June 12, 2026
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The West Dorset Magazine b-side festival
A black and white archive photograph of Portland Fair showing two women laughing on the dodgems. The woman driving has dark curled hair and dangling earrings, her mouth open mid-laugh as she grips the white steering wheel, while her blonde companion smiles beside her. Behind them, a fairground worker in a dark shirt steps between the bumper cars, and children can be seen riding in other cars across the rink. A man walks past the painted boards at the edge of the ride, with strings of lights and fairground signage visible above. The photograph captures the joy and atmosphere of the much-missed fair, held in Chiswell every November 5 for more than 200 years until it ended in 2001.
Culture

Portland Fair brought back to life as b-side festival reveals 2026 line-up

The ghosts of Portland Fair are to be evoked as the island’s b-side festival returns this September. The annual celebration of creativity is this year looking to embrace the island’s oddness, and otherness under the title of That Other Place. Eleven artists have been commissioned to conjure up a parallel Portland, familiar but off kilter, […]

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