The Elizabethan Fayre, a long-running event and a favourite in the Prescot calendar returned to form on Saturday 23rd October after taking a hiatus in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic
The event offered visitors the chance to take part in a range of traditional activities for all the family, including children’s face painting, clay ‘blobster’ making, candle making and mask making. There was also the popular Circus Skills workshops and show and the Birds of Prey stand.
New for this year was a ‘Storytelling’ event where local people were invited to share their stories and memories of growing up or living in Prescot, or stories of the town’s rich past in a friendly and intimate space. This forms part of the preparations to celebrate Knowsley’s year as Liverpool City Region Borough of Culture in 2022 and follows similar ‘story catching’ events held across the borough during the summer.
Councillor Shelley Powell, Knowsley’s Cabinet Member for Communities and Neighbourhoods said:
“We are delighted that we can host the Elizabethan Fayre this year and invite people along to come and celebrate Prescot’s Elizabethan past. It may be smaller in scale but there will still be plenty of great activities for everyone to join in and enjoy.”
The Shakespeare North Playhouse
Visitors were also be able to meet the Shakespeare North team throughout the day to ask any questions about The Shakespeare North Playhouse, currently under construction in the town. Architect’s own drawings were on display along with samples of the fixtures and materials being used in the new theatre. Most excitingly visitors were able to navigate their own virtual reality journey through parts of the building to get a real sense of what a visit to the Playhouse will be like when it opens in the summer of 2022.
Prescot’s historic Church opened up to offer visitors heritage tours and learn more about the history to this Jacobean building.
If you missed it this time, don’t worry, The Elizabethan Fayre will return in 2022 bigger and better than ever before to celebrate Knowsley’s year as borough of culture. Follow @CultureKnowsley on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram for all the latest news and information.
View our online Flickr Gallery from the event here
About Prescot High Street Heritage Action Zone
The Elizabethan Fayre 2021 is part funded by the Prescot High Street Heritage Action Zone (HSHAZ). It is a key event in the lead up to next year’s enhanced Elizabethan Fayre, which will be delivered by the Prescot Cultural Consortium as part of the HSHAZ Cultural Programme.
Prescot was selected by Historic England as one of the 68 high streets to benefit from the High Streets Heritage Action Zone scheme in 2020. The £3.1 million heritage-led regeneration programme will see major investment from Knowsley Council and Historic England into a number of key projects in Prescot town centre.
This includes the restoration and reuse of the former Prescot Picture Palace on Kemble Street, master planning of the vacant Kemble Street/Sewell Street site, and the grant aiding of privately owned buildings centred on Market Place and Eccleston Street.
In addition to this, the local HSHAZ Cultural Programme has recently got underway with the launch of the Pilot Project – ‘Act One: Prescot Makers and Players’ which has brought various groups in and around the town together to help celebrate the rich culture and heritage of Prescot, together with the HSHAZ national commission ‘Picturing England’s High Streets’.