STRATFORD UPON AVON MILITARIA & MEDAL FAIR CANCELLED THIS SUNDAY 26/4/26
MESSAGE FROM THE FAIR ORGANISER, MARK CARTER:
It is with very, very heavy heart indeed that after making an urgent site visit to Stratford upon Avon yesterday to assess the situation thoroughly (which is far, far worse than I thought) and subsequently researching the matter in great depth and then seeking further advice I have come to the conclusion that I have no other choice but to most regrettably have to CANCEL the fair at Stratford on Sunday 26th April due to it coinciding with the Shakespeare Stratford Marathon and Half Marathon.
I only found out about this Marathon a matter of days ago - and by sheer chance - so have had to now make this incredibly difficult and stressful decision at very short notice but it's definitely going to be for the best for all concerned in the long term and I wanted to save everyone a long and fruitless journey with the prospect of extremely limited stallholder parking and no almost certainly no visitor parking whatsoever.
Whilst none of our access roads are affected by the marathon route, the Shakespeare Stratford Marathon and Half Marathon is going to attract several thousand runners plus additional spectators and staff who are going to totally overwhelm the limited amount of parking in the immediate central area of Stratford upon Avon which will make running this event successfully totally impossible so I wanted to give you as much notice as possible to prevent you having a long journey on Sunday. I've now discovered that the Leisure Centre car park (which is one of the main parking options given it's proximity to the town centre starting point) and the Marina Car Park were TOTALLY FULL by 7.30am last year and the participant vehicle traffic in the area will then cause total mayhem in the area once these car parks are full and a huge number of people will then be scrabbling around looking for somewhere to park.
This is the very first time in forty years of fair organising that I've had to make a decision such as this and I'm absolutely devastated, having spent so much time and money setting up this event, but it's the only logical way forward for everyone I'm afraid. Please can you spread the word to any collectors you know that are coming and on your website etc. and I will do likewise through all possible means to warn visitors of this cancellation. On the practicalities of things I'm going to make a massive financial loss having had to cancel this event at such short notice.
I'm truly so very sorry to be the bearer of such disastrous news but after considering in great depth all the implications it's the only possible way forward so save massive disappointment for all concerned. As you know I take great pride in my events and put a huge amount of effort into them so having to do this is both devastating and extremely stressful.
Many thanks and best regards,
Mark Carter
