Drighlington Horse Fair: Inaugural Traveller community event in Leeds village hailed as 'absolutely perfect'

The man behind the four-day Drighlington Horse Fair 2023, which was held on private land in south Leeds, said the event “went absolutely perfectly”.

The horse fair got under way last Thursday (July 20) until Sunday and attracted members of the Traveller community from across the region. Stalls were set up from Thursday and the main days of activity – including market stalls and horse sales – were held over the subsequent three days.

James Price, the event organiser who leases the land that it was held on, said it “went absolutely perfect”. He said that due to the heavy rain the fair was not as well attended as it could have been but that at its peak there were “no more than 200 people” on the site. He added that residents living nearby also visited the event across the three days, which had been opened up to the wider public.

It was being staged in the village for the first time. Asked whether he planned on organising another next year, Mr Price said: “I don’t know. I’m not going to say yes just yet.”

The chairman of Drighlington Parish Council, Andy North, said he was not aware of any issues over the weekend and that no complaints had been made to the council.

Coun North added: “It was an awful weekend weather-wise and the attendance seemed quite low from what we’d expected.”