessa at the Roundhouse CircusFest
Professor Toulmin's show at the London Roundhouse opens this week. Tickets are selling fast so act quick to ensure you see this unique performance.
focal awards
Timeshift's NFA collaboration programme 'All the Fun of the Fair' has been nominated for a Focal award. Click here for further details.
miami art
Thanks to Shaun Martin for up-to-date images of the new artwork on the Sudden Impact and Drop Zone Miami Trip rides.
model
Thanks to Chris Partridge for sending the above image showing his model of Roger Hall's famous Dive Bomber load. Chris used images and information from the National Fairground Archive to complete his accurate model.
To see another model, and stories on innovative uses of the NFA, click here.
cover star
The March 2012 edition of the Fairground Mercury features a cover photograph by NFA staff showing the mix of attractions at the recent Dublin Winter Wonderland. The magazine also includes an article from the NFA historical resources. Check out the Fairground Association of Great Britain through their website here.
fight against gravity
As part of National Science and Engineering Week 2012 the NFA will be presenting an exhibition at St George's Library looking at the history and current development of upside-down rides and Roller Coasters. The exhibition will run from 9 March up until 17 March.
brave women
To celebrate International Women's Week 2012 the NFA has been researching the practice of brave suffragettes entering the arena of lions at Bostock's Menagerie and Jungle. This fantastic and important spectacle has seen little recorded information and we are excited to bring you all the details alongside our regular research looking at brave women performers who handled the big lions and tigers of the Sheffield Jungle.
Click here to see the full story.
case studies
We have developed a new area of the website to profile different uses of the archive by looking at specific case studies. We show how different projects are tackled by users, with regard to resources consulted, ideas developed, and the finished outcome. From the very big to very small, everything will be considered. We hope this encourages other people to engage with the NFA and fulfil some of their own projects.
Click here to see the stories listed so far - more to follow!
2012 performers
Photographed at Showzam 2012 by Shaun Bloodworth, here is the full cast of performers - most of whom will be working with NFA events such as the Roundhouse Wondershow through the forthcoming year.
More photographs can be seen here.
circus exhibition
New Exhibition - Circus Showmen: Innovators Who Shaped the Circus - curated by Amanda Bernstein and Professor Vanessa Toulmin featuring rare archival material and posters from the NFA's circus holdings, family collections from Charlie Cairoli Jnr, Gerry Cottle and Gary Smart and the Circus Friends International. 1 Feb to 3 May 2012.
See the Library's exhibition page details for more information. Photographs from the opening event can be seen here.
reading lists
We have updated our reading lists, and added a new resource for early cinema - click here for details.
out and about
Look out for a host of NFA authored fairground articles in February 2012 - a report from Dublin (Mission Space pictured above), an article of Maxwell Waltzers for the Platform magazine, an article on early Orbiters for Kirmes Revue, and the continuation of our Paul Angel documentation in the Fairground Mercury.
coming in 2012
The National Fairground Archive has
great plans for 2012, look out for further details of the following:
- Showzam 2012 (10-19 February in Blackpool) featuring the best of the variety and illusion world
- Roundhouse event - 23-29 April - details to follow.
- New digital access to NFA material, with further collections to be added.
- Sheffield Jungle Project - conclusion of the 1912-13 event.
- Further articles for the Fairground Mercury, Platform and Kirmes Revue magazines.
- New exhibitions in the Western Bank Library exhibition space - starting with a history of Circus in January 2012.
Erich Knocke - a tribute
We include a short tribute and memory to Erich Knocke, key German showman and founder of a the fairground musuem in Germany.
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