Dartmoor Links
Tavistock’s annual Goose Fair (or Goosey Fair as it’s known locally) is a local institution! It is one of the West Country’s best known fairs, and it has its origins in the Michelmas Fair of the 12th Century. The Michelmas Fair included a roaring trade in geese, which were bought from the market to be fattened in time for Christmas (at a time when goose was the preferred fowl for the Christmas dinner table).
Today the whole town of Tavistock makes way for Goose Fair, and the main Plymouth Road and Bedford Square are closed to traffic and become brief home to market stalls, side-shows, fairground rides, food stands and general merriment! As well as being a huge event in the annual calendar for the people of Tavistock, Goose Fair also draws in thousands of visitors from throughout Devon. The more traditional side of Goose Fair can still be found at Tavistock’s Livestock Centre, where you can see sheep, cattle and Dartmoor ponies, and the auction of live poultry.